Vice champion Marijan Griebel: With a brand change for the third title in the DRM?

Vice champion Marijan Griebel
With a brand change to the third title in the DRM?

2/2/2023, 6:15 p.m

New car, new team, third title? – Marijan Griebel wants to clinch the hat trick in the German Rally Championship (DRM) next season and is breaking new ground to do so.

The 33-year-old is leaving the Saintolec team after three years and switching from the Citroën C3 Rally2 to the new Škoda Fabia RS Rally2, which is used by Pole Promotion. Like last year, the announcements will be made by co-driver Tobias Braun, who, like Pole Promotion, comes from Bückeburg.

Marijan Griebel used the winter break to think about his future and set the course for his career. With the Pole Promotion team and the new car, the two-time DRM champion sees the best chance of another championship in the top league of German rallying. “Pole Promotion was competition last year and did a very good job. I contacted the boss Dennis Rostek and had fruitful discussions. We will have a very good overall package at the start and want to win the title together,” admits Hahnweiler optimistic.

The champion starts for pole promotion with Škoda Fabia RS Rally2

Dennis Rostek, Head of Pole Promotion, is also looking forward to the new season: “Thanks to the good cooperation with Škoda, we are the first customer team in Germany to use the latest model, the Škoda Fabia RS Rally2. And with Marijan Griebel, one of the best German rally driver in the cockpit.”

The team is now waiting for the arrival of the new car. Then the test phase begins. Marijan Griebel: “I’ve driven Škoda quite a few times, but I’m not familiar with the new make, of which only seven or eight have been delivered worldwide so far. The tests are therefore very important. We’ll agree together exactly what the program will look like . We will definitely use the time to get used to it and to prepare optimally.”

The 33-year-old ticked off the unfortunate end of last season, who caught Philip Geipel and co-driver Katrin Becker at the last second and then became runner-up with a deficit of just one point. “We won the rallies that suited us and, apart from one failure, scored well in the others. The weather was our problem the last time we started in Lower Bavaria. If it had been dry on Saturday, I would have had a very good chance of becoming German champion In the end it was simply down to the quality of Philip and co-driver Katrin, who put in a flawless performance. But the cards will be reshuffled next season.”