Both shakedown and qualifying stage were held on 3,26-kilometre long route in Talty locality. Gryazin was the fastest in the first run of free practice, but Lukyanuk finished just 0,1 seconds behind the winner of Rally Rzeszow and Rally Elektrenai, which were two previous round of Polish rally championship. During another round Lukyanuk scored the best result, edging out WRC 2 regular Lukasz Pieniazek (Skoda Fabia R5) by 0,184 seconds. Pieniazek was not the only one Pole in the top of the shakedown leaderboard. 22-year old Miko Marczyk (Skoda Fabia R5) impressed, finishing fourth during both runs of Talty stage.
When it came to qualifying stage it was one-man show. Aleksey Lukyanuk blasted through the stage to beat second placed Griazin by nearly a minute. Finnish driver Jari Huttunen went third in his factory-backed Hyundai i20 R5. Huttunen was 1,618 seconds behind stage winner and main FIA ERC title contender.
Great performance by Miko Marczyk gave him fourth place, second in ERC Junior U28 classification. Marczyk outran all of the Poles and many ERC regulars like multiple Hungarian champion Norbert Herczig, ERC Junior U27 winner Chris Ingram or two-time German champion Fabian Kreim.
Lukyanuk will be the first driver to choose during road order selection which will be held at 2:10 PM at Mikolajki City Square. Top 15 drivers choose their starting positions, which is vital during high-speed gravel event like Rally Poland. The drivers, who clocked the best times during on qualifying stage get the privilege to select their positions first.
In ERC Junior U27 category it was Spaniard Efrén Llarena who covered the qualifying stage in shortest time. Co-driven by Sara Fernandez, Peugeot 208 R2 driver finished ahead of category leader Martins Sesks (3rd time, +2,493 seconds) and Swede Tom Kristensson (2nd, +2,286 seconds), both representing factory ADAC Opel Rallye Junior Team.
PZM 75th Rally Poland – qualifying stage results:
1. Lukyanuk/Arnautov (RUS/RUS, Ford Fiesta R5) 1:48,976 s.
2. Gryazin/Fedorov (RUS/RUS, Skoda Fabia R5) + 0,940 s.
3. Huttunen/Linnaketo (FIN/FIN, Hyundai i20 R) +1,618 s.
4. Marczyk/Gospodarczyk (POL/POL, Skoda Fabia R5) +1,719 s.
5. Herczig/Ferencz (HUN/HUN, Skoda Fabia R5) +2,632 s.
6. Avcioğlu/Korkmaz (TUR/TUR, Skoda Fabia R5) +2,632 s.
7. Ingram/Whittock (GBR/GBR, Skoda Fabia R5) +2,897 s.
8. Pellier/Combe (FRA/FRA, Peugeot 208 R5) +3,238 s.
9. Grzyb/Wróbel (POL/POL, Skoda Fabia R5) +3,398 s.
10. Habaj/Dymurski (POL/POL, Skoda Fabia R5) +3,639