"As the saying goes, sometimes you're the bug and sometimes you're the windshield. In 2017 I was lucky enough to be the windshield. Unfortunately this year I've been the unlucky one, and I'm the bug."
James MacDonald was the windshield in the 2017 World Driving Championship, but this time around he's on the other side of that equation. MacDonald has experienced some poor racing luck and is currently sitting eleventh after five legs of the 2019 WDC with 109 points.
Fellow Canadian Doug McNair, however, is still very much in the hunt. McNair currently sits second on the leaderboard, just two points behind Sweden’s Ulf Ohlsson, who has looped McNair from second. Ohlsson leads the competition with 166.5 points, followed in second by McNair (Canada) with 164.5 and in third by Mika Forss (Finland) with 154. Norway’s Eirik Höitomt (151) and the United States’ Yannick Gingras (149.5) round out the top five.
MacDonald and McNair gave an update after the fifth leg in today's WDC Report, in which they complimented their Swedish hosts and commented on the exuberance of the young fans in attendance.
The final leg of the 2019 WDC will be contested on Friday (May 31) in Gävle, Sweden. Five heats are scheduled to head postward during the final. Gävle’s first post has been slated for 12:45 p.m. local time, but only early risers will be able to catch the action live in North America, as the program is set to kick off at 6:45 a.m. Eastern Time. Here's the leaderboard after the fifth leg:
1. Ulf Ohlsson (Sweden) – 166.5
2. Doug McNair (Canada) – 164.5
3. Mika Forss (Finland) – 154
4. Eirik Höitomt (Norway) – 151
5. Yannick Gingras (USA) – 149.5
6. Rick Ebbinge (The Netherlands) – 146.5
7. Matthew Williamson (New Zealand) – 135.5
8. Michael Nimczyk (Germany) – 125.5
9. Franck Nivard (France) – 121
10. Rodney Gatt (Malta) – 111
11. James MacDonald (Canada/ITA) – 109
12. Todd McCarthy (Australia) – 103
For a full recap of the fifth leg of the 2019 World Driving Championship, click here.