With WTCS Weihai coming up fast on Friday morning and the last race in the Series before the Championship Finals Torremolinos-Andalucia, it’s time to take a look at where a podium finish in China could leave the chase for the world title. There are 1,000 points on offer, and the best three results (WTCS, Paris 2024 and Continental Championships) plus the Championship Finals will decide the 2024 World Champions.
Hauser well set, Yee and Wilde heating up
In the men’s hot seat is Matthew Hauser, the Australian sitting pretty at number one thanks to his win in Hamburg, silver in Yokohama and 7th in the Olympic Games. Pierre Le Corre sits just behind him on points, but for him, fellow Frenchman Leo Bergere and Hungary’s Csongor Lehmann, the hard reality is that both Alex Yee and Hayden Wilde have just two scoring results between them and still lie in 3rd and 6th respectively.
A medal of any colour will leave Yee top of the rankings heading in to the Finals, gold for Wilde and fourth for Yee would see the New Zealander top. A win for the likes of Hauser, Le Corre or Bergere would help minimise the possible damage done to their title chances by either man who can leapfrog them.
* white bar denotes current points total for those not racing Weihai
Potter looking to ramp up pressure
In the women’s race to become world champion, there is the certainty of the title being entirely in Cassandre Beaugrand’s hands even with two races to go. Wins at WTCS Cagliari, WTCS Hamburg and, of course, Paris 2024 leave the French star on 2,750 points, over 300 more than second-placed Emma Lombardi.
Britain’s defending champion Beth Potter sits in third, taken there by a trio of third places this season also in Cagliari, Hamburg and Paris. A win this Friday would see her move into second in the rankings, exactly the position she was able to strike from 12 months ago when she scooped that brilliant world championship finale gold, 1,000km north of this year’s Championship Finals.
Georgia Taylor-Brown is the highest-ranked woman lining up in Weihai still with only two scoring races to her name, and who could therefore add the full 1,000 points to her tally with the gold.
