Sierra Morena – Nikolay Gryazin has margin

At the end of the first stage of the Rally Sierra Morena, Nikolay Gryazin and his co-driver Konstantin Aleksandrov perfectly navigated the seven special stages. They built up a gap of 7 seconds, which will allow them to manage their Sunday.

Published 05/04/2025 à 18:41

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Sierra Morena – Nikolay Gryazin has margin

With a lead of almost 30 seconds, Nikolay Gryazin was able to comfortably manage Sunday © Red Bull

The opening of the debates in WRC 2025 happened during the new Rally Sierra Morena, which is included for the first time in its history on the European Championship calendar. A little over 94 km of timed races were on the program for Stage 1. The latter began with a special stage in Cordoba on Friday evening. Nikolay Gryazin, who set the fastest time, made a perfect start to his preparation for the rally Canary Islands in WRC2 (April 23-26).

Already the leader, he had a very solid day. With three stage wins, the Bulgarian always had control of events. He let Andrea Mabellini, John Armstrong and Efren Llarena each win a time trial, but he also knew how to make the difference in certain sectors. This was the case in the 27,19 km of Villaviciosa, the final section where he managed to distance himself from the 2nd place finisher.^e 11 seconds behind. He returned to the service park with a 6 second margin. This should allow him to manage on Sunday.

The fight for the podium involved several candidates, including José Suarez, Mads Ostberg and Pepe Lopez. It was ultimately the former who managed to claim this position, but he remains under threat from Yoann Bonato. Navigated by Benjamin Boulloud, the multiple French champion did not immediately get into the rhythm (13^e of ES2), but he was able to correct the situation with two 2s in particular^e time at the end of the stage. With his C3 fitted with Michelin tyres, he only has 4 seconds to take 9nd place^e Suarez Square. A better awakening will be required...

Excellent during the opening SS in Cordoba (2^e) Stéphane Lefebvre, who collaborates with Andy Malfoy, then experienced a Saturday with ups and downs. Having to discover his equipment, he sometimes had to deal with settings that could still be improved. He finished this 1^er day 9^e rank with opportunities to improve his result tomorrow. In the ERC3 category, Frenchman Tristan Charpentier (Fiesta Rally3) with Florian Barral dominates the proceedings with a gap of 10 seconds over Polish driver Hubert Kowalczyk. The final day will include 2 special stages and 6 km against the clock.