Nyanza24 July 2023 - 11:34

Hamza takes Estonia podium as Munster win sets up final round thriller

On his way up, Anwar called on experienced co-driver Alex Kihurani for the four-day fixture, and the move paid off with a podium finish.

by The Star

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ARC junior champion Hamza Anwar in a past action

Kenya’s Hamza Anwar of Kenya racked up his maiden podium in Rally Estonia with a third-overall finish in Junior WRC.

The weekend event saw the FIA Junior WRC title battle go down to the final round of the season following part-timer Gregoire Munster’s victory at Rally Estonia on Sunday.

Prior to the race, seven of the eight M-Sport Poland Ford Fiesta Rally3 entrants were in mathematical contention for the title, the disadvantage for title contestants being Luxembourg’s Grégoire Munster, who was simply out to gain valuable seat time to bolster his WRC2 campaign with M-Sport Ford.

On his way up, Anwar called on experienced co-driver Alex Kihurani for the four-day fixture, and the move paid off with a podium finish.

Munster, who was simply out to gain experience to supplement his WRC2 campaign this season, triumphed by just 8.1 secs over Laurent Pellier after four intense days of competition on Estonia’s superfast gravel roads.

With championship leader William Creighton enduring a troubled weekend, the series will be decided at September’s EKO Acropolis Rally in Greece, where double points are on offer. Ahead of the weekend, there was a slim chance that Creighton could take home the title with one round to spare.

However, a broken steering arm ruled the Irishman out of contention on Friday. He did manage to return to action and collected 11 Wolf Stage win points to bolster his championship charge.

Rounding out the top three was Paraguayan youngster Diego Dominguez, who languished almost three minutes behind Pellier at the finish.

He trails the Frenchman by six points heading to Greece with Creighton a further 21 points up the road. The Junior WRC is a five-leg championship in the WRC series.

The all-snow Rally Sweden was the first leg of the Junior WRC series followed by the WRC Croatia Rally, WRC Italia Sardegna, WRC Rally Estonia, and finally EKO Acropolis Rally Greece in September. Hamza is participating in the series after winning the 2022 Junior ARC championship.