The 60th edition of the Ardeca Ypres Rally had a fantastic opening night. The top drivers displayed an insanely high level of speed and skill. They drove at the limit on the fast asphalt stages without making any mistakes. With 3 drivers within 5 seconds, and the top 6 within half a minute, anything remains possible on the final day.
Hayden Paddon took the lead on Friday’s second stage and the New Zealander was able to hold on to it. He must be wary of a very satisfied Freddy Loix, who closed in on the Hyundai driver and is just 3.8 seconds behind.
“In terms of performance, it was perhaps not my best day, because I still have to learn to read the tarmac better. It can certainly be even faster tomorrow,” Paddon predicted, who drove for Hyundai in the WRC for many years.
Loix had an excellent feeling in the Skoda Fabia RS tonight. “After our preparation in the Rallye du Chablis and Wervik, I knew we could compete for victory. We no longer have a margin, as it’s going very fast, but I’m having a great time!”
Stéphane Lefebvre could explain his small deficit of 5.3 seconds by a lack of top speed, although he is not giving up. Fourth place is in the hands of Jos Verstappen, who changed the settings and brakes of his Skoda at the service and it worked. Through the evening he had more confidence. He remains in Lefebvre’s wake just 14.3 seconds behind the leader.
The surprise of the opening evening was Davy Vanneste, who sits in a great 5th in his Citroën C3 Rally2. Even though he lost 6.8 seconds on the final stage without being able to explain why, he had a strong day.
Dani Sordo and Cédric Cherain fought a brilliant duel in their Porsches 992 Rally GT. After Sordo missed a braking point and lost a little time, allowing Cédric Cherain to get to within 0.1 seconds of the RGT lead. However, Cherain made a mistake on the final stage of the day.
“We had a half spin and I was blocked between two ditches. It cost us 54 seconds. Very unfortunate, but I am proud that I was able to keep pace with an absolute world-class driver today. It was an honour to compete against Dani,” said the Belgian champion, who has dropped to 13th place. He lies just ahead of Jonas Dewilde, who is making a fine debut with the Citroën C3 Rally2 at the national level.
Bernd Casier also missed a breaking point during the day and slid wide into a potato field, dropping from sixth place to 8th place. He lies in the wake of Niels Reynvoet and ahead of the young Estonian Romet Jürgenson, who is making an impression during his introduction to the Ypres stages. Filip Pyck follows just outside the top 10, ahead of Charles Munster.
Christophe Merlevede (Renault Clio) remains the authoritative leader in RC3, with 7 stage wins out of 8. After the problems with the fuel pump, Benoit Verlinde was now able to keep pace after service. Difference between the two Clio drivers after day 1 minute 50 seconds. Dominique Bruyneel (Ford Fiesta) moves up to 3rd place, 1 minute 53 seconds after Olivier Decoene (wheel hit in a cut) and Jochen Claerhout (servo) experienced problems.
RC4 was shaken up considerably in the 2nd round of the Ardeca Ypres Rally. Maxim Decock went straight on twice on SS Wijtschate, with the engine stalling, losing even more time. Manuel Merlevede had a puncture in Reninge and had to take a 3-minute penalty. The only one who completed the second round without any problems was Lander Depotter, who took over the lead. The other Lander – Dhaene – is now 1 minute 15 seconds behind his namesake. Maxim Decock has dropped to 3rd place.
There were few changes in RC5. Lény Cols (Renault Clio) has further extended his lead to over a minute from Joachim Dequeker and almost two minutes from Alexander Derez, both in Renault Clios.
