The 2023 running of the Rally In The 100 Acre Wood has come to an end. Marking the end of the second round of the 2023 ARA season. Find out what happened in Round two and what to possibly expect from round three below.
Day One Recap
The first day of the Rally In The 100 Acre Wood would see Brandon Semenuk lead after the day. Semenuk would win five out of eight stages. This would give Semenuk a 5.3-second lead over Barry McKenna heading into day two. McKenna would win the other three stages on day one. Patrick Gruszka would sit third, over three minutes behind McKenna heading into day two. Day One Full Recap
Day Two Recap
The second day of the Rally In The 100 Acre Wood would see Brandon Semenuk hold on to take the event win. Semenuk would win only three out of the nine stages on the day. Barry McKenna would win the other six stages on the day. These six stages would give McKenna a temporary lead. Unfortunately, McKenna would stall on SS15, costing him 17.7 seconds and his 12.2-second lead. Patrick Gruszka would remain third after the day. This came after losing third to Tom Williams. Williams would, unfortunately, retire from the event on the transit between SS15 and SS16, thus handing Gruszka third.
Day Two Full Recap
Championship Rundown
Brandon Semenuk would take the event win to extend his championship points lead. As Semenuk now leads the championship by 27 points over Patrick Gruszka. Gruszka would move into second in the championship after finishing third at the event to take home 14 points. Unfortunately, Gruszka would fail to get any extra Powerstage points from the event. Matthew Dickinson would move from fifth to third in the championship after placing fifth overall and third on the Powerstage to take home 13 points.
Barry McKenna would move into fourth place in the championship, after placing second overall and winning the Powerstage to take home 22 points. Tom Williams would fall from second to fifth as he would fail to take home any points at the event due to being forced to retire from the event. Just five points separate fifth and second place which should make for an interesting round three at the Olympus Rally. That is relying upon most or all of the second through fifth-place drivers attending the event.
A Worthy Competitor
Brandon Semenuk and Subaru found themselves being challenged for the first time this season. As Barry McKenna would give Semenuk a run for his money during the whole event. With McKenna taking home 9 out of 17 stage wins at the Rally In The 100 Acre Wood. McKenna would even lead the rally for a while on the second day until Semenuk would regain the lead. It’s unknown if McKenna will race any more events this season, but if he does it’ll definitely be interesting to watch.
Lia Block Soars
Lia Block will probably be the biggest missed story this weekend. As she managed to take home second in the O2WD class and fifth on the Powerstage this weekend. In a car that is brand new to her. Lia would have very limited rest time in her new 2013 Subaru BRZ before the event. Lia would manage to adapt to the RWD BRZ rather quickly, however. As she would manage to set some pretty quick times on day one and kept getting quicker as the event progressed.
Lucy Block Falls Short
Lucy Block would’ve likely been one of the stories from this weekend. As she sat eighth overall and first in the L4WD class heading into SS8. That was until a puncture on SS8 would push her down to 12th overall and 3rd in class. Unfortunately, her bad luck wouldn’t stop there. As a terminal mechanical issue would force her and Alex Gelsomino to retire from the event.
Williams Falls Short
Tom Williams would sit in a top-four spot for most of the rally. A bad tire choice would force Williams to push hard on day two. Williams would nearly execute that pushback perfectly. As he would sit with a comfortable 31.7-second lead over Patrick Gruszka who sat fourth. That was until a turbo issue on the transit between SS15 and SS16 forced Williams into retirement. This would also cost Williams second place in the championship as the retirement would mean he would take home no points at 100AW.
Photography Credits
Subaru Motorsports USA: Instagram Facebook
REI Photography: Instagram Facebook
Meatball Media: Instagram
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.
