WRC 2
Lancia shows early promise on WRC return
Lancia’s return to the WRC showed clear signs of promise, with the new Ypsilon Rally2 HF Integrale displaying competitive pace despite a weekend that ultimately yielded no headline result.
The Italian marque rejoined the WRC at last week's Rallye Monte-Carlo with a two-car WRC2 line-up, and it did not take long for the Ypsilon Rally2 HF Integrale to make an impression. Nikolay Gryazin emerged as an early benchmark, trading fastest times with eventual winner Léo Rossel before his charge ended in Saturday’s treacherous conditions.
For Gryazin, the raw speed shown across the weekend outweighed the disappointment of the result.
“The car shows good potential, so it's really nice to see,” Gryazin said. “We just need to focus on more development just to make it even better.”
Gryazin’s rally came undone on the slushy roads of SS12, where changeable grip caught out several crews. Gryazin explained that his off was almost unavoidable given the conditions.
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“It's not easy to do no mistakes on this rally, I know you need to be like a super lucky guy,” he admitted. “But yes, it was quite a disappointment that we made the mistake.
“Just one corner, small slash and we went out. The problem is you never know. In some places you can go out like this and survive, but in this place it's immediately a tree and you go down. It was not possible to recover.”
The driver ranked the 2026 edition as one of the most demanding Monte-Carlos he has faced, adding: “I have done this rally many times, maybe 2020 was not easy, but not like this. All stages, each day, tricky conditions.”
At the other side of the Lancia garage, Yohan Rossel endured a difficult start to his campaign after an early error put him out of overall contention. But the Frenchman regrouped, topping the overall timesheets on Super Sunday to underline both the pace and reliability of the new car.
“I didn't expect that before the start, for sure,” Rossel said. “It was tough after my mistake on the first day. But it's a good end.”
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While Rossel was unable to fight for the win himself, there was still a family connection at the top of the podium as brother Léo (driving a Citroën C3 Rally2) secured victory. That, combined with a mechanically trouble-free run for the Ypsilon Rally2 HF Integrale, left him encouraged.
“I'm just happy for my brother and Guillaume who won,” Rossel smiled. "Now both [myself] and Léo have won this event. It's very cool, isn't it?
“The car was good and we didn't have any problems during the whole rally. I'm just happy about that,” he added.
“We need to focus on the next race. We have some work to be ready, but I'm more or less happy with the car because we don't have any problems every weekend. The plan is to win now.”
