Nikolay Gryazin facts for kids
Nikolay Gryazin in 2018
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| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality |  Russian (2019–2020) Russian Automobile Federation (2021–2022) FIA (2022–2023) Bulgaria (2024–present) |
| Born | 7 October 1997 Moscow, Russia |
| World Rally Championship record | |
| Active years | 2019–present |
| Co-driver |  /// Konstantin Aleksandrov |
| Teams | Hyundai, Movisport, Toksport, DG Sport Compétition |
| Rallies | 52 |
| Championships | 0 |
| Rally wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 0 |
| Stage wins | 0 |
| Total points | 42 |
| First rally | 2019 Rally Sweden |
Nikolay Stanislavovich Gryazin (born October 7, 1997) is a professional rally driver from Russia, who now competes under a Bulgarian license. He comes from a family of rally drivers; his father is Stanislav Gryazin and his older brother is Vasiliy Gryazin.
Nikolay has won four big races in the European Rally Championship. In 2018, he finished second overall in that championship and won the special ERC Junior U28 title for younger drivers. He started competing in the World Rally Championship in 2019. In his first year, he won his first race in the WRC-2 class at the 2019 Rally Finland.
He currently drives for Citroen Racing in the World Rally Championship. He uses a Citroen C3 Rally2 car in the World Rally Championship-2 (WRC-2), which is a major support series for the main World Rally Championship. His co-driver, who helps him navigate during races, is Konstantin Aleksandrov.
Contents
About Nikolay Gryazin
Nikolay Gryazin is a Russian driver with some Latvian family background. From the very beginning of his rally career, he has been part of a special program for young rally drivers called Sports Racing Technologies. This program helps new talents grow in the sport.
Nikolay's Rally Career
Starting in Rally Racing
With the support of Sports Racing Technologies, Nikolay first became well-known in 2016. He competed in the junior categories of the European Rally Championship (ERC). He drove a Peugeot 208 R2 car in the ERC-3 class. From the start, he showed he was very fast. However, he sometimes struggled to finish races consistently.
After not finishing four rallies, he finally won a class race in Poland at Rally Rzeszowski. He also earned a podium finish (meaning he was one of the top three) at the Czech Rally Zlín. By the end of the 2016 season, he was ranked 4th in the ERC-3 standings. He also finished 6th in the Latvian junior championship that year.
Moving Up in ERC and Latvia (2017–2018)
In 2017, Nikolay moved up to more powerful cars with four-wheel drive. He started using a Škoda Fabia R5 car for full seasons in both the European and Latvian Rally Championships. He also took part in some other regional rallies across Europe.
It was a bit tough for him at first in the European Championship. His best finish was 5th place at the Rallye Açores. But by the end of the season, he had a big win at Rally Liepaja in Latvia, beating another talented driver, Kalle Rovanperä. He finished 7th in the ERC season and came in second in the Under-28 trophy. In Latvia, he had an amazing year, winning three races and finishing second overall in the championship. He also got podiums and wins in other rallies in places like Estonia, Slovenia, and Finland.
The year 2018 was a huge year for Nikolay. He continued to race full-time in the ERC and Latvian championships with his Fabia car. He also competed in the Finnish championship. This season was very successful for him. He won two overall victories in the ERC. One was in Poland, where he had a close fight with Jari Huttunen. The other was at Rally Liepaja, which he won for the second year in a row. These wins helped him finish second overall in the 2018 ERC standings, and he won the Under-28 trophy again. He also finished 3rd in the Latvian championship with three wins and 4th in the Finnish Championship with one win. He continued to get podiums and wins in other regional rallies in Poland, Lithuania, Italy, Sweden, and Norway.
Joining the World Rally Championship (2019–Present)
After his successful 2018 season, it was announced that Nikolay Gryazin and Sports Racing Technologies would move up to compete full-time in the World Rally Championship-2 (WRC-2) in 2019. This was his first time racing in the main World Rally Championship series.
After winning two warm-up rallies in Norway, Nikolay made his WRC debut at Rally Sweden. He finished 15th overall and 5th in the WRC-2 class. In his next race in Corsica, he finished 12th overall and took 2nd place in WRC-2. He did well because some of the usual top drivers had problems.
Since then, Nikolay has continued to compete in the WRC-2 category. He has shown consistent performance and has been a strong competitor in many rallies around the world. In 2024, he achieved several podium finishes and wins in the WRC-2 category, including victories at the 2024 Croatia Rally, 2024 Central European Rally, and 2024 Rally Japan. He finished the 2024 WRC-2 season in 3rd place overall. He is currently competing in the 2025 season, continuing to aim for top results.
See also
In Spanish: Nikolái Griazin para niños
