After the mind-blowing night stage, there was a little time to sleep, after which the participants faced the penultimate day of Breslau Rally 2024. Leg 5 offered some more battles on the territory of the military area near Drawsko. Both CC and EX classes faced 180-kilometer-long special stages.
Bartolomiej Tabin (KTM) won another stage, beating the experienced Breslau rider Matthew Grid (KTM) with 7 and a half minutes. In the overall rankings the Polish rider has less than 6 minutes advance to his South African rival and there will be a battle until the end of the race. With his third place for the day, Krzysztof Jarmus (KTM) has big chances also to battle for a better place, as he is now third overall, 10 minutes behind his fellow countryman Tabin.
Marcin Wilkolek was the fastest quad rider, beating his compatriot and team-mate from Polaris Polska Adam Krysiak with almost 4 minutes. Wilkolek now is leading to Krysiak with more than 19 minutes advance day before the end of Breslau 2024. Third for the day was Antanas Kanopkinas (CF MOTO), but the 17th place for the stage was enough for his team-mate Gaetan Martinez to keep the third position in the overall.
Another day, another win for Mindaugas Povilaitis (Toyota) in the car CC open class. The Lithuanian set exactly 11 minutes to Daniel Jurk from Germany. Third for the day was Lukas Van Geest (Mitsubishi) from the Netherlands, some 15 minutes behind the winner. In the limited CC class the Toyota Overlimet team continued with new pilot - Wojcieh Chorowski, who replaced Gregorz Brochocki due to personal reasons. Anyway, this vehicle was still the fastest so far.
It was total Lithuanian domination in the SSV class, as 4 Can Am machines from the Baltic country set the fastest times. The stage win went to Arunas Lekavisius, who had 55 seconds advance to Arunas Simanavicius and 1:09 min. to Emilija Gelazinkiene. Fourth was Aivaras Kavaliauskas, 11 minutes behind the winner. In the general standings Arunas Simanavicius managed finally to dethrone Jacek Zak (Polaris) from the leading position, but the pilot from Poland, who finished the stage on 6th place is only 52 seconds behind. Third place in the overall for the moment is for Emilija Gelazinkiene, less than 7 minutes behind Simanavicius.
No worries in the truck CC class William Van Groningen (Iveco), who calmed down due to his huge advance and leave the stage battle to the other players. The Dutchman finished seventh for the day, 11 minutes behind the stage winner Tom Heuer (Tatra) from Germany. In the overall the difference between them is more than an hour in favor of Van Groningen.
It is clear that the Estonian dominator Hardo Mere will take the victory in the CR Open Extreme class. Mere won the penultimate stage and is no doubt the leader in the rankings, with almost hour and a half advance to his compatriot Rainer Ruutli (4th place for the day). In the limited EX car class, it is a total domination for Oliver Schwermann from Germany, leaving his rivals hours behind…
Oliver Leyh (MAN KAT) continues his domination among the big EX trucks, securing his title with another stage victory. So did it Urmas Uffert (C22) from Estonia in the small truck class.
The last day of Breslau 2024 will offer 80 km long Winners’ Stage, with finish under the ceremonial arch. The arch will be situated near a main road, allowing service and guests to join and celebrate this unforgettable moment. At the end of the day, a special awards ceremony will honor the rally's most legendary moments and participants. It will be followed by a live rock band performance and a closing birthday party.
Source: RBI / Breslau Rally
Photo: Irina Petrichei
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