Nikolay Gryazin wins in Latvia
The Rally Liepāja (6-8 October) in Latvia was the eighth and final round of the FIA European Rally Championship (ERC) as well as the sixth and seventh rounds of the Latvian Rally Championship. Even though this competition had already been decided, there was still much to play for in the ERC standings.
In the end, it was the Sports Racing Technologies pairing of Nikolay Gryazin / Yaroslav Fedorov who took the win in their ŠKODA FABIA R5. Gryazin, who celebrated his twentieth birthday on the Saturday, won seven of the thirteen special stages and only finished outside the top two once despite the difficult conditions. He ended up 18.3 seconds ahead of rival Kalle Rovanperä to ensure he won his first ERC and ERC Junior Under 28 rally. He claimed a win in both rounds of the Latvian championship too.
The result lifts Gryazin up to fifth in the overall ERC standings and second in the ERC Junior U28 classification. He also finished runner-up in the Latvian championship, which Kalle Rovanperä had already secured in his TGS Worldwide OU FABIA R5 back at the Lõuna-Eesti Ralli.
It was the German Albert von Thurn und Taxis who was next highest FABIA R5 driver to finish. Driving a FABIA R5 prepared and run by the Wevers Sport team alongside Belgian co-driver Bjorn Degandt, he finished in fifth place and it was his second top five result in the ERC despite this being his first full season in the championship.
Going into the rally, all eyes were on the FABIA R5 of Portuguese duo Bruno Magalhães / Hugo Magalhães. They were chasing a win which could have secured them the ERC title, but disaster struck on the penultimate stage of the first leg.
Rain was falling heavily and there was a large pool of standing water on one corner, which led to some questioning whether the stage should have been run. But it was, and the water caught Magalhães out and he crashed into a tree, ending his championship hopes. The same corner ended the challenge of Alexey Lukyanuk, who was leading the rally at the time.
2017 Rally Liepāja
Gustavo Saba second to Arias at the Transchaco Rally but retains Paraguayan Rally Championship
The Transchaco Rally (30 September - 2 October) was the seventh and penultimate round of the Paraguayan Rally Championship and saw a ŠKODA FABIA R5’s one-two result as Gustavo Saba retained his Paraguayan Rally Championship title.
But Saba, driving alongside co-driver Fernando Mussano, didn’t have it all his own way during the rally itself as it was Didier Arias and his co-driver Hector Nunes who claimed the victory. Saba led the way in the opening stages, but he encountered problems on SS15 which saw him drop back to third.
Arias took up the lead, and never relinquished up, eventually claiming the win by a margin of 1 minute 45 seconds. Saba fought back manfully and did enough to ensure he would finish as runner-up.
And with four victories to his name already this season (at the Rally Trans Itapúa, Rally de Santani, Rally de la Republica and Rally Acosta Ñu), as well as two more runner-up spots, that was enough to ensure he would be the Paraguayan Rally Champion for 2017.
All Saba’s attention will now turn to the Rally del Atlántico (24-26 November) in Uruguay, which is the concluding round of the CODASUR South American Rally Championship. There he will be up against fellow FABIA R5 driver Marcos Ligato as he attempts to retain that title as well.
2017 Transchaco Rally
Dan Gîrtofan dominates Raliul Sibiului but just misses out on Romanian title
There was both ecstasy and agony for Dan Gîrtofan at the Raliul Sibiului (6-7 October), the seventh and final round of the Romanian Rally Championship, as he ensured an empathic victory which was not quite enough to clinch the Romanian title.
Gîrtofan, who was driving a ŠKODA FABIA R5 for the ŠKODA Romania Motorsport, had remained in title contention after the previous round, the Rally Iasi when a successful appeal against a penalty saw him belatedly awarded the victory. Which meant coming into this rally, Gîrtofan knew he had to take the win and hope other results went his way if he were to be champion. And there was nothing more Gîrtofan himself could have done. He led the rally from start to finish, winning twelve of the fourteen special stages to end up 1 minute and 15 seconds clear of his closest challenger. Unfortunately for him, that was title rival Bogdan Marisca, and his second place finish was enough to ensure he would be champion.
