WRC Croatia Rally 2022 – an autosport event full of drama and surprises

Croatia Rally 2022 it was still in the development phase accompanied by high expectations. This prestigious race, which is taking place under the auspices of the World Rally Championship for the second year in a row, has been carefully prepared for several months. In addition to detailed planning of trails, schedules and competition crews, the preparation took place in all possible accompanying activities, in order to realize not only the automotive but also the tourist event and experience to remember. If we summarize all the special stages, we can say without exaggeration that last week we had a more exciting and dynamic WRC Croatia Rally than last year. The championship was also marked by several incidents, such as the fire in the Hyundai of Oliver Solberg, but the event passed without major problems. The unpredictability of the whole competition is best illustrated in the positioning of the driver - in a very close and uncertain race at the speed test in Kumrovec, the winner was the Finn Kalle Rovanperä, who showed great driving talent and unfavorable weather conditions on the track.

What did the fight for the first place at the WRC Croatia Rally look like?

The winner of the Croatia Rally 2022 had high hopes, as the 21-year-old Finn won the Rally Estonia 2021 and became the youngest winner of the WRC race in history, and had a notable appearance at last year's WRC Croatia Rally. He justified his status on Friday in the Samobor hills, where he had an excellent advantage of as much as a minute and 23 seconds ahead of the competition. The next locations did not prove to be easy for the winner of the season. At the Platak speed test on the second day of the competition, Rovanperä had a flat tire, which gave the lead to Otto Tänak, the Estonian WRC winner of the 2019 season. Still, the choice of hard tires for the Toyota Gazoo proved to be quite awkward for the wet track, which Tänak took advantage of for 1.4 seconds. When it seemed that luck had left Finca, with an excellent run on the dry section of the Wolf Power Stage he made up for lost time with a 4.3 second advantage over Tänak.

What placements did other crews achieve at the Croatia Rally 2022?

Although this year's race will definitely remain in the Rovanperä-Tänak duel, there was no lack of excitement when it comes to other competing crews. Belgian Thierry Neuville of the Hyundai Motorsport team took third place overall. He slightly surpassed Craig Breen from Ford's rally team, which took third place in the final stage in Kumrovec, and finished fourth in the overall standings. In the WRC2 class, the winner was Yohann Rossel, the WRC3 class champion of the 2021 WRC, while this year’s winner of the rally3 class is Lauri Joona. The WRC4 class was dominated by Croatian drivers; Martin Ravenščak and Viliam Prodan with their co-drivers took third and fourth place in the rankings, and sixth place went to Krešimir and Dora Ravenščak, fathers and daughters who performed together with their son Martin from the second crew. As expected, the best result among Croatian crews had the legendary Niko Pulić with a Škoda Fabia R5. Winning fourth place in the WRC2 Masters Cup, he crowned his forty-year career, which ends together with the Croatia Rally 2022.

Despite the inclement weather, there was no shortage of spectators along the tracks

We will remember the just finished WRC Croatia Rally for its excellent rides, but the weather conditions are not something that neither the drivers nor the audience will be happy to remember. Already on the first day of the competition in Grdanjci, quite heavy rain began, which brought a lot of mud to the roads and thus brought the atmosphere closer to off-road racing. The next section in Gorski Kotar was marked by driving in very thick fog, and Viliam Prodan commented on the conditions on Platak as almost impossible for a fast ride. However, everything turned out for the better in terms of time on the final section in Zagorje, which also affected the overall ranking. Regardless of the rain, all Fan Zone locations were quite visited, so the attendance was at the level expected. As last season, the complete broadcast of WRC Croatia 2022 was realized through the sports television channel Kreator TV, which follows all major motorsport events in the country and the surrounding area.

The turbulent competition was accompanied by a rich program in the Service Park

The stage of the Croatia Rally 2022 in the WRC calendar was a source of real adrenaline fun for the spectators, but there was no lack of fun during the breaks from driving at the Service Park at the Zagreb Fair. On Tuesday and Wednesday, the awarding of autographs was organized by the competitors, and on Thursday, visitors had the opportunity to meet members of the registered crews. The musical atmosphere was provided by Groovy Cakes, Živa Legenda, Joe Pandur Band and Ante Gelo Band, as well as DJ Filip, DJ MR.G, DJ Rea and Phat Phillie. As was the case at last year's championship, spectators of the Zagreb Fan Zones were able to attend the ceremonial start and end parade of participating vehicles. After such a turbulent championship, we can rightly expect new surprises in the 2023 season, when we will become the capital of the WRC for the third time.