› Nikolay Gryazin/Konstantin Aleksandrov (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) finish FIA World Rally Championship’s eleventh round second in WRC2 and win WRC2 Challenger.
› Fourth in WRC2 together with Argentinean navigator Rubén García, Škoda driver Jorge Martínez Fontena takes the honours of best-placed Chilean.
› With third season victory in the WRC Masters Cup classification, Škoda driver Miguel Granados and navigator Marc Martí advance to first place of the category standings.
› Škoda Motorsport customer Toksport WRT takes the lead in the WRC2 Teams’ classification.
Concepción (CHL), 15 September 2025 – Rally Chile, eleventh from 14 rounds of the 2025 FIA World Rally Championship, settled the fight for the WRC2 drivers’ title. Second place was not enough for Škoda driver Nikolay Gryazin to remain in contention. However, he can still win the WRC2 Challenger title. Meanwhile, Mexican-Spanish Škoda crew Miguel Granados/Marc Martí won the WRC Masters Cup classification, securing Marc Martí the co-drivers’ title of this category.
Nothing less than WRC2 victory at Rally Chile would have given Nikolay Gryazin a realistic chance to take the title out of Oliver Solberg’s hands during the remaining events. The Škoda driver from Bulgaria and navigator Konstantin Aleksandrov from Kyrgyzstan duly started the rally with two fastest stage times and took the early WRC2 lead. However, a spin in the third stage saw the duo drop to second place behind the eventual winners, Oliver Solberg/Elliott Edmondson. After Friday's stages, the two frontrunners were separated by just 10.4 seconds. However, by Sunday afternoon, Solberg/Edmondson had extended their lead to 40.4 seconds. The Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 crew had to settle for second place in WRC2, which terminally ended Nikolay Gryazin's title hopes.
Nevertheless, the Toksport WRT crew won the WRC2 Challenger classification. With three events remaining in the 2025 season, Nikolay Gryazin still has a chance of winning the title in this category. Also, he collected enough points to hand Toksport WRT the lead in the WRC Teams’ classification. With only one points-scoring event remaining for the front-runners in this category, Škoda Motorsport customer Toksport WRT has good chances to win the title.
Behind third-placed Jan Solans/Rodrigo Sanjuan, two Škoda drivers from South America treated the fans to a thrilling battle for fourth position in WRC2: Jorge Martínez Fontena from Chile, co-driven by Rubén García from Argentina, and Fabrizio Zaldivar from Paraguay, co-driven by Marcelo Der Ohannesian from Italy. Ultimately, the two Škoda pairings were separated by just 1.5 seconds. Jorge Martínez Fontena was the best-placed local driver, he and Rubén García also took third place in the WRC2 Challenger classification. Argentinian Martín Scuncio and co-driver Javiera Román from Chile finished eighth in WRC2, bringing the number of Škoda crews in the top 10 to four.
Meanwhile, two European Škoda crews experienced a more than unfortunate event. Englishman Gus Greensmith and Swedish co-driver Jonas Andersson had to retire during the first leg due to a technical issue. “That’s game over for my championship hopes,” Gus Greensmith realised. They restarted after repairs and eventually finished in 13th position in WRC2. Emil Lindholm and navigator Reeta Hämäläinen from Finland, the WRC2 champions of 2022, had to stop during Saturday’s last stage, also due to technical troubles. They restarted on Sunday but went off on the penultimate stage and did not finish the rally.
The winners’ trophies in the WRC Masters Cup classification were handed to Miguel Granados from Mexico and Spanish co-driver Marc Martí, who shared a Škoda Fabia RS Rally2. While Marc Martí was crowned champion of the co-drivers already after Rally Chile, Granados for the time being “only” advanced to the top of the drivers’ standings. Just mathematically, he can still be beaten to the drivers’ title.
After two rounds in South America, the FIA World Rally Championship returns to Europe. The Central European Rally (16-19 October 2025) is next, which features tarmac stages in Germany, the Czech Republic and Austria.
Number of the Rally: 8
Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 crews posted fastest WRC2 times across eight of the 16 stages. Nikolay Gryazin/Konstantin Aleksandrov were fastest five times, three WRC2 stage wins went to Gus Greensmith/Jonas Andersson.
Rally Chile Bio Bío (CHL), 11-14 September 2025, Result WRC2
1 Oliver Solberg/Elliott Edmondson (SWE/GBR), Toyota GR Yaris Rally2, 3:04:00.7 hours
2 Nikolay Gryazin/Konstantin Aleksandrov (BUL/KGZ), Škoda Fabia RS Rally2, +40.4 seconds
3 Jan Solans/Rodrigo Sanjuan (ESP/ESP), Toyota GR Yaris Rally2, +1:47.8 minutes
4 Jorge Martínez Fontena/Rubén García (CHL/ARG), Škoda Fabia RS Rally2, +4:09.0 minutes
5 Fabrizio Zaldivar/Marcelo Der Ohannesian (PRY/ITA), Škoda Fabia RS Rally2, +4:10.5 minutes
6 Kajetan Kajetanowicz/Maciej Szczepaniak (POL/POL), Toyota GR Yaris Rally2, +8:36.5 minutes
Standings WRC2/Drivers (after 11 of 14 rallies)
1 Oliver Solberg (SWE), Toyota, 135 points
2 Yohan Rossel (FRA), Citroën, 99 points
3 Roope Korhonen (FIN), Toyota, 69 points
4 Robert Virves (EST), Škoda, 60 points
5 Gus Greensmith (GBR), Škoda, 57 points
Standings WRC2/Teams (after 11 of 14 rallies)
1 Toksport WRT, Škoda, 198 points
2 PH Sport, Citroën, 178 points
3 Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT NG, Toyota, 89 points
4 Sarrazin Motorsport-Iron Lynx, Citroën, 64 points
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