Lebanese WRC Esports sensation Sami-Joe Abi Nakhle was again the man to beat in WRC Esports, taking the Rally Croatia win from main title rival Kazuho Iwata (Kazunokota).
The 2021 real-world event was one of the highlights of the WRC season, with Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT’s Elfyn Evans and Sebastien Ogier going toe-to-toe right up until the final few metres.
It was a similar case in this, the sixth round of WRC Esports 2022, with Abi Nakhle and Iwata separated by just 4s after 27km of competitive running, with NoGrip Rally Team’s Zeniou Panagiotis (TNG_Zeniou) rounding out the podium, claiming his second podium of the season.
The 7km Rude and 20km Kostanjevac stages were to test the drivers’ bravery, with huge cuts, high speeds and narrow lanes bringing an element of risk/reward to proceedings. As it was, Sami-Joe emerged the class of the field, sealing three wins on the bounce after victories in Wales and Belgium.
Further down the order, 2021 WRC Esports Grand Final winner Lohan Blanc (Nexl) continued his comparatively dismal 2022 form by placing ninth, adding ten points to his championship total. Blanc has now lost third place in the championship to Race Clutch teammate John Bebnowicz-Harris (Izamusing), who continued his consistent campaign by claiming 12 points.
In some consolation to Blanc, Race Clutch still hold a convincing 18-point lead in the Teams’ Standings after Rally Croatia, as nearest rivals, eRally Drivers, could only match their 32 points haul.
After a patchy start to the season, Sami-Joe has now taken four wins from six events, and with it the championship lead. Iwata has impressively kept the pressure on, however, but will it be enough to halt the momentum of the 2020 WRC eSports Grand Final winner?
With the next round of the 2022 WRC Esports championship set to be held on the stages of Japan, can Iwata claim a home win to take the fight to Sami-Joe and reclaim the championship lead?
Rally Japan takes place between the 29th April and the 2nd May and is open to anyone with a copy of WRC10 on Xbox, PlayStation or PC.
WRC ESPORTS 2022, ROUND 6 RESULTS
- TM_Sami-Joe
- eR Kazunokota
- TNG_Zeniou
- Wil Botti Jr
- RC Izamusing
- Triton Katana
- VBR Hujda
- RC Krim
- RC LDLC OL Nexl
- VBR Siiwu
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