Erik Cais leads the ERC3 category by a commanding margin over Marijan Griebel, despite a fraught start to Saturday’s action on Rally Hungary.

The ex-downhill mountain bike champion reported a gearbox issue during Friday’s opening superspecial, which necessitated a replacement unit being fitted by his Orsák Rally Sport mechanics in service this morning.

They completed the change in 17 minutes but Cais left service two minutes late to earn a 20-second time penalty. Undeterred, the Czech federation talent was a close second to Miklós Csomós when the Hungarian went off the road on SS4.

That left Cais in a lead he’s held ever since as a puncture and gearbox issue slowed Griebel, who is second overnight. ERC Ladies’ Trophy title rivals Ekaterina Stratieva and Nabila Tejpar are third and fourth respectively and just 20.2s apart. Griebel’s Toksport WRT team-mate Orhan Avcioglu went off the road on SS4.

Abarth Rally Cup set for final-day decider

The first Abarth Rally Cup to take place within the FIA European Rally Championship will be decided on Sunday’s closing leg after rivals Andrea Nucita and Dariusz Poloński both retired.

Nucita stopped with an electrical issue shortly after leaving morning service, while an oil pressure glitch forced Poloński to park his Abarth 124 rally during the afternoon loop.

Local driver Mátyás Nagy, a rival to Nucita and Poloński in the ERC2 category, was delayed by an off and a puncture and failed to complete the day’s running.