The third stage of the 2020 Nations Cup got underway on 7 July.

Stage 2 had ended with reigning Oceania region champion, Latkovski (Nik_Makozi) of Australia on top of the pile. His closest rival, New Zealand's McEwen (AE_McEwen), had shown impressive signs of improvement but came a little unstuck in the third stage, failing to pick up any more points after scoring 357 in Round 24.

Latkovski therefore went into the final race having built up an insurmountable lead over the rest of the field.

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The final race of Stage 3 took place on the Sardegna Road Track. All drivers drove X2019 Competition cars.
Latkovski lived up to expectations by taking pole position. His compatriot Lindgren (dylanlindgren) raised a few eyebrows by taking second place. Lindgren had shown flashes in earlier races of having what it takes to get the better of Latkovski, so all eyes were on him for a last-minute upset. McEwen, the driver in second position overall, had to settle for fifth place on the starting grid.

Lindgren got off to a spectacular start, pulling away like a rocket to overtake Latkovski and move into the lead. Latkovski seemed flustered, clipping a guard rail after taking the first corner a little too wide. This allowed Lindgren to build up an early lead over the chasing pack. Latkovski then found himself being put under pressure by his compatriot Jones (emreeree), one of Oceania's finest female drivers. He would soon compose himself, however, and was able to return to his usual pace.

On the fourth lap, Latkovski made use of Lindgren's slipstream to overtake him and reclaim the lead.

But something wasn't quite right with the champion. On the sixth lap, he got into a spin on the seventh turn. It was a mistake that was extremely out of character, and saw him drop down to eighth place. This allowed Lindgren to retake the lead without breaking a sweat. It's no exaggeration to say that this was the moment at which the outcome of the race was decided.

Meanwhile, the battle for best of the rest was heating up, with some clever driving from McEwen—who had started in fifth place on the grid—seeing him climb up through the field, eventually overtaking Jones to move into second place.

After 24 laps, the chequered flag was raised for Lindgren, who had delivered a hugely impressive performance from start to finish—a performance made even more impressive by the fact that the X2019 Competition is not an easy car to handle.

Latkovski managed to recover, to some extent, from the spin that saw him drop down to eighth, eventually finishing the race in fourth place. Fortunately for him, the huge lead he'd build up in earlier rounds was enough to see him cling onto first place and win the series.

There were many moments during the 2020 series when Latkovski was put under pressure by up-and-coming drivers such as McEwen and Jones. At the end of the day, however, the champion showed his true colours, overcoming all these challenges and more. As the 2020 series draws to a close in Oceania, Latkovski can now look forward to taking on his rivals from around the world.