Twenty-seven-year-old Gryazin was in superb form throughout the first full day of tricky asphalt stages, which weaved their way through the Czech Republic and back towards the service park near Bad Griesbach, Germany.
After edging ahead by 1.7sec following Thursday’s opening two tests, he and co-driver Konstantin Aleksandrov continued their surge, clocking four fastest times to pull clear of Filip Mareš’ Toyota GR Yaris Rally2.
While Gryazin enjoyed a near-perfect day, the same could not be said for Rossel.
Fri 18 Oct 2024
Gryazin leads WRC2 as Rossel’s title bid in trouble
Nikolay Gryazin dominated Friday’s action at Central European Rally to build a commanding 45.9sec lead, but his Citroën C3 Rally2 team-mate Yohan Rossel saw his title ambitions slowly ebb away.
The Frenchman, who must win here to stay in the hunt for the WRC2 title, found himself 1min 36.7sec off the pace in fifth after a frustrating run. Rossel went off the road and broke a wheel on Thursday, and further compounded his troubles today by struggling to dial in the optimum setup.
If Rossel fails to claim victory by Sunday, the WRC2 title fight will be decided at next month's FORUM8 Rally Japan, with either Oliver Solberg or Sami Pajari in line to secure the championship — neither of whom are scoring points this weekend.
Czech star Mareš was embroiled in a fierce three-way battle with Polish Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 drivers Miko Marczyk and Kajetan Kajetanowicz, all of whom have extensive FIA European Rally Championship experience. The gap widened between the trio in the final two tests, with Mareš heading Marczyk by 19.5sec and Kajetanowicz a further 18.2sec behind.
Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy driver Josh McErlean trailed Rossel by 2.2sec and brought his Škoda home 5.3sec ahead of Marijan Griebel’s similar car.
Japan
Poland
Turkey