To stay sharp for the decider, Marczyk deliberately added Rally Silesia (19–21 September) to his programme as a live-competition warm-up. "Silesia is important to me – it's where I took my first rally steps and where Szymon and I won our first Polish title. The mix of spectacular city superspecials and demanding mountain stages makes it an excellent test before Croatia," he said. The ORLEN Team duo are two-time Rally Silesia winners and treated this start purely as preparation for the ERC showdown.
Co-driver Gospodarczyk keeps the finale in perspective: "Of course it's important, because we're fighting for something important, but it's not just one rally, one battle. The season is eight rounds—our job is to deliver another strong rally in Croatia."
Rally Silesia: the perfect tune-up
Backed by the Silesian Voivodeship and Superauto.pl Silesian Stadium as main partners, with Metropolis GZM as strategic partner and the City of Katowice as co-host (under the honorary patronage of Marshal Wojciech Saługa), Rally Silesia has rapidly become a flagship event. Since its 2017 debut it has been a permanent RSMP fixture, later joining the FIA ERT (2023) and, in 2024, hosting the ERC title-decider with champions crowned at the Silesian Stadium. This year's edition featured 14 special stages / 150.25 km, with rally HQ and service in Chorzów's Silesian Stadium, and free admission for fans—an urban-meets-mountain format Marczyk calls "ideal" ahead of Croatia.
Rally Silesia is also steeped in decisive moments: Marczyk/Gospodarczyk sealed their first Polish championship there in 2019, while 2018 produced the closest RSMP winning margin in history at 0.2s.
What's at stake in Croatia
Under ERC rules, crews count their best seven scores from eight rounds. Event points are 30-24-21-19-17-15-13-11-9-7-5-4-3-2-1, with Power Stage bonuses of 5-4-3-2-1—a system that keeps the title race finely balanced heading into the finale.
