The Czech, who also tops the ERC Fiesta Rally3 Trophy order, built an advantage of 53.3sec during Saturday’s six-stage route with Hubert Kowalczyk impressing on his ERC3 debut at the wheel of a Renault Clio Rally3.
“It was crazy, crazy high temperatures,” Kohn said. “But the day was quite okay, I’m feeling okay, the pace is good, we’re sitting in first place now which is what we wanted. I think it was a solid day we can be happy about that. For sure I would like to go more flat-out but then you have more chance to make a mistake.”
Kowalczyk, a 20-year-old from Poland, would have been closer to Kohn had he not lost more than 12sec on the Colosseum super special in Rome on Friday night when he had issues switching his car to stage mode.
“The stages are so amazing, from corner to corner, some places very slippery,” Kowalczyk said. “The car has been okay, everything completely fine.”
Kerem Kazaz completed leg one in the final spot on the provisional podium, despite a scare on the final stage.
“It’s a bit better now we’re in third place because we corrected some things,” the 18-year-old Turkish talent said. “I was trying a new driving style but I don’t see any point to push more because we already lost a lot of time on the first loop. But to keep third place would be good for the ERC3 points although on the last stage we nearly crashed out so it’s enough. The speed was okay, but the left corner was too tight. I was on the grass.”
Pole Igor Widłak, the 2022 ERC3 champion, overcame brake issues on SS3 to hold fourth overnight, one place ahead of Aleksandar Tomov.
Tomov, a 19-year-old from Bulgaria, has stepped up to ERC3 for Rally di Roma Capitale having started the 2024 season competing in Junior ERC. He was delayed by a damaged front-left tyre on SS4 but enjoyed a trouble-free afternoon in his Clio Rally3.
Competing on his preferred asphalt surface, Croatian Martin Ravenščak was third but retired his Fiesta on SS6.
Sunday’s deciding leg begins with the 5.90km Fiuggi stage from 07:50 local time. It’s one of six stages on the itinerary, which covers a competitive distance of 93.66 kilometres.