Quintero Edges Block by Two Points as Raftery Wins L4WD at ARA Finale

Fifteen stage wins out of sixteen is the kind of stat that makes a championship look easy. Aoife Raftery still had to nail the last stage to make it official.

The Lake Superior Performance Rally in Marquette, Michigan, closed out the ARA National Championship. Two titles were still open when the final stage started, and both got settled before the trucks hit the service park.

Raftery wins L4WD, and everything else she could

Raftery, co-driven by Hannah McKillop, needed a class win plus maximum powerstage points. Those are the bonus points on offer for the stage that closes out the rally. She led L4WD from start to finish in the DirtFish Women in Motorsport Ford Fiesta Rally3 and won all but one of the 16 stages.

The gap to her nearest class rival was close to five minutes. She also finished fifth overall and took the Pirelli Privateer Cup, which goes to the highest placed non-factory team.

Quintero takes the overall crown by two points

Toyota Gazoo Racing's Seth Quintero did it in his first season of rallying. Co-driven by James Morgan, he finished second on the event in a GR Corolla Rally RC2. To win the title, he had to beat series leader Lia Block, who needed third on the rally and third on the powerstage.

Block and co-driver Alex Gelsomino, in a Rockstar Hyundai i20 N Rally2, lost more than a minute to a double left-side puncture on the 7.6-mile final stage. She finished third on the rally. Quintero won the overall title by two points.

Martell and Whittock lead the whole way

The overall win went to Conner Martell and co-driver Ross Whittock in the Open class Subaru WRX ARA24. They were filling in for the injured Travis Pastrana, and they led from start to finish. We wish Pastrana a smooth recovery.

Top six, and a debut worth noting

• 1st: Martell
• 2nd: Quintero
• 3rd: Block
• 4th: Pat Gruszka, Hyundai i20 N Rally2, just over a minute ahead of Raftery
• 5th: Raftery
• 6th: Brenten Kelly

Kelly is DirtFish's managing director. He took sixth on his Rally2 debut in a Steven Redd Racing Ford Fiesta, with Stefan Trajkov calling the notes. A puncture on the final stage slowed him, so he and Block shared the same kind of late-stage trouble.

The takeaway

If you follow rally from the sidelines, this finale is a good reminder of why the final stage matters. A title chase can sit on a 7.6-mile stretch of gravel, and a flat tire can swing the points. Raftery's run is the other lesson. Nearly a full sweep of the stages, then the bonus points on the one that counted most.

Fifteen out of sixteen, and she still treated the last one like it mattered. That's how you close a season.

Source: DirtFish. Photo by Alex Perz on Unsplash.