Efrén Llarena is a Spanish rally driver born 26 May 1995 in
Espinosa de los Monteros,
Burgos
Burgos () is a city in Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populous municipality of the province of Burgos.
Burgos is situated in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, on the confluence of th ...
,
Castilla y León
Castile, Castille or Castilla may refer to:
Places Spain
* Castile (historical region), a vaguely defined historical region of Spain covering most of Castile and León, all of the Community of Madrid and most of Castilla–La Mancha
* Kingdom o ...
.
In 2021 he finished runner up in the
European Rally Championship
The European Rally Championship (officially FIA European Rally Championship) is an rallying, automobile rally competition held annually on the European continent and organized by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA).
The champion ...
behind
Andreas Mikkelsen
Andreas Mikkelsen (born 22 June 1989) is a Norwegian rally driver. He is currently competing in the World Rally Championship for Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT. He previously drove for the factory teams of Volkswagen and Citroën, finishing third in th ...
whilst driving his long term co-driver
Sara Fernández to the co-driver's championship title.
The following year in 2022, Llarena won the European Rally Championship, securing the title with two rounds remaining in the championship.
Career
Llarena made his rally debut in 2013 just weeks after his 18th birthday at the Rallysprint de San Miguel in a
Renault Clio Sport. He continued to enter rallies in Spain in 2013, 2014 and 2015 and with co-driver Igor Zatika had some success in their class. He finished 3rd in the Spanish Championship junior category in 2014. In 2016 he began working with Sara Fernández and alternated between a
Suzuki Swift Sport and a
Peugeot 208 R2. He won the Suzuki Swift Cup that year, run on Spanish Championship rallies, whilst also gaining more experience on French rallies. In 2017 the crew ran only in the Peugeot, winning the Spanish Gravel Junior Championship and the Volant Peugeot Cup in France.
In 2018, the crew entered the European Rally Championship (ERC) for the first time with Rally Team Spain. Llarena finished third in ERC3 and ERC3 Junior Championships. That year he also debuted in four-wheel-drive in a
Ford Fiesta R5
The Ford Fiesta R5 is a rally car built by M-Sport and based upon the Ford Fiesta ST road car. It was the first car homologated under the R5 regulations that were introduced in 2013. The Fiesta R5 made its competitive début in 2013 and has comp ...
at Rally Comunidad de Madrid RACE, finishing fourth out of 88 starters. Entering ERC3 for two-wheel drive again in 2019 brought championship success. Three class wins at Azores Rally, Barum Czech Rally ZlÃn and Cyprus Rally helped to deliver the ERC3 and ERC3 Junior titles, this also helped propel Llarena to a R5 campaign in ERC in 2020. In this season he finished 6th overall and 3rd in the Junior category in a
Citroën C3 Rally2, his best result coming at Rally Hungary where a third position put him on the podium.
In 2021, switching to a
Å koda Fabia Rally2 evo
Å koda means "pity" in the Czech and Slovak languages. It may also refer to:
Czech brands and enterprises
* Škoda Auto, automobile and previously bicycle manufacturer in Mladá Boleslav
** Å koda Motorsport, the division of Å koda Auto responsi ...
, Llarena improved again by finishing second in the ERC behind ex-Volkswagen, Citroën and Hyundai works driver Andreas Mikkelsen. Remarkably, Llarena gained his first and only overall victory in 2021 although it was a non-championship event in Spain, the Rally de Tierra de Murchante.
In
2022
The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...
, Llarena scored his first ERC win at the Azores Rallye, when he overtook local driver Ricardo Moura on the final stage. Llarena went on to win the series championship, securing his championship title at the start of the
Barum Czech Rally ZlÃn.
Career results
Last updated: 13.04.2024
European Rally Championship results
* Season still in progress.
European Rally Championship-3 results
References
External links
Profile at eWRC-Results.comBiography at FIAERC.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Llarena, Efrén
Spanish rally drivers
1995 births
Living people
Peugeot Sport drivers
European Rally Championship drivers
Saintéloc Racing drivers
World Rally Championship drivers