The Ardeca Ypres Historic Rally ended with the same sort of unpredictability that had defined its opening stages, and for much of Saturday it looked as though the result would remain wide open until the very end. The leading cars from overnight — Latvala-Maeyaert and Lubiak among them — all dropped away in the morning loop, and that handed Tomas Davies a narrow advantage in his BMW M3 E30. For a while, Davies seemed to have the rally under control, holding roughly half a minute over Wouter Lievens in an identical car and looking set for victory.
But Ypres, as ever, had one more twist in store. Davies’ challenge ended on the final special stage with engine trouble, just as the finish was coming into view. That promoted Lievens into what appeared to be a dream opportunity for a debut win in the BMW M3 E30, only for the rally to take another cruel turn. A looming issue with the cylinder head gasket was bad enough, but a timekeeping error cost him a five-minute penalty and pushed him all the way back to fourth, 4m20s off the winner.
The surprise beneficiary was Stefaan Stouf, who took victory in his Porsche 911 Carrera despite battling brake problems throughout the rally and despite not having driven the car for three years. It was the kind of result that felt both unexpected and entirely in keeping with the atmosphere of a historic Ypres event, where experience, resilience and a little luck often matter as much as outright pace. Guillermo Bruneel completed a strong Belgian result with second place in his BMW, while the Italian Renato Travaglia finished third despite an intercom fault that made life far from straightforward.
Behind them, Seb Perez and John Morgan filled the remaining top-six positions, collecting valuable FIA points in the process. Enrico Brazzoli also had a story of his own, returning to action on his 61st birthday after a broken driveshaft had forced him out on Friday, and going on to finish seventh. It was a fittingly dramatic end to a rally that had scarcely allowed anyone to settle.
The BRC Historic contest was no less attritional, though the order was more stable. Tom Boonen retired early on Saturday with transmission trouble in his BMW, while Louis Tytgat’s Opel Ascona A ended up in a ditch. Philip Barbier chose caution over risk in the final loop and settled for second behind the relentless Claudie Tanghe in his Ford Escort. The final podium place went unexpectedly to Kenny Verstraete, whose Ypres debut was rewarded with third after Bram Fonteyne retired with cylinder head gasket trouble.
