The overall championship was wrapped after Ojibwe; the L4WD and L2WD titles claimed at Overmountain. But that doesn’t mean there’s nothing on the line at this week’s finale to the ARA National Championship presented by Kubota.
Lake Superior Performance Rally (LSPR) hosts the final battleground of the year, and there’s plenty at stake.
Martell on the march
Conner Martell and co-driver Alex Gelsomino are the clear favorites for victory in their Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 after Martell’s maiden National success in Tennessee.
In the absence of Subaru’s champion Brandon Semenuk, the former rallycross racer dominated last month and will likely do the same in Michigan provided all goes to plan.
Martell won every single stage of Overmountain Rally Tennessee (Photo: W Conley)
His RC2 rivals Patrick Gruszka and Javier Olivares have a class championship to dispute, however the odds are stacked firmly in Hyundai driver Gruszka’s favor. He simply needs to finish to wrap the championship.
Open 2WD remains… open
Seamus Burke and Gary McElhinney are on the verge of another Open 2WD title in their Ford Escort Mk2, but DirtFish alumni and reigning Limited 2WD champion Richo Healey – co-driven by DirtFish’s Michelle Miller – could yet spoil the party.
The Lexus pair are 19 points down on Burke heading to LSPR so have plenty of work to do, but could yet pounce should the Irishman hit trouble.
Perhaps the hotter battle is for second in the class championship though, with fan favorite Matthew Nykanen back in action after a wrist injury he picked up at August’s Ojibwe Forests Rally. He’s just six points behind Healey and could theoretically claim the class championship still on a tiebreak.
Scott Pedersen is not in the championship picture but could be a real threat for a top LSPR result, switching from a Lexus IS250 to a Peugeot 208 Rally4 which has proven to be a real force in O2WD this season.
Sean Johnston (pictured) and Calle Carlberg have dominated O2WD when they've competed in the 208 Rally4
Family affair for runner-up
Chris Cyr clinche the L2WD title last month, but the battle for second rages on between father and son Mark and Henry Tabor.
Son Henry has the current points advantage, with Mark needing to win both the rally and the powerstage to have any sort of shot at upstaging his offspring. Both will compete in Ford Fiesta STs.
Another Tabor, Madelyn, will compete in the ever-growing L4WD class as one of three Rally3 runners. She’s Ford Fiesta mounted as is Algen Kaumeheiwa, while Casen Pedersen makes the step up to a Renault Clio.
Recently crowned champion Travis Pastrana however remains the class favorite in his Subaru Motorsports USA WRX ARA25L.
Huge Regional battle
Scully switches car, and championship, after this scary crash at Overmountain
An impressive 52 of the 73 entrants will compete in the Regional event this weekend, with Alastair Scully topping the entry.
After crashing his Hyundai i20 R5 at the previous event, Scully makes the switch to a Mitsubishi Mirage for LSPR and wades into an intense ARA Central Regional scrap.
Peter Farrow leads the championship in his 2002 Subaru Impreza, but Jimmy Pelizzari will be a big threat in another Impreza, as will Overmountain Super Regional winner Gabe Jacobsohn and local driver Silas Himes.
Action gets underway with Al’s Playground at 11.46am on Friday (October 17) with seven further stages throughout the day. Saturday offers seven stages with the rally totalling 133.7 miles.
The Regional event follows the same itinerary as the National, minus the powerstage which is SS14 of 15 (FF 2).
