PoR Week 24 Highlights: Nations Cup comes to a close

[spspears]

Nations Cup comes to a close

Week 24 of the Rallyesim Championships saw Press On! Rallysport drivers take part in the final rally of Nations Cup Round 1. After gravel and snow in the first two rallies, we moved on to tarmac for the third.



I think I can safely say that with the exception of Bryan and Justin (our resident autocrossers) we would prefer the loose stuff any day. We trailed the Dutch team by 6 points coming in, and this was our last chance to close the gap. This was their home rally - so we knew we were facing long odds.

Unfortunately, we just couldn't match the pace of the other teams. Spanish drivers took 1st, 2nd and 5th place, with the Dutch in 3rd, 4th, 6th and 7th. Steven scored the lone point for North America by finishing in the 8th spot, but he was well down on time. Aaron was the only other finisher - just out of the points in 9th place. Bryan and Bret suffered misfortunes that ended their rallies early, as did 4 Spanish drivers.

So, our Nations Cup is over. We knew coming in that it would be a tall order to get through to the second round, but we gave it a good run. We can take consolation in the fact that we did better than the Italians and Greeks, who didn't manage to score in the first round. All of the rallies were tough, and we had a good finishing record even if we were a bit off the pace. Well done to all.

Nations Cup preparations left precious little time for the week's stable rallies, and as a result no one had an outstanding performance. Of the five PoR drivers who took part in week 24, three made it to the finish and none were able to crack the top 100 overall.



For the week we scored 184 points which placed us 33rd among the 46 stables. For the year, we remained in 27th place. With Nations Cup behind us it's back to basics. This week we have 8 drivers scheduled to compete in three rallies and one hillclimb. Aaron, Steven and Alex T are headed to Belgium for the IRC Geko Ypres Rally. Jerry and Alex K will be in Italy for the Rally Appennino Reggiano. Bret and Bryan continue their run in the France Cup, and Justin takes on another hillclimb at the Valderoure et Caille. All are on tarmac, so the action should be fast and furious.