Cédric Cherain lord and master of the Rally of Bertrix

In extremely sunny Bertrix, Cédric Cherain dominated the Rally of Bertrix for two days with his Hyundai i20 N Rally2. The Liège resident thus records his second victory in three days, after the Sports Court decided that he also won the TAC Rally.

In the Rally of Bertrix everyone was looking forward to an exciting battle for victory, but after a few kilometers that battle was already over. Maxime Potty had to put his Citroën C3 Rally2 aside with an engine problem, after which Jos Verstappen went off the track at high speed in his Skoda Fabia RS Rally2. Cédric Cherain was able to ride to victory without much opposition. He eventually won 1’10” ahead of teammate Charles Munster.
“It is not my habit to have to control from the first stage. On these fast and treacherous stages, with many pits and large stones on the track, I kept an eye out for punctures. I kept a high pace to keep my concentration Two wins in one week, I’ve never seen that before,” laughed Cédric Cherain, who has been chasing Maxime Potty, the championship leader. “To really compete for the title, I should be driving in Ypres now, because I got a bad score in the Wallonia Rally, but I don’t have the budget for that at the moment…”

Maxime Potty started for the second day on Sunday after the engine problem had been solved, but he pulled the Citroën aside for the finish podium. “I just drove to keep the rhythm, to have fun on this new track and especially to see if everything was okay with a view to the Ardeca Ypres Rally,” said Maxime Potty. Jos Verstappen was unable to restart, because his Skoda was badly damaged during the sortie…

Until the last test, Roger Hodenius, who recorded his first fastest time in the Kroon-Oil BRC, seemed on his way to second place. The Dutchman drove a strong race, but on the last test he lost second place due to a flat tire. Hodenius only finished fourth, but did win the Master classification.

“Oh, that puncture is sour. I will especially remember that we drove strong times and were in contention for second place. I would not have dared to think that a year ago. I like these kinds of fast, natural tests. There I can still use my track experience,” said Hodenius.

Charles Munster finished second at the age of 21 with the second Hyundai i20 N Rally2. “I really attacked to the maximum to keep Roger under pressure. I made a mistake on Sunday, which cost us less than half a minute. This is a nice double for BMA,” laughed Charles Munster.

John Wartique sent his Citroën C3 Rally2 to third place. “Because I have driven the Legend Boucles a few times already, I felt at home on the stages, although it was very fast. You have to have a lot of confidence in your car and the notes. I missed that in the beginning of the I would have preferred to drive with ouvreurs here, because there was a lot of gravel on the track,” said Wartique, who achieved another good result.

Sébastien Incardona was fifth behind Roger Hodenius, ahead of Thibaud Mazuin, who never found confidence in the fast sections through the woods. Emeric Rary was seventh, ahead of Tom Boonen, who thoroughly enjoyed the new course, and Emile Breittmayer, who lost 4 minutes due to a puncture on Saturday. The only non-Rally2 driver in the Top 10 was Luxembourger Steve Fernandes in his Renault Clio Rally4.

In the Moood M-Cup, Brecht Hoorne was the fastest all weekend. Corentin Fiasse won the battle in the Junior BRC. Rainer Hermann took the maximum points in Historic and the third round of the Clio Trophy was won by Lander Depotter.