Comunicados de Imprensa - The Rally Scene: Season 43

The Rally Scene: Season 43

Another season has passed across the MRC world, and as everyone packs up their thermos cocoa and paddock snacks for the long nights of the metaphorical Week 11 winter, let's take a look back at World Rally, and how this wild (and mostly muddy) corner of MRC played out.

World Rally Series

The sports top flight is growing ever closer in its competition, don't let the championship table fool you! It was double success for Wynn Hunter, as the (then) 24 year old secured his second WRS title in Turkey, with three rounds to run, and by seasons end, fell narrowly short of a remarkable clean sweep, winning all-but-one round, painfully taking 2nd place in France as Hunters old asphalt nemesis welcomed a brand new face to the winner's circle! Congratulations to America's JH Redburn, the 34 year old Formula 1 and NASCAR alumni becomes only the third face to claim a WRS win, in his Redburn Racing Toyota.
As expected, it was Latvia Power Motorsport's Visvaldis Ceļš who gave Wynn very little margin for error, chasing him home in P2 on each and every one of his wins. Still only at the tender age of 22, Ceļš has shredded the margin Hunter used to have, and looks set to mount a serious challenge to him and his M-Sport Eclipse OEC team in Season 44!

Shout out the consistency of the series' Top 5, as none of them registered a DNF at all over the course of the season!

World Rally Series 2

It's all about the up-and-coming in WRS2! Proven by the fact that all three drivers who took home silverwear were under 21 at seasons end! Full honours went to Pankrác Zatáčka, tallying 8 wins in his Jordan F1 MINI Cooper on his way to a comfortable title!

However, perhaps one of the more remarkable stories from Season 43 was the continued success of Greek driver Szilvester Xalonna who claimed his second straight runner-up trophy in the series, at just 20 years old, ahead of Apex Amateur Rallye, Inc driver Jackson Cole, providing more American success in the discipline!

Not all drivers see fit to live up to their expectation though, as 4 wins went the way of promising British youngster Raul Lee-Cross who, despite formerly driving under the same team as Wynn Hunter, opted along with his manager to sell his machinery and (literally) focus on a promising disc golf career... In which, we wish him luck!

World Rally Series 3

Brazil's Iago Almeida took the spoils in a closely fought campaign, coming home 38 points clear of Jan Zhuk, and 40 clear of Nikolay Rytov in his mashuk MINI Cooper. With a spread of wins across four different drivers, WRS3 is proving to be a scrappy contest year on year. Which is a fair word of caution to the massive influx of new drivers looking to call the series their home for Season 44, as bolstered driver academies look to take on the angry mountain roads and treacherous forrest's of the Rally world going forward. A total of 34 drivers have filed to enter with the sports governing body so far, vying to be one of only 20 to contest the series.

Rookie Rally Series

Poland's Rookie teenager Szymon Nanko started his budding rally career in the best possible way, claiming top spot in the series. Surely the new rules regarding managing a second driver will see these youth/rookie series populated tenfold in seasons to come, making these accolades all the more significant!

Applications to Rally are well under way, and still have 2 days to run until the first set of 20 drivers in WRS are accepted! With many of this season's successful names likely jumping up to the next tier, Season 44 could prove to be one of the most entertaining to date!