Rally enthusiasts look forward to the Ardeca Ypres Rally each year and this year, they have the bonus of the Ypres Historic Rally. The historic rally is back in Ypres and is now a part of the European Historic Rally Championship.
Jari-Matti Latvala, a name familiar to many rally fans, is the current team at Toyota Gazoo Racing in the WRC and leads the European Historic Rally Championship standings. He immediately lived up to his role as the favourite. What’s more, he set a blistering pace, almost half a minute faster than his closest rivals over the 22 km of the Friday stages. Yet, according to the Finn, it was not that easy.
“The grip changed constantly and there was also a surprising amount of water and mud on the road. Furthermore, some of the direction changes were difficult to estimate, partly due to the high grass. But we are quite satisfied with the first day of the rally,” Latvala said.
Pieter-Jan Maeyaert sits provisionally in second place in his BMW M3 but he is still slightly disappointed. “I expected my advantage from the course knowledge to be a bit higher and the difference a bit smaller. But the times that Jari-Matti clocks are very impressive.”
Tibor Erdi also complained about the amount of water on the road, but with the Ford Sierra Cosworth, he still sits in third place, 0.2 seconds behind Maeyaert. Finding the right braking points was also still an issue for the Hungarian.
The Lancia Stratos of Seb Perez is in fourth and remains one of the biggest crowdpleasers. Perez was delighted that he had started in Wervik a few weeks ago to get a good feel for the roads. In the long Saturday loops, the Englishman plans a “full attack”.
Didier Vanwijnsberghe proves that he can still handle the BMW M3 well and takes 5th place. There seems to be a battle in the offering with fellow BMW driver Tomas Davies, who sits on exactly the same time. Davies, who is the 2024 Irish Historic Champion, was quite satisfied with himself in what is his third rally with the BMW M3.
Maciej Luiak put his Porsche 911 2.7 RS in 7th place, despite being vocal about the very slippery conditions and the difficulty in finding the right braking points. “But if I can reach the finish without technical problems and without punctures in this beautiful rally, you will see me return to Poland satisfied.”
Guillermo Bruneel from Ypres is the pleasant surprise in the top 10, with a provisional 8th place. This is just his first competition in Ypres and his first rally at the wheel of a BMW M3. “Reninge went super well and we were even shocked by our 7th fastest time. We decided to take it a bit easier in Langemark, because this was only a warm-up. Tomorrow is still a very long day.”
Mark Higgins took 9th place with the Triumph TR7 V8, while Bert Cornelis was the first BRC driver, and put the Opel Monza in 10th place.
In the BRC category, Patrick Mylleville is second, ahead of Koen Verhaeghe and Thomas Carlier, the leader in the Historic BRC. Bruno Thiry (Subaru Impreza) lost a significant amount of time due to a flat tyre, and is currently down the field, in 25th place.
Tomorrow, the Historic drivers still have 8 special stages to complete, with the first car starting on the podium at 8 am on Saturday.
