19-year-old Rzeźnik wins Rzeszów Rally, breaks age record

Adrian Rzeźnik and co-driver Kamil Kozdroń, driving a Škoda Fabia RS Rally2, claimed victory at the MARMA 35. Rajd Rzeszowski, the fifth round of the KIQ Polish Rally Car Championship. The pair led from the opening stage through to the finish, ultimately winning by 1 minute 14.4 seconds ahead of Grzegorz Grzyb and Adam Binięda, also in a Fabia RS Rally2. Third place went to Jarosław and Marcin Szeja, finishing just 1.7 seconds further back.

At 19 years old, Rzeźnik became the youngest winner in the history of the Rzeszów Rally, surpassing a record set in 2018 by Russian driver Nikolai Griaznov, who was 20 years, 10 months and 4 days old at the time. For Rzeźnik, this was only his second start in the event and his first in a Rally2 car. The victory carries additional significance: his father, Maciej Rzeźnik, won the same rally on 9 August 2014, piloted by Przemysław Mazur in a Ford Fiesta R5. Adrian's triumph came one day before the twelfth anniversary of that success—the two victories are separated by exactly 4,382 days, missing a full 12-year gap by just one day.

Rzeźnik and Kozdroń established their winning position during the opening stage, Chmielnik (19.25 km), which took place in extreme wet conditions and was the longest test of the day. They seized the lead and never relinquished it, winning five of the ten stages contested and maintaining a high pace even as conditions dried. The battle for second place proved intense, with Grzyb and Binięda holding only a 2.5-second advantage over the Sejas before the final Power Stage, where the Szeja brothers gained 0.8 seconds but fell short of overtaking.

In the Rally3 class, Michał Chorbiński and Adam Chrzanowski (Renault Clio Rally3) won by 5.8 seconds over Jakub Ulanowski and Rafał Fiołek (Ford Fiesta Rally3). In the 2WD category, Dariusz Poloński and Łukasz Sitek (Lancia Ypsilon Rally4) secured their fourth victory of the season. With 33 points from the win, Rzeźnik and Kozdroń now lead the championship standings with 138 points, just one ahead of the Sejas. The season concludes with the 70th Rajd Wisły on 18–19 September, which will carry a 1.5 multiplier, offering up to 50 points for victory.