The first season in the World Rally Championship for José Antonio Suárez and his co-driver, Cándido Carrera, came to its end with the prestigious Wales Rally GB, where they managed to finish despite a roll on the first day that compromised their chances to fight for the top positions of the WRC Academy.

The British rally started on Thursday on the historic stage of Great Orme, a quick tarmac route round the contours of the Welsh coast that was fatal for the chances of the young Spaniard of being on the podium of the final event of the season. Luckily the damage on his Fiesta R2 wasn't that bad and that allowed Jose Antonio and Cándido to get back to the rally on Friday to run the classic forest stages so characteristic of a rally that many people reckon is the most difficult in the world.

Throughout the Friday and Saturday stages, Jose Antonio kept up a good pace, with stage time always amongst the top ten and with a fifth fastest in Dify East as a proof of his competitiveness in what was his first experience on the difficult Welsh gravel roads. Even if this year the weather wasn't that bad as it often is in this area in November, there was still some rain on Saturday and even some fog that made life difficult on the final Saturday stages for the WRC Academy contenders.

In such difficult conditions, Jose Antonio didn't put a foot wrong and fulfilled his target of finishing the rally, gathering a very valuable experience on a terrain very different from the other rallies of the championship. Furthermore his pace on the difficult Welsh gravel stages would have allowed Jose Antonio to finish in the top five but the 15 minute penalty he got according to the super-rally rules after his early off on Thursday meant he was finally eleventh.