The 47th edition of the Condroz Rally, the penultimate round of the Kroon-Oil Belgian Rally Championship, remained very exciting until the very last special stage in Amay-Verlaine. In the end, Stéphane Lefebvre turned out to be the best in the Condroz Rally for the third time in a row. The Northern Frenchman gave his navigator Renaud Jamoul a first victory in his home rally. For the Kroon-Oil Belgian Rally Championship, Adrian Fernémont did the best, with second place overall, ahead of Ghislain de Mevius and Grégoire Munster.

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Cédric Cherain proved on the penultimate stage in Marchin that the course was particularly treacherous in this Condroz Rally. Cherain was battling for fifth place when he put his Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo on the roof.

At the front, from the third special stage, the race was controlled by Stéphane Lefebvre with a Citroën C3 Rally2 used by DG Sport. The Nordist seemed to have everything under control, though he had to go deep on the penultimate stage, Marchin’s 18.82km stage. “We attacked all day on Saturday and the differences remained very small, as has been the case in the Kroon-Oil Belgian Rally Championship for a whole year. I follow the championship closely and I know how fast Adrian, Grégoire and Ghislain Today I tried to check, but the others kept pushing. Every time I wanted to check something I lost time again. In Marchin I drove exactly the same time as Adrian Fernémont, to exactly one tenth. Then I knew that the victory The Condroz Rally has been my favorite rally for years. I came here as a child with my dad. Yes, I am very happy with this win.” That was also his navigator Renaud Jamoul, born and raised in Huy.

The Frenchman was transparent for the Kroon-Oil Belgian Rally Championship. Adrian Fernémont remained clear throughout the rally and achieved the best result with second place and the points from third place on the Pirelli Powerstage. He consolidates his championship lead: “I wasn’t worried about Lefebvre’s times, because I had the impression that he still had a small margin under his feet. I mainly focused on my direct competitors for the title. I knew that I didn’t have to be the fastest on all stages, but that I had to stay clear. Our strategy worked perfectly!”

The mistake too much was made by Ghislain de Mevius, Saturday in Villers-le-Bouillet. The Skoda rider lost 10″3 on that pusher. With an overall 10″6 deficit to the leader, there was more to it than third place and the win at the Pirelli Powerstage. “I realize that all too well,” Ghislain de Mevius told me. “I’m happy with my scratch on the Pirelli Powerstage, with the speed we had this weekend, but I shouldn’t have let myself be surprised in Villers-le-Bouillet. After all, the competition doesn’t make mistakes…”

Grégoire Munster, eventually fourth at 12″6, was not completely satisfied: “Apart from a mistake this morning, where I lost about 5 seconds, I didn’t miss anything. Honestly, I couldn’t do better. That certainly has to do with experience. In Ramelot I set the fastest time today, but on that test I drove at 110% and took all risks. But, everything remains possible in Spa…”

Vincent Verschueren sent the Volkswagen from GoDrive to a good 5th place at 1’00″5: “On this slippery course and with these treacherous conditions, we are certainly satisfied. We worked well with Gryazin’s engineer to find more traction. The Polo is very sensitive to the set-up.”
Cédric De Cecco was also happy with his 6th place, although he had mixed feelings: “We had the speed from the start. I’m happy with that, but on the last test Saturday evening we moved straight ahead and lost just under half a minute Without that loss of time we could have competed for fourth place.”
The Top 10 was further completed by Sébastien Bedoret at 2’00″9, Kris Princen at 3’02″8, Pieter-Jan Michiel Cracco at 3’13″5 and Xavier Bouche at 3’33″5.
In the Stellantis Rally Cup, the victory went convincingly to Gino Büx ahead of Charles Munster, the winner for the Junior BRC. In the Clio Rally Trophy, Gilles Pyck is the overall winner after a great win in Huy, while Bjorn Syx won the battle in the Historic BRC.
Appointment during the first weekend of December for the denouement of the Kroon-Oil Belgian Rally Championship in the Spa Rally.