With a pace far superior to that of his rivals, Jari-Matti Latvala (Toyota Celica ST185) fully lived up to expectations, not only winning the Historic Rally Fafe on Saturday but also clinching the overall title in the FIA European Historic Rally Championship (EHRC). The Finnish driver, clearly in a class of his own, had a perfectly reliable car and simply executed his plan to perfection—perhaps also justifying to his “bosses” at Toyota his absence from Japan, where he would normally be serving as team principal for the manufacturer’s official squad in the penultimate round of the WRC.
“Winning this EHRC title was very important to me, which is why I drove with some caution on the second day to secure the victory. Today, the stages were trickier, with conditions alternating between dry and wet surfaces, so any mistake could have ruined everything. I loved the rally—the stages were interesting, and I had a lot of fun.”…said a delighted Jari-Matti Latvala at the finish, having secured a final winning margin of 4m43.5s over second-placed Valter Pierangioli (Ford Sierra RS Cosworth 4×4).
Pierangioli ultimately prevented Maciej Lubiak (Porsche 911 2.7 RS), the overall EHRC leader coming into this final rally of the season, from finishing runner-up to Latvala—a rival who, according to the Polish driver, fully deserved his praise: “My goal was to win the Category 2 title, because in overall terms Latvala is just incredibly fast—it’s really difficult to compete with him… I managed to do it, and I’m very happy to take that title home.”…said the Porsche driver.
Richard Genesca (Subaru Legacy RS) secured fourth place, comfortably ahead of Category 3 champion Jesús Ferreiro (Ford Escort RS 1800). Will Graham (BMW E30 M3), another of the contenders for the overall title, started well but a spin on the third stage, costing him nearly a minute, forced him to temper his pace. “After that mistake and with such slippery conditions, I realized I had to be more careful from then on to make sure I finished the rally.”…said the young British driver at the finish, whose final result (6th place) fell short of expectations.
As for the EHRC titles, Antonio Parisi (Porsche 911S) claimed victory in Category 1 (Pre-1970), Maciej Lubiak (Porsche 911 2.7 RS) in Category 2 (1970–1975), Jesús Ferreiro (Ford Escort RS 1800) in Category 3 (1976–1981), and Jari-Matti Latvala (Toyota Celica ST185) in both Category 4 (1982–1992) and the Overall classification.
In parallel, the Historic Rally Fafe also included a round of the Portuguese Classics Cup, won by Rui Ribeiro (Ford Escort MK2), with César Fernandes (Ford Escort MK1) and Armando Marques (Toyota Starlet) completing the podium.
Finally, in the closing round of the Northern Rally Championship (CNR)—with drivers competing only on Saturday—Mário Castro (Renault Clio RS) claimed a well-deserved home victory, beating Rafael Cunha (Ford Fiesta R200) by 11.6s. The result also secured him the 2WD (two-wheel drive) championship title after an intense, all-Fafe duel with his rival and relative (his nephew). Tiago Silva (Ford Fiesta R5), already crowned overall CNR champion, finished third, 32.3s behind the winner.
Classificação final
1º, Jari-Matti Latvala/Topi Luhtinen (Toyota Celica ST 185), 1h17m46.4s
2º, Valter Pierangioli/Michela Baldini (Ford Sierra RS Cosworth 4×4), a 4m43.5s
3º, Maciej Lubiak/Grzegorz Dachowski (Porsche 911 2.7 RS), a 4.57.4
4º, Richard Genesca/Florent Sompayrac (Subaru Legacy RS), a 5.21.5
5º, Jesus Ferreiro Pérez/Javier Anido (Ford Escort RS 1800), a 6.23.5
6º, Will Graham/Karen Graham (BMW E30 M3), a 7.45.6
7º, Hervé Guignard/Jean-Jacques Collinet (Alpine A 310), a 9.47.7
8º, Gregory McCormack/Rhodri Evans (Ford Escort RS 1800), a 9.53.0
9º, Ernie Graham/Anna Graham (Ford Escort Escort RS 1800), a 10.17.5
10º, Eric Guignard/Didier Mefre (Renault 5 Turbo Cevennes), a 12.17.1
11º, Fintan McGrady/Dean Beckett (Ford Escort RS 1800), a 14.47.7
12º, Siegfried Mayr/Renate Mayr (Volvo 240), a 21.22.1
13º, Antonio Parisi/Giuseppe Dangelo (Porsche 911S), a 25.28.5
14º, Carlo Fiorito/Nicolo Ventoso (BMW 2002 Ti), a 32.39.1
Fafe/08/novembro/2025
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