Rossel ultimately finished 38.8 seconds clear of his brother Léo, while completing a strong team result for Lancia Corse HF, Nikolay Gryazin and Konstantin Aleksandrov claimed third place. The duo were among the quickest all weekend, recording seven stage wins. After a setback on SS14, Gryazin mounted an impressive recovery, delivering a flawless Sunday run to climb back onto the podium.
Rally Croatia underlined the strength and competitiveness of the Lancia Ypsilon Rally2 HF Integrale, which dominated proceedings across the 300 kilometres of competitive action, taking 13 stage wins from 20. This impressive performance enabled the car to finish fourth and sixth overall in the rally, narrowly missing out on a place on the podium
Lancia Corse HF now lead the WRC2 Teams’ standings with 84 points. Thanks to his victory in Croatia, Yohan Rossel moves up to third in the Drivers’ Championship, with Gryazin in fifth place.
The team will return to action in two weeks at Rally Islas Canarias, part of Rally Spain, as their WRC2 campaign continues.
Didier Clément – Team Principal, Lancia Corse HF
“So, following an extremely encouraging Monte Carlo Rally, where drivers Yohan Rossel and Nikolay Gryazin demonstrated their pace and the proven effectiveness of the Lancia Ypsilon Rally2 HF Integrale, both drivers managed this weekend to navigate the pitfalls to achieve an exceptional result. The victory for Yohan Rossel and Arnaud Dunand and the superb third place for Nikolay Gryazin and Konstantin Aleksandrov show us that, in terms of performance, a one-two finish was assured. Unfortunately, a minor technical issue, quickly resolved, saw Nikolay drop to third place on the podium, but in any case, the pace is there and the reliability is there. And this bodes well for the rest of the season, with the Canary Islands Rally coming up in less than a week. We are proud of our two crews”
Yohan Rossel – Official WRC2 Driver, Lancia Corse HF
“It’s been a fantastic rally – for us and for the team. We knew that Lancia’s ambition this year was to come back strongly in the WRC. After Monte Carlo it was a bit difficult for me, as it wasn’t the result I was expecting, but here in Croatia, at this second round, everything was perfect – from tyre choices to the set-up. We were always in control. I’m really happy for the team, for myself and for all Lancia fans.
Nikolay Gryazin – Official WRC2 Driver, Lancia Corse HF
“In the end, it all worked out well, especially considering that after the issue on Saturday we had dropped several positions away from the podium. So, going into the final stages on Sunday, the plan was to recover the lost time, and we immediately found a strong rhythm, winning all of Sunday’s stages and climbing back onto the podium. Given that we managed to do it, I can only be happy – even if, of course, my target was the win. We pushed from day one and only had a small issue that cost us an even better result, but I’m satisfied with the pace we showed throughout the weekend. Now we’re ready to analyse the data from this rally and be fully prepared for Rally Islas Canarias in two weeks’ time”.
