Nikolay Gryazin wins Rally Poland, ERC leader Lukyanuk crashed out

The Russian rally driver Nikolay Gryazin wins the 72nd Rajd Polski – Rally Poland, the seventh and the penultimate round of the 2018 European Rally Championship. For the 20-year-old driver of Škoda Fabia R5, it’s his first ERC victory this year and the second in a career.

Gryazin took the lead on Saturday morning after Special Stage 2 and stayed in front until Sunday afternoon. After fifteen stages and 214 competitive kilometers, Gryazin defeated second-placed Jari Huttunen (Hyundai i20 R5) by 8.3 seconds. Far behind, almost two and half minutes behind the winner, Chris Ingram finished third in a Škoda Fabia R5.

The ERC overall leader Alexey Lukyanuk was the fastest in the opening stage Mikolajki Arena on Friday afternoon, then dropped to P2 on SS2 and crashed out on SS3. He stayed in the championship lead because the second-placed Bruno Magalhaes didn’t even participate at Rally Poland. The season’s finale would be Rally Liepaja on October 12-14.