The JobFixers Belgian Rally Championship will accelerate in April. Three weeks after the TAC Rally in Tielt, this weekend the Rally of Wallonia is on the program in Namur. The three-day classic can count on a very strong poster with no less than 16 cars in the top class R5. And that while Kris Princen, the leader in the championship, remains absent.

After Vincent Verschueren gave a package for the Spa Rally, Kris Princen remains in the Rally of Wallonia. Regulatory you can only score points in 8 of the 9 matches of the championship, so it makes sense that the riders leave one of the races. But, the poster of this Rally of Wallonia still looks very impressive.

With 10 Skoda Fabia’s R5, the model that has not yet been defeated this season, many riders are well-armed. Starting with Vincent Verschueren. The defending champion wants to reduce the gap on Kris Princen with a top result. But, before that he has to pass Adrian Fernémont, the winner of the Spa Rally, Cédric Cherain, who is looking for confidence after two early crashes, Sébastien Bedoret, who made his debut as official Skoda pilot in Tielt, and Xavier Bouche, the routine who is always very fast in his own area. Another regional driver who can surprise you is Olivier Collard, who is starting for the first time with an R5.

The other Skoda Fabia’s R5 are owned by David Bonjean, Steve Matterne, the Dutchman Edwin Schilt and Etienne Monfort.

Guillaume de Mevius wants to mix between the Skoda’s with his new Peugeot 208 T16. In this Rally of Wallonia, the youngest of the brothers the Mevius the confidence to jack up after his heavy sortie during the explorations for the Tour de Corse. Martin van Iersel must also defend the colors of Hyundai on his own.

The Ford Fiesta’s R5 are of course driven by the three JobFIXers pilots, led by the youngsters Pieter-Jan Michiel Cracco and Achiel Boxoen, in addition to team boss Philip Cracco. The two young people are undoubtedly aiming at a close place of honor at the rapid tests around Namur.

In addition to the R5s, the two Skoda Fabia’s WRC, driven by Francis Lejeune and Manu Canal-Robles, and especially the Porsches, must also be taken into account. In the past, the GTs were in the leading group on this course in good weather. Patrick Snijers hopes that this time he will be spared of bad luck to show the potential of the Maes-Porsche. With the 997 GT3 from Fredericq Delplace he has a strong competitor. The other Porsches are owned by Henri Schmelcher, Laurent Léonard, Laurent Mottet and Olivier Cartelle.

For the Top 10 there are still a few outsiders, such as Jonas Langenakens and Steve Becaert with their Mitsubishi’s, Stephan Hermann with his Fiat Punto S1600 and Christophe Verstaen with his fast Opel Astra.

In short, tension ensured on the 22 special stages of this 35th Rally of Wallonia, which starts Friday evening with the unique and atmospheric showtest at the Citadel in Namur. After 221 km against the chrono, the winner will be honored on Sunday at around 16h on the finish podium.

—

Originally in Dutch translated by Google. From PR sources.