The return of the FIA European Historic Rally Championship to Ypres was a hit. With 44 starters, the rally was packed with a high-quality field of drivers. The favourite was undoubtedly Jari-Matti Latvala in his Toyota Celica ST185. The three-time WRC vice-world champion and winner of 18 World Championship rounds looked good on paper. However, it is not always the favourites who win.
The Finn had dominated the event. On Friday he pulled away, amassing almost half a minute gap on the competition. On Saturday, no one was a match for his Celica ST185, but the machine let him down halfway through the day. On the way to Zillebeke, the engine overheated and the Toyota lost water. In the service park, it was decided to throw in the towel.
“A huge disappointment, of course, but we really enjoyed this Ypres Rally and the fantastic atmosphere in the city. I had already experienced the atmosphere as team boss of Toyota Gazoo Racing for the Ypres WRC rounds. But even for Europe, there was a mass of spectators, particularly during the signing session. You can feel the passion that lives here for the rally,” Latvala said enthusiastically.
Pieter-Jan Maeyaert had already accepted Latvala’s mastery. However, he was a head above the rest of the field, and after Latvala’s retirement, the BMW driver won with 1 minute, 35 seconds in hand. “Winning the rally, that’s what we came for. Initially, I was disappointed because I had hoped to be able to compete with Jari-Matti thanks to my knowledge of the roads. Unfortunately, he turned out to be a lot faster. Not illogical as a World Championship driver. This victory is really good,” said ‘PJ’ with a cold beer to celebrate the win.
While it looked like Bruno Thiry would come next in the standings, it was not to be. He had moved up strongly to second place after a flat tyre early in the event. He climbed back to podium contention but had to retire in the final loop with a broken brake disc.
That allowed the Hungarian, Tibor Erdi to take second place in his Ford Sierra Cosworth. “We are very happy with second place because we drove almost the entire day without second gear,” said Erdi.
Didier Vanwijnsberghe, who had not driven his BMW for 8 months, drove his M3 E30 to third place. At the beginning of the race he stayed close to Maeyaert, but after a mistake on the Kemmelberg, he dared not push any further.
Seb Perez was holding fourth place in his powerful and crowd-pleasing Lancia Stratos. However, he also had to go home early with mechanical problems. Fourth place went to the Pole Maciej Lubiak in his Porsche, ahead of Guillermo Bruneel, the 33-year-old Ypres resident who finished fifth with a rented BMW M3 E30 from MATS. “This is only my third rally ever, so the result is really unexpected. I couldn’t have dreamed of this. I am extremely happy with this result and hopefully, I can drive the BMW again soon,” Guillermo said.
Dirk Deveux finished as the third Belgian home and 8th in the European field with his Ford Sierra. He was just behind the British duo of James Harrison and Will Graham. “The level at the European level was very high today. I aimed for a top 5, but I never came close, although I didn’t leave anything special behind,” Deveux said.
Briton Mark Higgins, who had not driven for 8 months due to a shoulder injury, drove his beautiful Triumph TR7 V8 to 9th place. “We drove here with a brand new TR7, which was only ready this week. We lost two and a half minutes due to a defective brake cylinder. I had already been here in 2008. What a mighty course!”
Incidentally, there was nothing but praise from the foreign drivers for the atmosphere in Ypres and the quality of the organisation. “This rally is an incredible experience,” Parisian Richard Kollé said.
“What an atmosphere in the city. As a driver it is incredible to be able to experience that. The special stages are fantastic, but very difficult. I normally drive a Porsche, but for the occasion I drove a rented BMW M3 from MATS. A really great car, but everything went very fast!,” Kollé said, eventually finishing 13th.
Among the BRC drivers, there was nothing to say against Bert Cornelis and his Opel Monza. In fact, Bert managed to nestle himself in a nice 6th place overall among the European pack. Patrick Mylleville finished second with the Porsche 911 SC RS after a problem-free rally, while BRC Historic leader Thomas Carlier’s Ford Escort nestled in 3rd place. “I am quite happy with that for a first participation in Ypres,” Carlier said. “This rally has a high degree of difficulty with the deep cuts, but I really enjoyed the beautiful special stages.”
Koen Verhaeghe briefly moved straight ahead with the Ford Escort MKI this morning, resulting in a loss of 10 to 15 seconds. When you see that he is 16 seconds short of keeping Carlier off the podium, the tactics became clear.
