LUDLOW rally star Keaton Williams ended a fine year on a high with a top ten category finish in the final World Rally Championship event of 2020.
Williams, co-driving with Josh McErlean, claimed seventh place in the WRC3 category at the WRC’s ACI Rally Monza 2020.
The duo’s impressive showings in the European Rally Championship had caught the attention of the Redgrey Team owned by former world champion Ott Tanak, who asked them to drive for his outfit in Italy.
Thursday’s opening test was a tough one in rain and fog, with extremely slippery roads, but despite clipping a wall the duo ended the day 29th out of a high-quality entry of 97 cars.
They battled through a puncture and visibility issues on day two to climb to 22nd before heavy snow caused two big accidents among the field on day three, leading to two stages being cancelled.
Nonetheless, Williams and McErlean ended day three third quickest in the WRC entry and 11th fastest in the overall field.
Everything went well until the final 15km stage when they encountered Belgian Gregoire Munster blocking the road after rolling.
The time loss initially dropped the duo down to 31st, but they were finally given a rightful notional time to bring them back to 17th overall and seventh in the WRC3 category.
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