José Antonio Suárez, Mikko Heikkilä, Roberto Daprà, Adam Březík and Teemu Suninen have all won European Rally Championship rounds this year. But only one of them can become champion.
And this week’s penultimate round in Wales, Rali Ceredigion, provides Suninen with that first opportunity.
The Škoda-driving Finn is 25 points ahead of Lancia’s Andrea Mabellini, with reigning champion Miko Marczyk another 14 points further adrift.
ERC affords competitors one dropped score throughout the seven-round season, which Suninen and Mabellini have both already used following retirements at Royal Rally of Scandinavia.
That makes the title picture simple to understand. With 30 points available for a win, and another five for winning the powerstage, if Suninen outscores Mabellini by 11 points in Ceredigion he will clinch the championship with one round to spare.
But that’s far from a certainty. Suninen has never contested the rally before, whereas Mabellini has done it twice – finishing second in 2024, and would’ve been fourth last year but for a two-minute penalty.
Mabellini is Suninen's only realistic title rival
And then there’s Kris Meeke. Like Suninen, the Northern Irishman is a Ceredigion rookie – but the five-time WRC winner’s pace is beyond question, as he’ll drive the same Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 that powered him to victory in Donegal.
Team MRF Tyres will field a trio of drivers in Simone Tempestini (Škoda), Erik Cais (Hyundai) and Martin Vlček (Hyundai), with British championship contenders Osian Pryce (Toyota), Max McRae (Škoda) and Meirion Evans (Toyota) also in the frame.
Other entrants include Jakub Matulka, Philip Allen and Pierre Ragues, with William Creighton absent following his accident at last month’s Barum Rally Zlín.
Suninen, however, isn’t putting pressure on himself to try and win the championship this week.
“I will do a normal rally,” he told DirtFish, “drive a bit safely in some places. I am ready to go to Fafe against Mabellini and make the decider there.
“I’m quite confident to go to Portugal against anyone,” he added. “In rallying anything can happen so we have to be clever and take good points in the UK and make the job as easy as possible in Portugal. But anything can happen, even on the last stage.”
Ceredigion shakedown and qualifying takes place on Friday morning before four stages later that evening, kicking off with two around the host town in Aberystwyth.
Saturday comprises eight stages before a further four on Sunday.
