Half a second slower on the last stage of the previous round and Matt Dickinson wouldn’t have been in Michigan for this week’s Lake Superior Performance Memorial Rally.
“The plan was to crank it for the powerstage – we had to win the powerstage,” said Dickinson.
Both he and his only rival for the American Rally Association’s National LN4 class crown, Ford Fiesta Rally3 driver Javier Olivares, have both scored two wins and two second places each so far this year.
The Subaru-driving Dickinson leads the standings heading into the Michigan finale (which starts today) by six points.
The National L2WD battle is almost as close, with Sean Donnelly and Chris Sladek fighting for that crown. Fiesta ST driver Donnelly is 15 points clear of his rival.
A single rally-ending slip on the tricky stages on the shores of Lake Superior could allow Sladek in, but as long as he finishes then the most his lead can be reduced by is 11 points.
Sladek’s title tilt is boosted by the arrival of his all-new Acura Integra, replacing the Honda Civic and the more unusual Honda Passport SUV he’d campaigned in previous years.
Brandon Semenuk clinched the main ARA title in Ojibwe Forests Rally, with Lia Block also landing the open two-wheel drive class crown early.
