DiRT Rally 2.0 World Series – Quarter Final 2 Report (Rally)

The DiRT Rally 2.0 World Series action continued in October with the resumption of qualifying action. After another 3 online qualification events, Qualifying Final 2 introduced some new faces to the Series, as well as some returning competitor who missed out in Qualifying Final 1.

Last time out for the competitors was the fast and flowing gravel of New Zealand, this time all 3 stages are set in the sunny hills of Ribadelles, Spain. The super smooth tarmac in sharp contrast and provided us great action throughout.

Xbox

Xbox one again opened proceedings giving us the first look at the stages, and it was Andrea Torlasco who started off as he meant to go on, winning the opening stage ahead of Théo Rochelle with an even spread amongst the 6 players. A stage in for Théo in stage 2 in the AMV8 GT kept him in the hunt for qualification, but another solid 2^nd for Andrea almost guaranteed his Semi-final place. An awesome stage win for Luc Fournier in the last stage would be too little too late, with Andrea and Théo advancing.

PC (Steam)

It was Steam competitors next to tackle the Spanish asphalt. Luca Giacomin, tackling both rally and RX disciplines, would end strongest with convincing 4 second lead and 2 stage wins. A spread field and a consistent run of stages for Simon Vansevenant would see him also qualify, but a huge shout out for Olympic Bronze Medallist Dimitri Bascou who, although ended up 6^th, showed everyone how to be elite in 2 very different sports.

PlayStation

The final platform to run was PlayStation, which would prove the closest of all. Each stage, the gap covering the whole field reach no more than 3 seconds meaning the competition was fierce. Disconnections for both Nicoló Ardizzone and Ryohei Iwami would put them out of contention, leaving Quentin Dall’Olmo and Kazuho Iwata to rise to the top and qualify. 3 different winners of the 3 stages proved how close it was; the final margin from Quentin in 2^nd to Takuma Miyazono in 3^rd only 0.06 seconds.

The final Qualifying Final and last opportunity to qualify for the semi-finals will be broadcast on 5^th December where another 18 drivers will take on the fearsome stages of Australia!

You can re-watch the whole event on the DIRT YouTube channel.

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