Nikolay Gryazin secured second place in the WRC2 category at Rally Chile, driving a Škoda Fabia RS Rally2. To stay in contention for the overall WRC2 title, however, he would have needed a victory. Still, Gryazin remains firmly in the fight for the WRC2 Challenger crown, while Škoda crews are also performing strongly in the WRC Masters Cup category.
The eleventh of fourteen rounds in the FIA World Rally Championship determined the WRC2 category drivers’ title. For the Škoda drivers, only a win would have kept their hopes alive. This applied both to Nikolay Gryazin and to Gus Greensmith. Going into the rally, it was therefore clear that, should they succeed, it would not only be about victory but also about preserving their championship chances for the remaining events.
The Bulgarian driver and his co-driver Konstantin Aleksandrov got off to an excellent start, setting two fastest special stage times to take an early WRC2 lead. A mistake in the third stage, however, resulted in a slide that dropped them behind eventual winner Oliver Solberg and Emil Lindholm, who was also competing in a Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 car.
Gryazin continued to push hard and kept the pressure on Solberg. By the middle of Saturday’s loop, however, his deficit had grown to nearly half a minute. Despite mounting another attack, it was not enough to close the gap. Nevertheless, his strong performance keeps him in contention for the WRC2 Challenger title, while his points haul also moved Toksport WRT into the lead of the WRC2 Teams’ standings.
In Chile, Gryazin also fared better than fellow Škoda drivers Emil Lindholm and Gus Greensmith. The Brit was forced to retire during the opening leg due to technical problems. “That means the end of my title hopes,” admitted Greensmith, who rejoined after repairs but finished a non-scoring thirteenth. On Saturday, technical issues also struck 2022 WRC2 champion Emil Lindholm and his co-driver Reeta Hämäläinen. They re-entered on Sunday but went off the track in the penultimate stage and did not reach the finish.
Other Škoda crews, however, achieved strong results in Chile. Local driver Jorge Martínez claimed fourth place, while Paraguayan driver Fabrizio Zaldivar secured fifth. Argentina’s Martín Scuncio, driving an older Škoda Fabia Rally2 evo, finished eighth. In total, four Škoda entries ranked inside the WRC2 category top ten.
In the WRC Masters Cup, reserved for drivers over 50, Mexico’s Miguel Granados and his Spanish co-driver Marc Martí dominated in their Škoda Fabia RS Rally2. As a result, Martí secured the co-drivers’ title in the Masters Cup ahead of schedule, while Granados moved into the lead of the drivers’ standings for the time being.
