At the end of this week, and after the Rallye de Wallonie and the Sezoensrally, the teams of the Stellantis Motorsport Rally Cup Belux will compete in the Ypres Rally, considered the highlight of the Belgian rally season. A unique event, and with 13 crews competing on the stages in the Westhoek, the entry list is equally impressive!
Things are on the rise for the Stellantis Motorsport Rally Cup Belux. That is again confirmed by the Ardeca Ypres Rally, both in terms of quality and quantity! The Opel Corsa Rally4 and Peugeot 208 Rally4 battle it out on the typical stages of the Westhoek, Pierre-Manuel Brasseur and Lander Depotter – the first two winners of the season – will probably face a lot of competition, not least from championship leader Tom Heindrichs, who is aiming to get a taste of the winners’ champagne too!
However, they will all have to pay attention to drivers who can be considered as ‘strong outsiders’: Jonas Dewilde and Maxim Decock certainly want to shine in a rally they love! Luxembourg driver Steve Fernandes did not want to miss the big Ypres rally party either, and his experience could make the difference in the battle for the podium places.
In Ypres, several new participants will make their debut in the Stellantis Motorsport Rally Cup Belux. Lander Dhaene is one of them, using the Discovery formula to get his first taste of the Cup, just like Stijn Sonneville. Add to that Manuel Merlevede, and we have a trio of drivers who can undoubtedly create a surprise.
The foreign drivers are also well represented, with the Slovenian Mark Skulj, the German Lukas Thiele and the Irish Niall O’Sullivan. They will do their utmost best to quickly get into the right rhythm on the specific Westhoek stages. Steven Spittaels wants to avoid mistakes, to take advantage of any missteps by the competition to gain some positions.
The Ardeca Ypres Rally 2024 starts on Friday afternoon just after 3 PM. On the first day, there are two loops of three stages to be completed. On Saturday the riders will tackle four stages twice, plus a third passage on the Kemmelberg and Dikkebus classics. See you in Ypres!
