Russian Nikolay Gryazin (VW Polo GTI R5) has won the Rally of Liepaja, the second round of the ERC. The Russian was 17.3 ahead of Craig Breen (Hyundai i20 R5) on arrival who kept pushing, but was unable to close the gap.
Alexey Lukyanuk (Citroën C3 Rally2) finished third and is further away from the competition in the European Championship standings. Grégoire Munster and Louis Louka (Hyundai i20 R5) eventually finished eighteenth.
After Gryazin dominated the opening day, the Russian continued to press the accelerator pedal during the first loop of the second day of competition. The gap with the first pursuer was expanded to 15.2 sec halfway the second day of competition. At no point could Gryazin lean back. But in the end, the Russian succeeded in what failed in the opening match in Poland: winning.
After his flat tire in yesterday’s opening stage, Grégoire Munster had already forgotten a good classification. Yet the young man remained with many craving driving around, that is also apparent from his times. Based on the ranking of the second day, he would have finished higher. “This is not the result we expected, but it is part of the sport,” says Grégoire Munster. “Without yesterday’s flat tire we would have finished seventh. The important thing is that we were able to finish the rally and gain some experience. I am very satisfied with my times today.”
Amaury Molle and Florian Barral (Ford Fiesta Rally4) finished 45th.