Victorious debut for Nikolay Gryazin with the Citroën C3 Rally2

It didn't take long for him to put his words into practice. “ From the first tests, I felt good in the car, he explained before the start of this event where he likes to come and finish his extended seasons while already preparing for the next one. I am comfortable and here I fully intend to attack. »

Ideally placed upstream of Monte-Carlo, the Hivernal, which uses sections of the road from the inaugural round of the 2024 world championship, had the opportunity to welcome the new Toyota Yaris Rally2. The party could have been even more beautiful since Hyundai tried to roll it Ott Tänak with the i20 Rally1. The operation was not completed. Damage. There was still a nice field of 89 cars with, in addition to Gryazin, Yohan Rossel, Georg Linnamäe and the former winner (2016-2017) Olivier Burri. For this 8^e edition, 10 specials and 127,32 km against the clock were on the program in a magical setting, particularly on Sunday under the sun.

Already victorious in 2021 and 2022, Gryazin achieved the hat-trick on tricky terrain, but with less snow than the weather could have led him to hope for a few days before the rally. In addition to starting with his mount, the Russian was able to learn to work with his new team, DG Sport. Winner of 9 of the 10 times contested, the 26-year-old driver did not give details, mastering the rain on Saturday, but also the snowy parts and those where the ice was present. “ It's good preparation for Monte-Carlo “, he estimated.  I always need to drive a car a lot, especially if I'm new to it. »

The C3s did not yet wear the colors of 2024, but the main sponsors were already appearing on the bodies (Photos: Loïc Rocci)

Focusing on working with the engineers, Rossel could be satisfied with his weekend, but he could already see that Gryazin would not make life easy for him. The match between the two C3s promises to be interesting. Even if they did not yet wear the 2024 liveries, it was impossible to miss the AEC stickers from All Exclusive Car, Alexandre Leroy's company which appeared in recent seasons on Pierre-Louis Loubet's cars. This would obviously not be ruled out since it is announced in 2024 on a Toyota Yaris Rally2. Behind the two Citroëns, Jordan Berfa completes the podium. Having never ridden on snow, the former 2017 French gravel champion prepared well for Monte-Carlo.

Final classification of the Dévoluy Winter Rally 2023