Nikolay Gryazin, originally from Russia, set clearly the fastest pace on the crowd-friendly opener laid out in the centre of the city of Córdoba. Gryazin beat second-placed Stéphane Lefebvre by 1.8 seconds on the stage.
Gryazin is one of the leading drivers in the WRC2 category of the World Rally Championship. This year, in addition to his WRC programme, he is also competing in selected rounds of the ERC.
“Good start. Our target is to enjoy, have fun, and do our job. Then we will see how it will work out,” said Gryazin, who was also the fastest earlier on Friday during the qualifying stage.
Norwegian veteran Mads Østberg heads into Saturday’s first proper day of action from joint third place (+2.8 seconds). Sharing the same position is former Formula 1 driver turned rally enthusiast Jos Verstappen.
“Actually, that was the first time I did donuts. I really didn’t know what to do. But it wasn’t too bad. I’m okay, still a lot to learn,” said the 53-year-old Verstappen.
Right behind Østberg and Verstappen is Estonian driver Robert Virves, who was 3.4 seconds off Gryazin’s benchmark time in Córdoba. Virves slightly damaged his car on the spectator stage, when his Škoda made contact with a concrete barrier.
“It’s a little stage, but very tricky. We actually hit something quite hard. But it seems okay,” Virves recalled.
In sixth place behind Virves is Spanish driver Pepe López. Frenchman Yoann Bonato and Poland’s Jakub Matulka will start Saturday from the following positions.
Rally Sierra Morena continues on Saturday with six special stages scheduled. The asphalt rally concludes on Sunday.
Standings in Rally Sierra Morena after stage 1/13:
| POS | Driver | Car | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Nikolay Gryazin | Skoda | 1:39.4 |
| 2. | Stephane Lefebvre | Hyundai | +1.8 |
| 3. | Mads Östberg | Citroen | +2.8 |
| 3. | Jos Verstappen | Skoda | +2.8 |
| 5. | Robert Virves | Skoda | +3.4 |
| 6. | Pepe Lopez | Hyundai | +3.5 |
| 7. | Yoann Bonato | Citroen | +4.2 |
| 8. | Jakub Matulka | Skoda | +4.9 |
| 9. | Dominik Stritesky | Skoda | +5.0 |
| 10. | Jose Suarez | Skoda | +5.1 |
