› Team Delta Rally’s Nikolay Gryazin/Konstantin Aleksandrov finish the first round of the 2025 FIA World Rally Championship second in class.
› Gus Greensmith and co-driver Jonas Andersson drive a RaceSeven entered Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 to fifth position of the class RC2.
› Italians Robert Daprà/Luca Guglielmetti take the honours of best-placed Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 crew in WRC2.
Monte-Carlo (MCO), 26 January 2025 – Constantly changing road conditions made the season-opening Rallye Monte-Carlo unpredictable as ever. Nikolay Gryazin and co-driver Konstantin Aleksandrov handled the challenge best of all the Škoda drivers and finished second in class RC2. Gus Greensmith/Jonas Andersson followed in fifth position in another Škoda Fabia RS Rally2. Both crews decided not to compete for WRC2 points.
The 18 stages of the Monte Carlo Rally – one stage was cancelled - presented the crews with all kinds of road surfaces. Dry tarmac alternated with snow-covered passages and stretches of so-called "black ice", as rally drivers call frozen patches that are not clearly visible due to the dark asphalt. In addition, all four-wheel-drive cars entered into the FIA World Rally Championship had to use tyres from new supplier Hankook for the first time. "Of course we tested them before the event. But some of the conditions during the rally were completely new to us," described Škoda driver Gus Greensmith.
Least impressed by the tricky roads, Nikolay Gryazin and co-driver Konstantin Aleksandrov took the RC2 lead right from the start in Delta Rally Team’s Škoda Fabia RS Rally2. For four days, they fought tooth and nail with the French pairing of Yohan Rossel/Arnaud Dunand for the class victory. The duel was decided, when the Škoda crew suffered a puncture on Sunday morning. “Fortunately, we are not collecting WRC2 points,“ Gryazin took the second place in class RC2 philosophical.
Gus Greensmith and co-driver Jonas Andersson brought their RaceSeven run Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 home fifth in RC2. The British-Swedish duo struggled with the setup, mostly due to the unfamiliar tyres, and also lost some time with a sensor issue. Greensmith/Andersson held third position in class RC2 until the rally ending power stage. A less than ideal tyre choice finally relegated them to fifth. “I wish I'd taken one more studded tyre,“ Greensmith admitted. „But overall, not bad. Moving to a new team takes some time to get into it. But they've done quite a good job.“
Gryazin/Aleksandrov and Greensmith/Andersson didn’t nominate Rallye Monte-Carlo as one of their seven WRC2 points-scoring events. Other Škoda crews did. Italians Robert Daprà/Luca Guglielmetti (Delta Rally Team) drove the best-placed Fabia Rally2 to fifth place in WRC2, followed by Belgians Maxime Potty/Renaud Herman (Team PTR) in eighth position. Tenth place in WRC2 went to Czech youngster Filip Kohn, who shared a Baumschlager Rallye&Racing entered Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 with British co-driver Ross Whittock.
The podium of the WRC Masters Cup classification, reserved for drivers aged 50 and over, saw two Italian Škoda crews on top. Maurizio Chiarani/Flavio Zanella won ahead of Enrico Brazzoli/Martina Musiari.
From the winding roads of the French Alpes, the FIA World Rally Championship turns to the ultra-fast forest tracks of Scandinavia. Rally Sweden is next from 13 to 16 February 2025.
Number of the rally: 36
The crews of the RC2 class and the WRC2 category were not allowed to use more than 36 tyres during the Rallye Monte-Carlo. The drivers had to choose from a total of 20 soft slicks, 20 super-soft slicks, 24 snow tyres with and 12 without studs.
Rallye Monte-Carlo, 22-26 January 2025, Result class RC2
1 Yohan Rossel/Arnaud Dunand (FRA/FRA)*, Citroën C3 Rally2, 3:29.32.9 hours
2 Nikolay Gryazin/Konstantin Aleksandrov (BUL/KGZ), Škoda Fabia RS Rally2, +1.13.9 minutes
3 Eric Camilli/Thibault de la Haye (FRA/FRA)*, Hyundai i20 N Rally2, +2.47.8 minutes
4 Léo Rossel/Guillaume Mercoiret (FRA/FRA)*, Citroën C3 Rally2, +2.53.9 minutes
5 Gus Greensmith/Jonas Andersson (GBR/SWE), Škoda Fabia RS Rally2, +2.54.9 minutes
6 Oliver Solberg/Elliott Edmondson (SWE/GBR), Toyota GR Yaris Rally2, +4.00.8 minutes
* scoring points in category WRC2
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