A new FIA W2RC champion has been crowned as Nasser Al Attiyah (Toyota Gazoo Racing) ascends to the throne for the second time in a row! He is out of the reach of Yazeed Al Rajhi (Overdrive Racing), who will now aim for the runner up's spot (subject to the official publication of the results by the FIA). The race for third is a real nail-biter, with a mere 8 points separating Juan Cruz Yacopini (Overdrive Racing) and Sébastien Loeb (Bahrain Raid Xtreme) before the start of the fifth round. The Frenchman is sitting in fourth place in the rally, while the Argentinian is seventh. Loeb has already slashed his deficit with a 6-point haul, but he needs to finish the race to make it count.
The T3 championship leader, Mitch Guthrie (Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team USA by BFG), claimed the special and moved within 1′22″ of Seth Quintero, a brilliant result that cemented his grip on the W2RC. The third title contender, Austin Jones, is hanging on at 12′29″. Sebastián Guayasamín (FN Speed) was the fastest W2RC entrant in T4, but João Ferreira (South Racing Can-Am) stayed in control of the rally ahead of Rebecca Busi (FN Speed). The Portuguese driver is eyeing his maiden T4 win, while the Italian wants to retake third place in the championship. Janus van Kasteren (Boss Machinery Team De Rooy) went back to his winning ways by 6′02″ over Martin Macík (MM Technology). However, the Czech still holds the overall lead, with the Dutchman in fifth place 1 h 26′28″ back. Macík is going for broke in a bid to win the race and erase his 11-point deficit in the W2RC.
Meanwhile, the fierce battle for the RallyGP title rages on. Toby Price (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) was the speediest W2RC entrant and rocketed to second in the rally, behind Ross Branch (Hero MotoSports) but ahead of Luciano Benavides (Husqvarna Factory Racing) in fifth place. As things stand, we are looking at a dead heat between the two men, with 91 points apiece! The tie-breaking mechanism would crown the Argentinian because he has won a round of the series (Desafío Ruta 40), whereas Price has none to his name. Michael Docherty (BAS World Racing) emerged victorious in Rally2, where the W2RC leader, Romain Dumontier (HT Rally Raid Husqvarna), is now 5'23" ahead of his closest rival, Paolo Lucci (BAS World Racing). "Dudu" is right on track to take the title. Ardit Kurtaj (Xraids Expérience) is more than an hour down on the Rally3 leader, Cheikh-Yves Jacquemain (Africa Rallye Team), but he moved closer to victory by staying ahead of Massimo Camurri (McDonald's Rally). Manuel Andújar (Drag'on Rally) remains in a class of his own in the quad race. The W2RC leader, Laisvydas Kancius (Story Racing), has no room for error. Juraj Varga (Varga Motorsport), with just 23 fewer points than the Lithuanian, is second in the rally, 20′29″ ahead of Kancius, who has no choice but to push hard until the last metre.
