The 2023 Belgian Rally Championship held its 10th round in the Roeselare region on Friday and Saturday, with the Omloop van Vlaanderen classic. DG Sport Compétition was aiming for victory by entering the Citroën C3 Rally2 for Niels Reynvoet, co-driven by his half-brother Willem Verbeke. From day 1, five stages long, the tone was set: Reynvoet entered a great duel against Jos Verstappen, Max’s dad. On Friday evening, it was the Citroën driver leading the classification, with a 3”0 advantage over Verstappen
However, Saturday got off to a mixed start for Reynvoet, who inherited a 10-second penalty for checking in late at the start of a stage, after falling victim to traffic conditions. The youngster never gave up though, signing no less than four fastest times during the first two loops on Saturday. Then it was Verstappen’s turn to inherit a 10-second penalty, which left the two drivers separated by… a tiny tenth of a second before the start of the last five stages!
Reynvoet struck first by signing the scratch in the Houthulst stage, before Verstappen retook the lead! But in the penultimate stage, the Dutchman made a small mistake which allowed Niels Reynvoet and Willem Verbeke to head for their first win in the national championship! And for the DG Sport Compétition team, it was a return to victory…
“From the start, I was able to attack hard. With confidence, but without going over the limit, for my primary objective was to cross the finish line”, comments Niels Reynvoet. “On Saturday, my main goal was to stay right behind Jos Verstappen, in order to maintain some pressure. When he received a 10-second penalty as well, our fight became even more intense. We were both driving on the limit, but it was Jos who made a small mistake! After the disappointments of the Rallye de Wallonie and the Aarova Rally, this victory obviously makes us very happy.”
Within DG Sport Compétition, team members were very proud to have once again demonstrated the full potential of the Citroën C3 Rally2 on the Belgian rally roads, and in the meantime supporting, as was the case with Maxime Potty in the past, a young driver in his rise on the motorsports ladder.
“After the Aarova Rally, where he should have won, we kept on motivating Niels and his entourage”, comments Alain Georges on behalf of DG Sport Compétition. “This victory in the Omloop van Vlaanderen demonstrates that he continues to make progress, especially since this success was built with intelligence. Jos Verstappen was attacking as much as possible in order to hold on to the lead, but then he made a mistake. Niels took advantage of this, keeping a cool head throughout the rally. This is clearly promising for the future, which will obviously include the East Belgian Rally and the Spa Rally. With the team, we make it a point of honour to supervise these young drivers, whilst preparing the 2024 season…”
In Roeselare, DG Sport Compétition also provided technical support for the Citroën C3 Rally2 of Bjorn Syx, who took a sumptuous podium finish, likely to boost his motivation for the future. As for gentleman-driver Jimmy D’Hondt, he made excellent use of a C3 Rally2 which he was driving for the very first time, with the help of one of DG Sport Compétition team members as well.
The next round of the Belgian Rally Championship is the East Belgian Rally in Sankt Vith, scheduled for Saturday 23 September.
