Sunday,3rd March
18:30 UTC / 19:30 CET / 20:30 EET
3rd and last cross race of this season will be held this sunday in Fern Bay. The rallycross track is well known,however the car is new - in RGE hosted races it has seen only Rockingham,this sunday the Chorus Attendanze will be made dirty on a rallycross circuit. 660cc engine delivers just 63 horsepower,so the car will not accelerate quickly,however with 740kg weight it can go through turns quite fast - the tyres might support the car much longer than previously used cars in this track. Regarding track limits - since it's rallycross,the running wide exiting turn 1 and entering turn 2 will be tolerated!
Championship situation has been spiced up slightly after previous round,however the gap between standings leader and closest rival is still more than half of max possible points,so this round will surely decide how much intrigue will be left for season finale. Similar situation is in teams championship,however the nations cup has a potential to be decided after this round.
Allthough there is no such statistic gathered,there are not doubts this was the slowest AWS race ever - for the first time ever a car with engine power below 200 horsepower was used in this league and it was a long way from that power marker. But that does not mean the race was boring - the twisty Fern Bay Rallycross circuit was well suited for the car and still offered some challenge for the drivers,who could push the tyres all race long unlike in most rallycross races before. With 17 drivers on the grid this was the most attended race of this season.
With a first came another first - Lorenzo was the one who adapted to this combo best and was the one to beat this sunday. Despite gathering up a total of 9 top5 finishes in AWS before this round,he never qualified or finished higher than 3rd position,but this race brought him first pole position and first race win in the league and that after leading all 29 laps of the race. His teammate RD2 stole the fastest lap of the race before starting the penultimate lap which was also a first for him besides the highest qualifying position (4th) and best ever finishing position - 2nd. Also the 3rd place finisher scored his best ever qualifying position (2nd),however he could not keep himself in this position and settled in for 3rd place finish,which is his 3rd podium finish this year.
The table leading position has not changed - Sobis scored decent set of points by finishing 4th in the latest round,but his lead has been slightly reduced as the lithuanian has now 10 points advantage over 2nd place in table,which is now taken by the winner of this round - Lorenzo. Thehemuli has now dropped down to 3rd and has 14 points gap to lead. Even if also 4th place in table Arska is still eligible for drivers champion title,he needs a lot of wonders to happen to delete the 21 points gap. Top5 finish in season finale would secure the 2nd AWS drivers champion title for Sobis,but the unpredictibility of Winter 200 has a potential of late season drama.
One title however is already secured for Sobis - for the 2nd time he clinched the Cross challenge award,which was taken by him also in his championship season of 2019. Lorenzo took 2nd place in this minor competition,his teammate RD2 joined him on the podium in 3rd place. RD2 also aims for Rookie of the year award - the 2nd place finish in latest round gave the lead in this table back and he is now 7 points clear off his only rival S.Martin.
With full 39 points score defending champions RGA increased their lead to 38 points over closest rivals WCL,meaning a 2 points scored in season finale would make the title defence successful in any scenario. WCL on the other hand has secured 2nd place in teams standings as closest rivals LLM have only a single driver eligible for final round,so the 28 points gap is enough. As expected this round secured Nations cup for Finland for the 3rd time in row - 61 points gap over Lithuania is not deletable fully,while also Lithuania has secured it's 2nd place in the tournament. Italy is 3rd with 18 points advantage over other single driver nation,so it should be also relativelly secure.
Only season finale left and it's a round that has been a traditional season finale. The 200 kilometers race at Kyoto Oval with FXR has been an unchanged feature of AWS through all 12 previous seasons,so also in the 13th one AWS racers will have to cooperate with teammates or rivals for better racing pace. With plenty of titles and awards at stake,the Winter 200 might be yet another nailbiter!
