After finishing as the runner-up five times this season, Maxime Potty, the reigning Belgian champion, secured his first victory of the season in the East Belgian Rally.
The penultimate round of the championship remained thrilling until the end. At the start of the final loop of 4 tests, the gap between leader Maxime Potty and Cédric Cherain was just 0.9 seconds.
Ultimately, the Citroën driver maintained his composure to win by 7 seconds. This brought him within 1 point of Niels Reynvoet, the championship leader, while Cédric Cherain, with 114 points, also has a good chance of winning his first Belgian title.
The final of the Belgian championship on 30 November and 1 December in the Spa Rally promises to be extremely exciting.
“At the beginning of the race, I had to get used to the Citroën C3 Rally2, after we decided last week to drive the Citroën again instead of the Toyota Yaris. I quickly found my way and towards the end of the race I found the confidence I had last year. On the last stage, I knew I wouldn’t lose 3 seconds to Cédric Cherain. We drove at our own pace, even though the stage was very treacherous. I am heading to the Spa Rally with confidence for another exciting season finale,” Maxime Potty said with a laugh.
Cédric Cherain was also satisfied with his second place. “Winning would have been nicer, but I made a small mistake on the last stage. This second place is a good result, because I have a bad result of 4 points, so I still have all the cards in my hands in Spa. If I win there, I will be champion,” said Cédric Cherain.
Niels Reynvoet, who started as the leader, maintains his position at the top of the championship with 126 points. The Skoda driver realized early on that he could not do better than third place in Sankt-Vith. “On the first stage we already had an exciting moment and it could have been over. I kept pushing to put Maxime and Cédric under pressure, but I was not able to match their times. Everything will be decided in Spa,” said Reynvoet.
Jos Verstappen had a went wide on the opening stage and struggled to match the leaders’ times in the rain. In the afternoon, he gambled on slicks while it remained wet, which cost him even more time. Verstappen eventually finished fourth ahead of Pole Jaroslav Koltun, who drove impressively in the East Belgian Rally for the second time.
Nicola Stampaert finished sixth after a strong recovery, following a loss of confidence in the first lap due to an incorrect set-up. In the final phase, he passed Luxembourger Steve Fernandes, who drove his Hyundai i20 N Rally2 for the second time.
Thibaud Mazuin finished in 8th place with the Skoda of PTR Racing, ahead of Fred Miclotte, who participated as a rally driver for the first time in Sankt-Vith, and Emile Breittmayer, who made a nice recovery after losing almost five minutes at a slide in Burg-Reuland.
Jonas Dewilde celebrated his second Junior title. In the Stellantis Cup and in the Junior classification, he had to concede to Tom Heindrichs, the local specialist.
In Historic, the victory went to Dirk Deveux, while Nard Ippen, as expected, was the fastest in the Clio Trophy, although he slid off the track on the very last particularly treacherous stage.
Belgian rally fans are eagerly awaiting the season finale in Spa on 30 November and 1 December.
Can Maxime Potty defend his title, will Cédric Cherain secure his first title, or will the Belgian title go to Niels Reynvoet for the first time?
