In the first stage of the Slovenian Championship “Rally Vipava Valley” seven of the ten planned stages took place. Gryazin started the rally with the Škoda Fabia Rally2 evo and was the fastest in five stages, reaching the second and third best times at the same time. At the finish, he beat his closest follower, the Czech driver Erik Cais (Ford Fiesta Rally2), by 33 seconds.
The third place in the overall standings was won by the Estonian Roberts Virves, who also did it with a Ford Fiesta Rally3 car, while several crews with more powerful equipment were left behind. In all stages, Virves was able to show the “Top 6” results, but in the final dopa he even won. For a while the crew took fourth place, but climbed to third in the penultimate stage.
In the first stage of the Swiss Championship “Criterium Jurassien” won by host Michel Burri (Citroën C3 Rally2) in the first stage of the Romanian Championship “Maramures Rally” Bulgarian Ignat Isaev (Škoda Fabia R5) took first place in the final stage, beating Simon Tempestin (Porsche 997 GT3 RGT), but in the opening stage of the Danish Championship “Slagelse Rally” victory over Danish driver Kenet Madsen (Peugeot 208 T16). All these races took place on asphalt.
Meanwhile, a favorite of riders in distant New Zealand “Otago Rally”, which was the first stage of this national championship. The race took place on gravel roads, with crews measuring 14 stages, but the Heiden Padon with the Hyundai i20 AP4, known at the World Rally Championship, won a very convincing victory. He was almost five and a half minutes ahead of his closest follower.
