The 27th edition of the Rally van Haspengouw, the first round of the Kroon-Oil Belgian Rally Championship, was one of the most difficult editions in recent years. Rain caused a lot of mud on the stages, while the teams had prepared themselves for a bone-dry race during the reconnaissance and the shakedown. The result was an elimination race with many dropouts, with only Jos Verstappen dominating the race from start to finish without making any mistakes. The former F1 driver once again underlined his title ambitions.
At the start of the race, Emile Breittmayer caused a surprise. The Brussels driver drove the very first fastest time with his Citroën C3 Rally2 on the first stage, ahead of Jos Verstappen. In the second stage, Verstappen was a fraction faster. Unfortunately, Breittmayer went off the track hard on the next stage. From that moment on, Jos Verstappen was able to control the race, because he finished the first loop with a 28″9 lead over Frederic Miclotte and 29.9s over Niels Reynvoet, who still had to find his way in the new Hyundai i20 Rally2.
“From the second round, I drove with a second spare wheel and we didn’t take any more risks when cutting,” said winner Jos Verstappen. “That’s not the most fun way to drive a rally. I prefer to attack with full force, with the knife between my teeth. Today, I could only lose to myself, even though the course remained very treacherous. We took the victory in a controlled manner. I am convinced that we will have to attack a few more times to win, but today it was actually all under control. I didn’t have a single warm moment.”
Niels Reynvoet seemed to come second. The East Fleming gradually got to know his Hyundai better, until he went off the track hard on the penultimate stage. This gave the battle for second place a surprising twist. Not Pieter Tsjoen, who was briefly in second place, nor Vincent Verschueren, who had to abandon the battle early in the race due to a defective fuel pump, finished in second place. That honour went to Frederic Miclotte, who drove his very first fastest time in the BRC. A great result for the navigator, who beat eight-time Belgian champion Pieter Tsjoen. “I suffer from night blindness and my vision was very bad on the last stage, especially because of the rain. In a fast echelon I ended up next to the right track. On the mud I lost control of the Toyota and we went around. Fortunately without damage, so I can still offer my daughter Juliette a third place after an intense and beautiful rally,” laughed Pieter Tsjoen, who also drove a fastest time during his introduction to the Yaris Rally2.
Bjorn Syx already lost 34s on the first test. Very unfortunate for the driver who had a shot at victory. After another flat tire, which cost him another 39s, he fought his way back to fourth place, so he did a nice job in the championship. Fifth place went to Tom Rensonnet, who crowned his learning process with the new Hyndai with a nice result.
After an exciting duel, Cédric Cherain beat Porsche brand mate Patrick Snijers on the very last stage, who had passed him in the second half of the race. Cherain, reigning Belgian champion, scored with this in his transition to the GT category. “In dry weather there was undoubtedly much more in it, but this was certainly not the weather to go out with a Porsche because of the slippery conditions. It was a constant search for grip. In the first round I had a slight advantage over Snijers because of our starting position, but as the first on the track we also had to evacuate the water from the puddles. That was a big problem in the afternoon, which allowed Snijers to pass us for a while,” said Cherain.
Patrick Snijers came second, not understanding where Cherain had made up the 25s on the last stage. He was also disqualified due to an incident before the start, but he has appealed against that. A verdict from the sports court is expected within a few weeks.
In Rally3, Thomas Martens was the fastest in his introduction to the stages of the Rally van Haspengouw. In the Junior BRC Lander Depotter was the fastest, ahead of Leny Cols, also the winner of the BRC Trophy. Dirk Deveux won the battle in the Youngtimer BRC and Michael America in the Historic BRC. In the 2WD Cup the race was dominated by Stefaan T’joens. In the MATS Performance M-Cup the battle was extremely exciting until the very end. After an intense battle, Kurt Braeckevelt made a mistake on the last stage, which allowed Franky Boulat, a respectable 14th overall, to take the victory. Andy Lefevere and Tobi Vandenberghe, who had long been in contention for the victory, gave up earlier.
Overall Rally van Haspengouw Results
01: J. Verstappen/R. Jamoul (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) – 1h 16m 13.1s
02: F. Miclotte/R. Plevoets (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) + 52.0s
03: P. Tsjoen/J Tsjoen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) + 1m 30.0s
04: B. Syx/A. Vonrobaeys (Citroën C3 Rally2) + 2m 16.2s
05: T. Rensonnet/T. Jalet (Hyundai i20 N Rally2) + 2m 29.3s
06: C. Cherain/D. Withers (Porsche 991 GT3) + 2m 55.7s
07: J. Langenakans/K. Delvaux (Škoda Fabia R5) + 4m 16.3s
08: J. D’Hondt/D. Vanrijkelen (Citroën C3 Rally2) + 5m 09.6s
09: T. Martens/E. Smeets (Renault Clio Rally3) + 6m 40.1s
10: R. Pex/A. Preda (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) + 7m 17.7s