The twelfth and final round of the FIA European Hill Climb Championship has taken place in its traditional location of Buzet in Croatia.

Having been assured of winning his eighth European title on the evening of the Slovenian event in Ilirska Bistrica at the end of August, Simone Faggioli (Norma M20 FC Zytek) did not put in an appearance in Croatia, preferring instead to compete in the final round of his national championship, in which he also claimed first prize.

The real contest in the Buzet race was for the honourable mentions: Czech drivers Milos Benes (Osella FA30 Zytek) and Dan Michl (Lotus Evora V8) were both vying for second place in the final classification, while Italian Fausto Bormolini (Reynard K02) and David Hauser of Luxembourg (Wolf GB08F1) battled it out for fourth.

After clearly dominating in the first timed heat at Buzet, Benes was able to take the second heat at his ease, and although he only achieved the fourth-fastest time, those two climbs combined were enough to secure him the title of 2015 runner-up. Despite emerging as the winner in Group E2-SH – the group for cars known as “Silhouettes”– Michl had to settle for third place overall, ahead of Bormolini and Hauser. The surprise of the Croatian event came from Slovenian driver Patrick Zajelsnik, who managed to squeeze his Norma M20F Mugen between Benes’ Osella and Hauser’s Wolf.

Assured of the Category 1 title since the end of August, Igor Stefanovski once again proved intractable in Croatia and emerged the clear winner in Group N with his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9, snagging his 10th group victory in 12 competitions. The more keenly contested Group A saw Austrian driver Christian Schweiger (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 8) seize first but, by classifying second, Czech driver Jaromir Maly (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 8) managed to secure the Championship runner-up spot in Category 1, which combines Groups N, A and GT.