Rok Turk secures his fifth title, as Marko Grossi takes victory at Rally Idrija
Hyundai Slovenia-supported i20 N Rally2 driver Rok Turk won his fifth Slovenian Rally Championship title in six years as a Hyundai Motorsport customer alongside co-driver Blanka Kacin. However, two punctures limited his result at the final round of the season, leaving i20 R5 crew Marko Grossi and Tara Berlot to take a second win of the season.
Grossi and Berlot’s win completed another dominant season for them as part of a year when Hyundai Motorsport customers won all seven rounds of the national series and Turk and Kacin mathematically secured the title with two rounds remaining. Statistically, the strength of the champion’s performance was clear. They led overall for the entirety of the first four events of the year, and after all but seven stages of the whole season – four of them in the season finale. Of the 69 stages of the national season this year, Turk and Kacin were quickest on 62 of them.
Turk and Kacin wrapped up the title following their stunning victory on Rally Nova Gorica in September. The event was the centre piece of the national season, attracting an international line-up of crews to challenge the national series competitors. Turk and Kacin’s imperious form continued, regardless of the extra rivals on the stages. The duo was fastest overall on nine of the 12 competitive stages and won by nearly two minutes.
The result secured the title with – remarkably – two rounds remaining and capped off a run of five consecutive victories. Arguably more impressive that weekend at Nova Gorica, given the strength of the field around them, was the performance of Grossi and Berlot.
The pair began the year as defending champions after an incredible 2023 season in their i20 R5, but retirements in two of the first three rounds put them on the back foot for 2024. Their form began to change at Rally Dolina zelenega zlata, where they completed a Hyundai 1-2 behind Turk and Kacin, before they finished a superb third overall in Nova Gorica.
Better was still to come, with a first overall victory of the year at Rally Soča Valley. Grossi and Berlot were in perfect position to pick up the lead after Turk and Kacin were forced into retirement, and then emulated their fellow Hyundai Motorsport customer crew by taking a dominant victory, more than two minutes ahead of their nearest rivals.
The season finale followed a similar pattern. When Turk and Kacin were forced to forfeit the lead by the first of two punctures on the final four stages it was Grossi and Berlot who took the lead and held on for the win by just 1.2 seconds.
Rok Turk said:
“The season can be considered very successful. I’m proud of the team and grateful to our sponsors. The record seventh national championship title confirms the excellent work of everyone in the team in recent seasons. A big thank also to Hyundai Slovenia and Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing for all the support and a good car. Without the i20 N Rally2 it would not have been possible to achieve all this great results in past years.”
Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing Manager Benoit Nogier said:
“The Slovenian Rally Championship has been one of the most successful series for our customer crews in recent years. Drivers Rok Turk and Marko Grossi have won the title in either the i20 N Rally2 or i20 R5 in each of the last six years. Obviously, this is a great achievement, but to continually dominate across a whole season in the way our customer teams have this year is incredibly difficult, not matter what series you compete in. The i20 R5 remains a highly competitive package, with Marko Grossi regularly taking the car to podium finishes, but to win five out of the seven rounds this year Turk and Kacin have showed they are clearly the quickest crew in the championship but have also shown the excellent reliability of the i20 N Rally2. This is something that we continually aim to improve in our development work and to see it on display is great to see.”
