DeWilde takes out the Junior BRC Championship

Share

The 18th edition of the East Belgian Rally was undoubtedly one of the most difficult of the past years due to the changeable weather. Especially because the participants had to brave the fog on the already muddy course in the dark on the last two stages.


As expected, the youngsters’ race was dominated by the young talents who are active in the Stellantis Cup, but this time Pierre-Manuel Brasseur was not in the party. Early in the race he struggled with an electronic problem, which meant that the engine did not rev high enough. Together with a mistake, he was therefore already put on 28″ in the first lap by Tom Heindrichs, who started the race with an optimistic choice of tires.

Maxim Decock and Lander Depotter were the closest pursuers of Tom Heindrichs, until they both made a mistake at the same place in Burg-Reuland (KP 4). “It was a very slippery braking zone where Emile Breittmayer was also surprised. We were lucky that we could just avoid a tree, but I did hit a bench next to the track. In total, we lost about 40 seconds. Lander was less lucky. He broke the oil cooler and had to give up,” said Maxim Decock.

With Jonas Dewilde in his wake, Tom Heindrichs controlled the race in his own region, with a great 13th place as a result. “The stages were very difficult, with a lot of mud on the track, but today it all went according to plan for us. The notes were correct and we knew very well on which sections we could attack and where we had to take some margin. We didn’t have any hot moments. Thanks to my supporters and the entire team. Winning in your own region, that’s very nice,” laughed Tom Heindrichs.

While Maxim Decock showed his speed again in the final phase by pushing Pierre-Manuel Brasseur from third place in the dark, Jonas Dewilde celebrated his second title in the Junior BRC with a second place. “I think we have shown that we deserve to extend our title. I started a bit too cautiously on the first stage in Bullingen, when the stage was wet. We lost 15″ to Tom Heindrichs there and eventually we finished 17″ behind the winner, who knows the stages in his own region very well. With this second place we secure the title, but the season is not over yet, because we are also riding the last round in the Stellantis Cup, the Spa Rally,” said Jonas Dewilde.

Maxim Decock was satisfied with his third place. “Too bad about our mistake in Burg-Reuland, of course, but I am satisfied with our last round. We gained almost half a minute on Pierre-Manuel Brasseur, even though the stages were incredibly slippery,” Decock laughed.
Brasseur did not push in the final phase, because he felt that he did not have the confidence to hold Maxim off. Fifth place went to Corentin Fiasse, who was put behind in the opening round because he opted for slicks, while it started to rain heavily.

In RC5 we saw an exciting battle between Leny Cols and Thomas Martens until the final round, who both discovered the fast stages in East Belgium. With a strong final sprint, the Limburger took sixth place, ahead of Leny Cols, Lyssia Baudet and the 18-year-old Sergio Plattes, who made his rally debut in front of his home crowd.

Current standings Junior BRC: 1. J. Dewilde 119; 2. M. Decock 79; 3. P-M. Brasseur 77; 4. T. Heindrichs 71; 5.C. Fiasse 38; 6. L. Depotter 37; 7. L. Cols 33; 8. D. De Rycke 25; 9. Th. Martens 24; 10. L. Baudet 20; 11. C. Sugar 18; 12. B. Verlinde 12; 13. L. Dhaene 8; 14. S. Plattes