Autosportfoto

Gryazin takes on ERC Junior challenge after outstanding debut

Exciting youngster Nikolay Gryazin embarks on an ERC Junior campaign on this week's Circuit of Ireland after bursting onto the FIA European Rally Championship scene at the end of 2015.

Less than a month after turning 18, Gryazin made his debut in a ŠKODA Fabia R5 in Valais last October and claimed a superb sixth place. Even more impressively, last year was his first proper season in rallying after starting out in circuit racing.

This season he'll compete in ERC Junior in a Peugeot 208 R2 with Latvian outfit Sports Racing Technologies, following in the footsteps of his older brother Vasily who did the same last year before a road traffic accident ended his campaign.

Ralfs Sirmacis used an SRT 208 to take second in the ERC Junior standings in 2015, and Nikolay knows both team and car well from an extended programme in Northern Europe last season and five events he's already contested in 2016, including the Spa Rally in Belgium.

He said: "We decided to begin ERC Junior as I did a big season last year and got really big experience with the Peugeot R2. So after many rallies and tests I feel ready to compete with other young fast drivers in the Junior series."

Zdroj: fiaerc.com