Compose Press Release

WRS R12-14 report: Turn around, Cels eyes

29.03.2023 -
WRS Wales (289.2km distance)

Wynn Hunter shot out to a day 1 lead, but Cels would slowly claw the 16 second gap back over the rest of the rally. This was not without controversy, as rumours started spreading amongst the spectators. One story went that a Latvia Power inside man admitted to Cels having access to more turbo boost than is legally regulated. Another was the stewards manning stages 13 and 14 had fudging Cels's sector times to set up a more entertaining finish at Brenig.

Neither claim was valid, but when Cels crossed the final timing beam less than half a second ahead of Hunter, the crowd was not having it. Visvaldis was booed at the podium ceremony, forcing Wynn to step in and calm the crowd down.

1st: V. Cels/V. Markov, 2:47:20.594
2nd: W. Hunter/N. Hampshire, +0.479
3rd: J. Zhuk/Y. Ghaleb, +2:37.021

WRS Spain (239.95km distance)

In this mixed surface rally the roles were reversed; Cels took the early lead and Hunter needed to take the risks to chase. Day 4 was interesting, as the half gravel half tarmac makeup opened the door for a big tyre risk, but ultimately both title protagonists resisted this urge and went Gravel PZ.

Ciani did go Dry Asphalt, and whilst this netted two stage wins, it also lost them over 2 minutes on stage 14 and almost their 7th place finish. Cels did end up winning despite a late stage 15 error, ensuring that the title would be a straight up fight in Japan.

1st: V. Cels/V. Markov, 2:20:49.534
2nd: W. Hunter/N. Hampshire, +6.226
3rd: J. Zhuk/Y. Ghaleb, +1:21.133

WRS Japan (94.99km distance)

Yes, the Nippon stages really are that short on this game. Before covering the main battle, I should point out that Rezervists came into this rally with a 6 point lead over Zatacka for 3rd, the latter struggling in the last two events. But Zatacka would bounce back here, running 3rd throughout the event, whilst Zhuk and Acosta would play spoiler and drop Rezervists all the way to 6th. Zhuk in particular won two stages on day 4, but couldn't quite make it 3 podiums in a row.

Meanwhile, Visvaldis Ceļš jumped out to a pretty healthy lead from the get go, over 15 seconds by day 3, and had the luxury of backing off to secure the victory. They were only the 3rd fastest driver on day 4, but it was enough to win the rally and the championship, an outcome that seemed unlikely after Germany.

1st: V. Cels/V. Markov, 58:27.472
2nd: W. Hunter/N. Hampshire, +10.439
3rd: P. Zatacka/A. Haggui, +32.711

Final championship standings

Cels: 300
Hunter: 294
Zatacka: 162
Rezervists: 161
Zhuk: 156
Acosta: 122
Ciani: 78
Szasz II: 74
Saint-Germain: 34
Gardner: 20
Schmelz: 13

It's five for Cels! But a much closer battle then they perhaps would've anticipated, and Hunter has expressed their intent to go full Colin Mcrae mode next season in an effort to win more rallies. Speaking of, the arrival of Colin Crash from the junior ranks promises to add even more intrigue to an already interesting battle for 3rd. Maybe they can even win the odd rally or two...

We may be saying goodbye to some drivers however, as it's becoming increasingly clear that the WRS is no longer the free rating haven it was a few seasons ago. You need to be a legit rally specialist to get in amongst the higher placings now, which is good news for the neutral viewers as it should mean more close rally results next season.