Tom Williams made his first ARA start since June 2023, but missed the class win by less than a second
Over 1,000 days (1,007 to be precise) is a rather long time to wait, just to lose out by 0.4 seconds.
But on his first American Rally Association National Championship start since Southern Ohio 2023, that’s the fate that befell Tom Williams at the Rally in the 100 Acre Wood.
Driving Standard Motorsports’ Škoda Fabia RS Rally2, the Briton won the opening stage and led the rally outright on Saturday morning, but lost the RC2 win, and second overall (to Patrick Gruszka), on the final stage by just four tenths.
That’s galling for any competitor, but 2022 RC2 champion Williams was delayed by a puncture on SS11 of 13 which really did the damage (costing over 20 seconds), and was then magnanimous in defeat to his rival on the night-time powerstage.
“Pat pulled it out the bag, I’ll give it to him,” Williams told DirtFish. “I was just being cautious and lost a bit of time in that.”
Williams eventually missed victory by 21.6 seconds to Subaru’s Travis Pastrana. But despite the obvious case of what might have been, the 27-year-old’s overall tone remained positive, considering he hasn’t attempted a proper championship challenge in the past three years.
https://dirtfish-editorial.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com/2026/03/H8wXW0D0-TrevorLyden-100AW2026-35509-780x520.jpg March 20, 2026
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Williams lost his first rally in over 1,000 days by just 0.4 seconds after leading early stages.
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The heartbreaking defeat highlights how fine margins separate victory from defeat in professional rallying.
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Williams previously won the 2022 RC2 championship before taking his extended break from competition.