The first day of the Sno*Drift has passed. Brandon Semenuk leads the national drivers after the day.
SS1, Sage-Vondette 1
Stage one would see Brandon Semenuk take the stage win, beating Jerome Mailloux by 7.6 seconds. Tom Williams would place third on the stage, 4.6 seconds behind Mailloux. Mark Piatkowski would place third on the stage, 20.5 seconds behind Williams. Ricardo Cordero would round out the top five, finishing the stage 4.3 seconds behind Piatkowski.
SS2, Blue Lake-Soden 1
Stage two would see Brandon Semenuk win the stage once again, beating Tom Williams by 27.9 seconds. Jerome Mailloux would place third on the stage, 20.2 seconds behind Williams. Patrick Gruszka would place fourth on the stage, 18.6 seconds behind Mailloux. Kyle Tilley would round out the top five, finishing the stage 10.8 seconds behind Gruszka.
SS3, Orchard-Shoreline 1
Stage three would see Brandon Semenuk take his third straight stage win, beating Tom Williams by 3.4 seconds. Jerome Mailloux would place third on the stage, 16.4 seconds behind Williams. Matthew Dickinson would place fourth on the stage, 23.6 seconds. Patrick Gruszka would round out the top five, finishing the stage 1.1 seconds behind Dickinson.
SS4, Sage-Vondette 2
Stage four would see Brandon Semenuk win his fourth straight stage, beating Tom Williams by 8.2 seconds. Jerome Mailloux would place third on the stage, 15.6 seconds behind Williams. Kyle Tilley would place fourth on the stage, 19.7 seconds behind Mailloux. Matthew Dickinson would round out the top five, finishing the stage 6.6 seconds behind Tilley.
SS5, Blue Lake Soden 2
Stage five would see Brandon Semenuk take his fifth straight stage win, beating Tom Williams by 0.3 seconds. Matthew Dickinson would place third on the stage, 1 minute and 15.1 seconds behind Williams. Ricardo Cordero would place fourth on the stage, 7.7 seconds behind Dickinson. Kyle Tilley would round out the top five, finishing the stage 3.4 seconds behind Cordero.
SS6, Orchard-Shoreline 2
Stage six would see Brandon Semenuk win his sixth consecutive stage, beating Tom Williams by 0.1 seconds. Jerome Mailloux would place third on the stage, 10.7 seconds behind Williams. Kyle Tilley would finish fourth on the stage, 10.7 seconds behind Mailloux. Matthew Dickinson would round out the top five, finishing the stage 8.9 seconds behind Tilley.
Piatkowski Out
2022 Sno*Drift winner Mark Piatkowski would become the first driver to retire from a rally in the 2023 ARA season. Piatkowski would retire temporarily from the rally on the transit between the end of SS1 and the start of SS2. This would come as a result of Piatkowski’s transmission jamming in fifth gear.
Semenuk Sweeps
Brandon Semenuk picked up where he left off last season. As the reigning American Rally Champion won all six stages on day one of Sno*Drift. Meaning he also won the first six stages of the 2023 American Rally Association season. Semenuk did this all well also sweeping the road, which isn’t an easy feat at any rally, and is significantly harder on snow without tire studs. Semenuk will head into day two with a 1-minute 0.9-second lead over Tom Williams.
Top Five After Day One
- B. Semenuk, 39:41.1
- T. Williams 40:42.0 (+1:00.9)
- J. Mailloux 45:13.2 (+5:32.1)
- K. Tilley 45:22.8 (+5:41.7)
- M. Dickinson 45:31.1 (+5:50.0)
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.
