Faultless Fontana dominates in WRC3

Fontana has been absolutely untouchable. After inheriting a massive lead on Friday afternoon when Nataniel Bruun’s Ford Fiesta Rally3 suffered terminal engine problems, the reigning champion played a masterclass in risk management. He nursed his machine through the remaining stages to finish Saturday with a lead of 3min 52.2sec over Tymek Abramowski.

It is a beautiful, clinical display. Abramowski has been chasing shadows since a wheel change on Friday morning forced him into a two-day recovery mission, leaving him unable to make any real inroads. While Abramowski sits perfectly poised to strike should Sunday turn into a disaster for the leader, Fontana’s pace has made this race his to lose.

Further back, we saw some real fighting spirit. Despite his engine woes, Bruun returned to the fray to hunt down stage wins, though he remains over 10min behind Flandy. Flandy currently holds third place as the top Greek driver, while his countryman Nikolaos Ntavaris rounds out the top five, sitting more than 30min ahead of Grzegorz Bonder.