Alexey Lukyanuk opens his 2019 counter in Poland

The reigning European champion is back in business! Weaned from victories since the start of the 2019 campaign, Alexey Lukyanuk found the scent of the podium during the last Rally Liepaja in Latvia in the form of a second place.

But it was the victory that the Russian lacked the most, the Rally of Poland constituting a beautiful terrain to try to regain the highest step. And in an event that had not pleased him in the last two years, Lukyanuk perfectly mastered the proceedings at the wheel of his Citroën C3 R5.

After taking control of the race against Jari Huttunen (Hyundai i20 R5), Lukyanuk never let go of the reins of the Polish round, despite a broken shock absorber and two punctures. Winner with almost a minute ahead of Huttunen, Lukyanuk pockets his ninth success in ERC.

Third behind the Lukyanuk – Huttunen tandem, Lukasz Habaj (Skoda Fabia R5) maintains the lead in the championship, 11 points ahead of Lukyanuk.

Among the notable retirements from this event, note the withdrawals of Marijan Griebel and Chris Ingram (Skoda Fabia R5) and Hiroki Arai (Citroën C3 R5).

Final ranking

Discover the full report of the Rally Poland, in issue 2223 of AUTOhebdo, available tomorrow evening in digital version, and from this Wednesday on newsstands.