The Italian crew posted the fastest time on six of the eight special stages held on Day 2 to finish the rally with a time of 1 hour 40 minutes and 55.0 seconds, 1m46.7 ahead of their nearest rival and 13m05.5 ahead of their nearest EHSRC Category 4 rival, the no117 BMW M3 of Will Graham and Michael Johnston.

The no112 Toyota Celica GT-Four of Jari Latvala and Jouni Saarijarvi was third in Category 4, finishing the rally 57.7 seconds behind Will Graham’s BMW and 14m03.2 behind the lead Lancia Delta.

‘Lucky’ and Fabrizia Pons now lead the Category 4 Championship on 73 points, 17 points ahead of Mats Mysell and Esko Juntilla, the Swedes retiring on Day One, their Porsche 911 suffering a technical problem.  Will Graham is just behind Mysell on 52 points. 

Category 3: Second Win for the Audi Quattro
Second overall and first in Category 3 was the no108 Audi Quattro of ‘Zippo’ and Denis Piceno, the Italian crew adding maximum points in Austria to the class win they secured last month on the Ypres Historic Rally in Belgium.  They finished 2m59.5 ahead of the no103 Porsche 911 of reigning class champions Karl Wagner and Gerda Zauner.  The Austrians went off on SS3 on the first leg of the rally and spent the day trying to close the gap to the Audi Quattro, but to no avail.

The no106 Porsche of Pentti Veikkanen and Timo Jaakkola finished third in class and sixth overall, which enabled the Finns to maintain their Category 3 championship lead after five rounds, with 62 points to the 58 points of fellow Finns Esa Peltonen and Jyrki Saarto who finished 4th in class in the no115 Toyota Starlet.  Karl Wagner and Gerda Zauner are on 57 points, with ‘Zippo’ on 54.

The Triumph TR8 of Klaus Wilkman and Hanna Valonen finished 7th in class but the Finns are still in touch with the leaders currently on 51 Points, just 11 behind Pentti Veikkanen and Timo Jaakkola.

Category 2: Paolo Pasutti Wins as Anders Johnsen Retires
The overnight leader in Category 2 was the no105 Porsche 911 of Anders and Ingrid Johnsen.  The Swedes started the second day well finishing SS7 in 4th overall, SS8 in 6th and SS9 in 5th. The Porsche had been suffering from an ignition problem with the engine losing power. But on SS10 the Pirelli rain tyres Johnsen had fitted to the car overheated and he spun off the stage.  There was no damage to the car but it was the end of the rally for the Johnsens.

The no116 Porsche Carrera RS of Paolo Pasutti and Giovanni Campeis picked up the class lead and finished the rally in 4th overall, 8m22.5 behind the Category 4 Lancia Delta and 53.1s ahead of their nearest Category 2 rivals, the no110 Porsche 911 RSR of Round 4 winners Carlo Mylle and Steven Vyncke.  Carlo Mylle still leads the Category 2 Drivers Championship on 66 points, just 7 ahead of Paolo Pasutti on 59 points.

Category 1: Ernie Graham’s Ford Escort Takes Class Win in Austria
After the disappointment of retiring from the lead of the Ypres Historic Rally last month with a gearbox failure, Ernie and Karen Graham took the Category 1 victory in Austria.  The no131 Ford Escort Twin Cam finished in 13th overall and six places ahead of championship leaders Antonio Parisi and Giuseppe D’Angelo in the no130 Porsche 911 S.  The no134 BMW 2002 Ti of Elias Kivitila and Timo Tuominen was the third EHSRC championship contender home at the end of the Rallye Weiz in 21st overall.

CLICK HERE for the provisional result from the Rallye Weiz, Round 5 of the FIA European Historic Sporting Rally Championship