2017 Raliul Sibiului
Nikolay Gryazin wins in Latvia
The Rally Liepāja (6-8 October) in Latvia was the eighth and final round of the FIA European Rally Championship (ERC) as well as the sixth and seventh rounds of the Latvian Rally Championship. Even though this competition had already been decided, there was still much to play for in the ERC standings.
In the end, it was the Sports Racing Technologies pairing of Nikolay Gryazin / Yaroslav Fedorov who took the win in their ŠKODA FABIA R5. Gryazin, who celebrated his twentieth birthday on the Saturday, won seven of the thirteen special stages and only finished outside the top two once despite the difficult conditions. He ended up 18.3 seconds ahead of rival Kalle Rovanperä to ensure he won his first ERC and ERC Junior Under 28 rally. He claimed a win in both rounds of the Latvian championship too.
The result lifts Gryazin up to fifth in the overall ERC standings and second in the ERC Junior U28 classification. He also finished runner-up in the Latvian championship, which Kalle Rovanperä had already secured in his TGS Worldwide OU FABIA R5 back at the Lõuna-Eesti Ralli.
It was the German Albert von Thurn und Taxis who was next highest FABIA R5 driver to finish. Driving a FABIA R5 prepared and run by the Wevers Sport team alongside Belgian co-driver Bjorn Degandt, he finished in fifth place and it was his second top five result in the ERC despite this being his first full season in the championship.
Going into the rally, all eyes were on the FABIA R5 of Portuguese duo Bruno Magalhães / Hugo Magalhães. They were chasing a win which could have secured them the ERC title, but disaster struck on the penultimate stage of the first leg.
Rain was falling heavily and there was a large pool of standing water on one corner, which led to some questioning whether the stage should have been run. But it was, and the water caught Magalhães out and he crashed into a tree, ending his championship hopes. The same corner ended the challenge of Alexey Lukyanuk, who was leading the rally at the time.
2017 Rally Liepāja
Gustavo Saba second to Arias at the Transchaco Rally but retains Paraguayan Rally Championship
The Transchaco Rally (30 September - 2 October) was the seventh and penultimate round of the Paraguayan Rally Championship and saw a ŠKODA FABIA R5’s one-two result as Gustavo Saba retained his Paraguayan Rally Championship title.
But Saba, driving alongside co-driver Fernando Mussano, didn’t have it all his own way during the rally itself as it was Didier Arias and his co-driver Hector Nunes who claimed the victory. Saba led the way in the opening stages, but he encountered problems on SS15 which saw him drop back to third.
Arias took up the lead, and never relinquished up, eventually claiming the win by a margin of 1 minute 45 seconds. Saba fought back manfully and did enough to ensure he would finish as runner-up.
And with four victories to his name already this season (at the Rally Trans Itapúa, Rally de Santani, Rally de la Republica and Rally Acosta Ñu), as well as two more runner-up spots, that was enough to ensure he would be the Paraguayan Rally Champion for 2017.
All Saba’s attention will now turn to the Rally del Atlántico (24-26 November) in Uruguay, which is the concluding round of the CODASUR South American Rally Championship. There he will be up against fellow FABIA R5 driver Marcos Ligato as he attempts to retain that title as well.
2017 Transchaco Rally
Dan Gîrtofan dominates Raliul Sibiului but just misses out on Romanian title
There was both ecstasy and agony for Dan Gîrtofan at the Raliul Sibiului (6-7 October), the seventh and final round of the Romanian Rally Championship, as he ensured an empathic victory which was not quite enough to clinch the Romanian title.
Gîrtofan, who was driving a ŠKODA FABIA R5 for the ŠKODA Romania Motorsport, had remained in title contention after the previous round, the Rally Iasi when a successful appeal against a penalty saw him belatedly awarded the victory. Which meant coming into this rally, Gîrtofan knew he had to take the win and hope other results went his way if he were to be champion. And there was nothing more Gîrtofan himself could have done. He led the rally from start to finish, winning twelve of the fourteen special stages to end up 1 minute and 15 seconds clear of his closest challenger. Unfortunately for him, that was title rival Bogdan Marisca, and his second place finish was enough to ensure he would be champion.
2017 Raliul Sibiului
