It wasn’t all plain sailing for the Audi crew as the gear stick broke during the third stage of the day and ‘Zippo’ lost time stuck in gear. The mechanics were able to make repairs at the first service stop of the day.

At the end of the 11^th and final stage the no3 Audi was 1m41.6s ahead of the no2 Porsche 911 of Karl Wagner and Gerda Zauner, with the no1 Porsche 911 of Lucio Da Zanche and Matteo Nobili 25.9 seconds behind in third overall and Category 4 winners. Da Zanche was 43.9 seconds ahead of the second placed Category 4 competitor, the no5 Audi quattro A2 of Ville Silvasti and Risto Pietilainen.

The no6 Opel Kadett of Vojtech Stajf and Vladimir Zelinka finished 5^th overall and at the head of the Category 2 field.  The Czechs finished 5m09s ahead of the no10 Alfa Romeo GTAM 1750 of Laszlo and Edit Mekler, the Hungarian crew taking second in Category 2 and 7^th overall 19s behind the Category 4 no12 Ford Sierra Cosworth 4x4 of Alfons Nothdurfter and Juergen Nolte.

There were several retirements in Category 2 with the no8 Porsche of Maurizio Pagella not making the start after the front right wheel was ripped off on SS2.  The no14 Ford Escort of Richard and Lucie Ronay suffered a technical failure after the second stage of the second day.

Two of the front runners also retired with the no7 Porsche of championship leaders Anders and Ingrid Johnsen had problems with the gearbox and the no9 Ford Escort of Ernie and Karen Graham suffered suspension failure on SS8.

Antonio Parisi and Giuseppe D’Angelo took their third Category 1 victory of the 2021 season, finishing 12^th overall, two places and 5 minutes ahead of the no22 BMW 2002 Ti of Carlo Fiorito and Marina Bertonasco.

The next rally on the 2021 schedule is the Rallye Weiz in Austria on 15-17 July. 

CLICK HERE for the results from Leg 2 of the 54^th Mecsek Rally, Round 3 of the 2021 FIA European Historic Rally Championship.