ERC’s Gryazin fast in Fabia again

The 19-year-old battled fellow teenager Kalle Rovanperä for the lead throughout the opening day of Rally Latvia, the final round of the national series. The two drivers were never more than three seconds apart on the overall leaderboard during the opening leg.

In only his third full rally in an R5 car, Sports Racing Technologies ace Gryazin was poised for a strong second-place finish but was handed a four-minute penalty for using cut tyres, something co-driver Yaroslav Fedorov explained was part of their effort to gain experience.

"This was our first time competing with an R5 car in Latvia," said Fedorov. "This rally was planned initially to be a training competition to further tame the new car. On the first day we could fight with Kalle. The second day was not as successful, because we understood he is a faster driver and that we will not get him. We decided that the key was to maintain the current second place. Unfortunately, we were punished for the tyre tread modification, which was part of our training plan.  The main thing is that we gained good experience in driving on wet and slippery roads. Thank you to the team for a well-prepared car and the spectators for their support."