The event counted as the fifth round of the Romanian Rally Championship 2018 and saw young crew Florin Tincescu and Alina Pop, as usual, driving an Abarth 124 Rally prepared by the Bernini Rally team.

Over the twelve stage/two leg rally they moved up the running order to finish in third place in the Romanian Rally Championship rankings and most impressively as the first two-wheel-drive car home, behind only two four-wheel-drive “R5” category cars, the winning Citroen DS3 R5 of Simone Tempestini and Sergiu Itu and the Ford Fiesta R5 of Marisca Bogdan Itu and Sebastien Itu.

The Romanian Abarth crew also won the R-GT category although by finishing the rally this was just a formality as they were the only entry in the class.

It was a tough rally with eighty cars starting and only forty reaching the finish line in the National Championship classification.

In fact it’s the third time this year that the crew of an 124 Rally have stepped onto the overall podium in a national championship rally in Europe, following on from the two successes enjoyed by Italian driver Andrea Nucita in the Slovenian Rally Championship.

Tincescu's performances in the tough Romanian Rally Championship are on the rise too and this podium finish follows on from the fourth place in the overall ranking he claimed in the Transylvania Rally, the second round of the year, which was held back in May.

The Abarth 124 crew started very well on the Raliului Perla Hargithei – inside the top ten on SS1 in P9, then up to P7 on SS2 and P5 on SS3 – which is held in the same region of the country as the Transylvania Rally, and they kept up their pace to finish the rally in third place.

"The speedy roads of this race enhanced the great road holding qualities of the Abarth 124 Rally on faster bends," said Tincescu. "Race after race, we are showing that this car is at the top of the R-GTs and the fastest two-wheel drive.”

Photos: Abarth 124 Rally (season 2018)