A lead of barely 3 “6 after 163 km at speed! Sezoensrally 2021

What a final and what a mental strength of Grégoire Munster and his navigator Louis Louka in the 44th Sezoensrally. Despite the enormous pressure in the dark, the 22-year-old Hyundai driver held on to the mesh pebble. After this second victory, Grégoire Munster will undoubtedly take a shot at the title in the Kroon-Oil Belgian Rally Championship.

See our gallery from the event here

Grégoire Munster made a small mistake on KP Gerdingen, three tests before the finish, and suddenly the tension was back in the race. The Hyundai driver lost 10″ and saw his lead shrink to 2″2 over Adrian Fernémont and 2″5 over Ghislain de Mevius. You should be nervous for less… “I should never have made that mistake. I missed the braking point for a masked turn right along the canal and I couldn’t get the car going straight away. It seemed like an eternity,” Grégoire Munster tells his story. “After that we pushed to have a small margin on the last test. I knew Adrian would go to extremes. He is only 4″ behind, but it was still enough for us to book a second victory. Really, I’ve aged 5 years on those last stages…”

Adrian Fernémont acknowledged that Grégoire Munster was very strong. “This is my best result ever in the Sezoensrally, a rally that never suited me. I’m happy with my race. I tried everything on the last test. It’s great that Grégoire has stood his ground,” said Adrian, who is the leader in the race. Kroon-Oil BRC goes to the Condroz Rally.

Ghislain de Mevius was third at 10″5 and he was not happy with that. “No, I didn’t drive fast enough in the dark. I could have gotten Adrian back. For the rest, we lost the game in the opening loop due to problems with the pop-off valve.”

Despite a slide on the last test, due to poorly adjusted headlights, Vincent Verschueren still finished in fourth place. Verschueren was in battle for a podium place for a long time, but two small offs cost half a minute and the connection with the leading group. After the early retirement of Sébastien Bedoret, who retired with a broken differential, Patrick Snijers sent his Porsche 997 GT3 to an unexpected fifth place.

“I have rarely enjoyed the Sezoensrally so much,” laughed Patrick Snijers. “At the end of the race it became exciting, because the engine sputtered, perhaps because of dirt in the gas pump. But, we got there.” His best competitor in GT, Gunther Monnens, was sixth, despite clutch problems in the closing stages and a shifting paddle that came loose this morning.

In the Stellantis Rally Cup, the victory went to Gino Bux ahead of Charles Munster, who was fastest in the Junior BRC with his Opel Corsa Rally4, ahead of Thibaud Mazuin. In the M Cup, the victory and also the overall victory went to Tom Ceuppens. Franky Boulat, who was in the lead in the intermediate standings, had to retire after a drive shaft broke.

In Historic Michel Vandergeeten was the winner with his Lancia Delta Integrale, ahead of Philip Smets with the original Chrysler Avenger.