Team MRF Tyres secured their first win of the 2023 European Rally Championship (ERC) season, with Martins Sesks and co-driver Renars Francis putting on a dominant display at Rally Poland. Last year, MRF sealed the ERC title, becoming the first-ever Indian team to win a championship in top-level European rallying.

• Sesks wins with a margin of 39.6 secs from Paddon
• MRF leads championship by 30 points

MRF lead European Rally Championship

Driving a Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 car, Sesks completed Saturday’s opening leg 8.2 secs clear of title leader Hayden Paddon. That gap was narrowed to 7.4 secs after Paddon won Sunday’s opening test, but Sesks sprinted clear to win with a margin of 39.6 secs. Over the rally, Sesks and Francis averaged 115kph on the fast and narrow roads.

“It feels really special, doing it at home is one story in front of a home crowd, but doing it here in Poland is completely different, it shows the car, the team, the tyres, we're all ready to fight,” said Sesks, who scored his second ERC win.

“It feels so good to be driving for such a good team with such a good car. It's a pleasure and to be able to perform at such a high level it's really good. Everyone wants to make a statement but in our minds we want to keep our heads down and just do our work.”

Six MRF cars score points at Rally Poland

The result moves Sesks to second overall in the championship, where he’s tied with Yoann Bonato, 35 points behind leader Paddon. MRF holds on to the lead in the teams’ standings, 30 points ahead of the BRC Racing Team.

The rest of the MRF camp also enjoyed strong results. 2022 champion Efren Llarena, Mads Ostberg, Denis Radstrom, Pontus Tidemand and Simone Campedelli, all scored points for the team.

Next up on the ERC calendar is Rally Liepaja in Latvia, another fast gravel rally, where MRF and Sesks enjoyed a strong showing last year.