Virves targets WRC2 Challenger crown in Paraguay

Here is the thing about Robert Virves coming into South America: he has taken maximum WRC2 points on each of his four nominated appearances this season. Winning in Kenya, Greece, Estonia, and Finland has built him a commanding position at the head of the outright standings, where he holds 100 points. That leaves him 21 clear of Roope Korhonen and 24 ahead of Teemu Suninen, though neither of them will compete in Paraguay. Léo Rossel, sitting fourth on 64 points, is also absent, meaning fifth-placed Alejandro Cachón stands as Virves’ highest-ranked outright championship rival on the entry list.

There is even more at stake for Virves in WRC2 Challenger. He leads Korhonen by six points in that classification, meaning a fifth victory of the season would guarantee him the title, irrespective of results elsewhere. The outright WRC2 crown cannot quite be secured just yet, however. Suninen still has enough scoring nominations available to reach a maximum of 134 points, so that battle must continue beyond Paraguay even if Virves extends his winning sequence this weekend.

Virves also returns to a rally where he came tantalisingly close to victory 12 months ago. He led WRC2 by 6.5sec heading into the final day after battling Yohan Rossel and Nikolay Gryazin, only for Sunday’s dramatic rain-hit stages to turn the order on its head as Oliver Solberg surged through to win. Competition will be fierce again this year, with Cachón sitting fifth in the WRC2 standings with 61 points, joined among the leading championship contenders by Lancia pair Gryazin and Yohan Rossel, sixth and seventh respectively. Rossel has already taken victories in Croatia and the Canary Islands this season, while Gryazin scored maximum points at FORUM8 Rally Japan. Both also have previous Paraguay experience, having finished second and third respectively behind Solberg last year.

Their performance could have championship implications beyond the drivers’ contest. Lancia Corse HF can secure the WRC2 Teams’ Championship this weekend despite currently trailing Toksport WRT by 235 points to 195 in the published standings. Toksport has already completed all seven of its nominated scoring rounds and, with only its best six results counting, can finish with a maximum counted total of 210 points. That means Lancia needs 16 points from Paraguay to move beyond its rival’s reach, with Gryazin and Rossel both nominated to score Teams points for the Italian marque.