Luca Giacomin has secured his second consecutive win in the Motorsport Australia Rally Championship’s (ARC) digital DiRT Rally 2.0 club ‘MotorsportARC’, taking out a dominant two and half minute victory over his closest competitor in Scott Fletcher (SCOTTYF90).
Taking place at Jämsä in Finland, Giacomin had a tough start to the event - winning just one of the opening four stages, as he was overshadowed by teammate Jarod Pesch, who won the other three.
However, Giacomin’s luck changed in the fifth stage as Pesch crashed out and dropped to 61st outright, leaving Giacomin to take advantage of the opportunity and win the remaining seven stages of the competition’s penultimate round.
It was another best of the rest performance from Fletcher, who comfortably finished in second place ahead of 2018 Motorsport Australia Tasmanian Rally Champion and current ARC driver Bodie Reading, after grabbing the best result of his campaign with third place.
Another ARC representative to have their best result in the virtual competition thus far was Toyota Gazoo Racing’s Lewis Bates, with the 2019 ARC runner-up finishing sixth and just outside the top five behind Scott Welds (SCOTTWELDS) and TECHZEALOT.
The closest battle in the top 10 went to Motorsport Australia photographers Ivica Glavas (IVICA08) and Aaron Wishart (AAWISHART), with the former pinching seventh place by just three seconds.
Following on from his second win in the competition, Giacomin was relieved to make it through what was the hardest rally to date.
“It was definitely a challenging round and although I finished over two minutes ahead of Scott (Fletcher), it was not easy at all and I am relieved I could win,” Giacomin said.
“The Finland course is quite difficult because one wrong placement on a jump could end the rally and that’s happened with Jarod and a couple of the other top drivers.
“However, that’s racing and I am just happy to get another win under my belt. I am looking forward to the final round in Poland.
"At the end of the day, it's been a lot of fun. We're trying to make the best of a bad situation and it's great to see the growth in the ARC's simulation community come from this."
After three rounds, Giacomin has a healthy lead at the top of the Hoosier Tire Standings, with the second placed Fletcher 42 points behind and Pesch a further 68 points behind.
The three-stage ‘MotorsportARC’ series finale at Łęczna County in Poland is currently underway with competitors having until 4:15pm on Wednesday, 15 April AEST to complete the event.