Rally – Princen ahead at Condroz, big names at Citroën

At the end of the first stage of rally from Condroz (Belgium), Kris Princen leads the way ahead of Vincent Verschueren (Skoda Fabia R5) by almost forty seconds. The latter would be titled on Sunday if the positions remain identical. Kris Princen's most threatening challenger, Kevin Abbring (Peugeot 208 T16) experienced a clutch problem at the end of the sixth timed sector. The Dutchman was imitated despite himself by Cédric Cherain during the last special. The strong image of Saturday, however, will remain the accident of Ghislain de Mévius (Skoda Fabia R5), fortunately without damage for the driver and his co-driver:

For this final of the Belgian Rally Championship (BRC), a group of Citroën crews specially made the trip. So, François Duval returns to his land. The former official Ford and Citroën driver in WRC struggles with the behavior of his DS3 R5. “I like the car's behavior, even if I find it slightly understeer. But it remains very alive and you have to fight behind the wheel. »

Another distinguished guest, Bruno Thiry, triple Belgian rally champion. “I'm not here to win, but to have fun and thank the initiators of the project. It's been 20 years since we won this rally for the first time with Stéphane (Prévot). And when Yves matton offered us this lovely project, I obviously didn’t hesitate. I didn't want to die an idiot having never driven an R5. »

The director of Citroën Racing also made the trip, and came away with honors (10th at the wheel of an old C4 WRC). “At my age, you need a car that is easy to drive and powerful (laughs). And so I chose to enter a Citroën C4 WRC again this year. I was lucky enough to be able to drive all the Citroën WRCs at the Rallye du Condroz, except the C3 WRC obviously. If we set up this operation with the Motor Club of Huy and Citroën Belux, it is obviously also a form of wink. At the Rallye du Condroz, we have already had all the World Champions of the last 15 years at the start. There, we are playing the Belgian card and we also want to show everyone that Belgium is a real rallying nation”, He explains.

General ranking at the end of the first day
1. Kris Princen (Skoda Fabia R5)
2. Vincent Verschueren (Skoda Fabia R5) +38.4
3. Kevin Abbring (Peugeot 208 T16) +39.3
4. Manu Canal-Roblés (Skoda Fabia WRC) +44.5
5. Bruno Thiry (Citroën DS3 R5) +53.5
6. Adrian Fernemont (Ford Fiesta R5) +55.5
7. Guillaume De Mevius (Peugeot 208 T16) +1.02.9
8. François Duval (Citroën DS3 R5) +1.14.2
9. Xavier Bouche (Skoda Fabia R5) + 1.22.1
10. Yves Matton (Citroën C4 WRC) +1.22.7