Three weeks before the opening round of the Kroon-Oil Belgian Rally Championship 2022, registrations for the 24th edition of the Rally van Haspengouw, whose rally center will be built in Sint-Truiden – Brustem on 25 and 26 February, are slowly but surely coming in. Compared to the numerous competitions that were held last year, we can look forward to the future of Belgian rally sport in general, because many amateurs are again at the start in Haspengouw with cars in the smaller classes.
We hope to expect a good battle between the Citroën C2 of Laurent Vanton, the Citroën ZX 16v of Kevin Robinne, the Renault Clios of David Conard, Christophe Henderix, Kevin Lepaily and Jonathan Remilly, and the Peugeot 208 of the 2nd Dane at the start, Mads Dalsager, navigated by Jeannette Kvick. And let’s not forget Eddy Ghijssens’ VW Golf TDI. The M Cup once again guarantees spectacle, because many fans of the brand are present. The man to beat will be Patrick Diels, winner of the M-Cup during the two previous editions of the Rally van Haspengouw with his very fast BMW 132i. However, he will have to compete with the M3s of Dany Claesen, Philip Lommers, Loïc Pirot and the Dutchman Wim Muilwijk, who can certainly also play a significant role.
William Wagner with a VW Polo R5
As for the four-wheel drive (4WD) that aim for a good result at the front of the general classification, we are happy to see Niels Reynvoet again with a Skoda Fabia Rally 2, after he was less active in the BRC last year. The “top of the bill” of this 24th edition of the Rally van Haspengouw will be Belgian-French William Wagner, who we saw at work in 2020 in Haspengouw with a Citroën C3 R5. This time he returns with the VW Polo GTI R5 which took 5th place in the Championship of France 2019. With that car he won the Routes du Nord and the Rallye de Lorraine.
The other “attraction” of the Truiense race will be the comeback of Patrick Snijers at the wheel of a BMW M3 E30, more specifically the car of his navigator, Wim Soenens. Patrick has only driven an M3 E30 for one year, in 1988, but it was one of his most impressive seasons. That year he won his 4th title of Champion of Belgium and became Vice-Champion of Europe for the second time. He won 6 rallies with the BMW M3 E30, including the Haspengouw Rally, but especially the Manx Rally. Snijders was the first non-Finnish foreigner to win on the Isle of Man. Before him, only Ari Vatanen, Pentti Airikkala and the lamented Henri Toivonen had managed to beat the British in this very specific match. At the end of this month, Snijers will be the man to beat in the Historic BRC. We are curious how high he can aim in the general classification.
After that of Tuur Vanden Abeele, we can announce a 2nd Porsche 997 GT3 in category GTP. Glenn Janssens is also coming to Haspengouw, again navigated by Stéphane Prévot. Finally, the organizers are 99% sure that they will be able to welcome the public at the Rally of Haspengouw, even if the corona barometer remains red. So make a note of Saturday 26 February in your agenda so as not to miss anything of the grandiose spectacle that is expected.
