Nikolay Gyrazin has experienced a campaign of lights and shadows within the WRC2 category of the World Rally Championship. The Russian driver has competed in five events to date, with two podium finishes – Arctic Rally and Ypres Rally -, two retirements and a fourth place. Although his best result came precisely in the last round, on the Belgian asphalt sections, with a second place, the Russian driver decided to change vehicles. Nikolay Gryazin leaves his usual Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 behind to drive a Ford Fiesta Rally2 at the Acropolis Rally. As before, Gryazin’s car will be managed by the Movisport team.
After testing almost all current generation ‘Rally2’ or R5 vehicles, Nikolay Gryazin explained the decision to race the Ford Fiesta Rally2 in Greece: «We have reached a point where we have to decide which direction to take in 2022 and for the following years. As the Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 is not under development we have decided to change for next year. One of our options would be to continue with the Ford Fiesta. I liked his performance on gravel and asphalt. I wanted to test it in competition, we will be under the umbrella of M-Sport in Greece, but as competitors of Movisport ».
Within the usual movements in this phase of the season, Nikolay Gryazin is not the only driver to change machinery at the Acropolis Rally. Within the same WRC2 category in which you compete in Russian, Georg Linnamäe has also decided to change his Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 for a Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo. For its part, within the WRC3 category stands out named after local driver Lambros Athanassoulas, since the Greek will have the honor of being the first private driver to take control of one of the ‘racing-customer’ units of the new Hyundai i20 N Rally2.