The Sno*Drift Rally has come to an end. Thus marking the end of the first rally of the 2023 ARA season, Brandon Semenuk would pick up the dominant win.
National Championship
Brandon Semenuk will take home the maximum 27 points from Sno*Drift to take an early championship lead. Tom Williams will take home 21 points to start him on his championship hunt this season. Kyle Tilley would take home 15 points to take third in the championship early on this season. Just three points back from Tilley sits Patrick Gruszka with 12. Gruszka would fail to get any points on the Powerstage, otherwise, he would be closer to Tilley in points.
National Championship Points
- B. Semenuk 27
- T. Williams 21
- K. Tilley 15
- P. Gruszka 12
- M. Dickinson 10
O2WD Drivers Championship
Micah Nickelson would take the early 2WD Drivers championship lead. As Nickelson sits two points ahead of the only other driver in the championship so far, Nick Allen. Both drivers are set to appear at the Rally In The 100 Acre Wood next month.
O2WD Drivers Championship Points
- M. Nickelson 22
- N. Allen 20
LN4 Drivers Championship
Matthew Dickinson would take the early lead in the LN4 Drivers Championship. Vincent Trudel would take second place in the championship. Just five points separate Dickinson and Trudel. Unfortunately, Trudel isn’t scheduled to make the trip to the Rally In The 100 Acre Wood.
LN4 Drivers Championship Points
- M. Dickinson 22
- V. Trudel 17
- T. Hoevenaar 14
- J. Bailey 12
- M. Piatkowski 11
Picking Up Where He Left Off
Brandon Semenuk would pick up where he left off last season. Winning all 15 stages this weekend to take home a dominant win. Semenuk would end his 2022 ARA campaign with two stage wins. Meaning Semenuk has now won 17 consecutive stages dating back to Stage 15 of LSPR. That streak of stage wins will likely continue into the Rally In The 100 Acre Wood next month.
Not Mailloux’s Weekend
Canadian Rally Champion Jerome Mailloux would make the trip to Sno*Drift just a week after the opening round of the Canadian Rally Championship. Mailloux would consistently be top three on the stages. Unfortunately for Mailloux, he wasn’t able to find the pace needed to challenge fellow Canadian Brandon Semenuk. On day two of Sno*Drift Mailloux’s chances of a top-five finish would come to an end after he would receive a 10-minute penalty for an illegal service. Unfortunately for Mailloux, the bad luck didn’t stop there. As Mailloux would be forced to retire on Stage 13 due to a DNF.
Back To Back National Podiums
Kyle Tilley would place third at Sno*Drift this weekend. Taking home his second consecutive national podium finish at the event. As Tilley would place second at the event nationally last season, and fourth overall including regional drivers. Tilley would be the only driver to do this. As last year’s winner Mark Piatkowski would temporarily retire on the transit between SS1 and SS2, which ended his chances of back-to-back podium finishes. Phil Wearn who placed third at the event last season wouldn’t make the trip to Sno*Drift this weekend.
Tilley was able to do this by taking his own pace at the rally and keeping the car on the road. It’s not often a driver can take a new car they just got and put it on the podium, especially at Sno*Drift, but that’s what Tilley did this weekend. As Tilley wouldn’t receive the Hyundai i20N he used this weekend until the Monday before the rally. To top that all off the ERA Motorsports crew had to change the car’s setup from Tarmac to Gravel. This means Tilley got limited seat time in the car before the event, and most of his seat time came when there was little snow on the ground.
Trying To Give Semenuk A Run For His Money
Tom Williams would attempt to give Brandon Semenuk a run for his money this weekend. Unfortunately for Williams, his Ford Fiesta R5 wouldn’t be able to keep the pace Semenuk’s Subaru could. Although during certain stages Williams would come within a tenth of a second from beating Semenuk. Williams was a favourite to be on the podium heading into the weekend, and Williams would show he could do that.
My name is Joe Moore. I am a writer for Belly Up Hockey, Belly Up Racing, and Belly Up Sports. You can find me on Twitter.
