WRC 2
Lancia leave WRC2 rivals in dust on Friday in Croatia
Lancia duo Yohan Rossel and Nikolay Gryazin took a commanding lead over their WRC2 rivals on Friday at Croatia Rally.
Competing in matching Lancia Ypsilon HF Rally2s, Rossel took four stage wins to Gryazin’s two, to be leading his team-mate by 22.1sec. Alejandro Cachón completed the day in third, a further 19.9sec adrift in his Toyota GR Yaris Rally2.
Croatia Rally marks the second outing in 2026 for the Lancia duo, after the pair skipped Sweden and Kenya. They quickly set about displaying their Tarmac credentials, appearing unphased by the dirty and broken asphalt roads whilst avoiding the tyre issues that impacted their rivals.
Nikolay Gryazin sat second overnight following Friday in WRC2 in Croatia
© At World
Outside of the top three, Yohan’s younger brother Léo in a Citroën C3 Rally2 and Yaris pilot Roope Korhonen were the only two to come out of Friday unscathed, to hold fourth and fifth spots respectively. Rossel is well positioned to join his brother in a podium spot on Saturday, just 7.2sec off Cachón.
Despite picking up a tyre deflation on the morning loop, Athur Pelamourgues avoided stopping his Hyundai i20 N Rally2 on the stage to still complete the day in sixth, 13sec ahead of Romet Jürgenson.
Former Junior WRC champion Jürgenson was left to potentially rue what could have been, taking his Ford Fiesta Rally2 into midday service just 1.5sec down on Gryazin in third. But a puncture on the opening stage of the afternoon loop saw him drop to seventh, leaving a brace of stage wins as his consolation from a frustrating Friday.
Alejandro Cachón took a controlled approach to Friday in Croatia
© At World
Behind Jürgenson in eighth was former WRC2 champion Emil Lindholm while Italian Roberto Daprà and Eric Camilli rounded out the top 10.
Notable names sitting outside of the top 10 included Kajetan Kajetanowicz in 11th and Andreas Mikkelsen in 15th. Star Škoda driver Mikkelsen was left more than four-and-a-half minutes off the lead after suffering two punctures, both of which required him to stop in stage to change.
Meanwhile, Austrian veteran Johannes Keferböck led the WRC Masters Cup for Drivers, 4min 40sec clear of Turkey’s Ugur Soylu.
