Condroz – Lefebvre like in a film

Traditionally, the Condroz closed the Belgian motorsport season, but the pandemic has turned this habit upside down. From now on, the Spa Rally (December 4-5) puts an end to the discipline. Regardless, the event in the Huy region remains an unmissable event – ​​105 crews at the start on Saturday – on a course that is particularly difficult to master. Another characteristic, it often has the knack of attracting renowned foreign pilots. On the list, we find Andrea Aghini (1994), Sébastien Loeb (2013) Craig Breen (2016), but also Stéphane Lefebvre who has had his hands on victory since 2018.

As in 2018 and 2019 (the 2020 edition was canceled), Stéphane Lefebvre climbed to the highest step of the podium. A winner who is unanimous in the large community of rally Belgian. “A nice pilot, available, not complicated for a penny”, we emphasized at DG Sport. The Northerner would have a thousand reasons to be bitter, to blame the whole world for no longer being part of the inner circle of WRC. But his enthusiasm for rallying and his passion for driving push him to compete in all the events that arise on practically everything that runs, jumping from an Opel Corsa Rally4 to a Citroën C2 Rally2 with the same involvement and the same… success.

At Condroz, Lefebvre nevertheless had to spit in the fireproof gloves to overcome the three furious people fighting for the Belgian title, Adrian Fernémont, Ghislain de Mévius and Grégoire Munster. That the Frenchman led the rally from the 3rd timed sector to the finish poorly reflects the intensity of the fight. The smallest gap was 0”3, the largest margin of 9”4 over his pursuers.

This third consecutive triumph at Condroz is also the first victory for his co-driver Renaud Jamoul. The regional of the stage is involved in the organization of the event, via Roger (his dad). It also brings balm to the heart of the DG Sport team, which has been battered in recent months. Based in Theux, the team was victim of the floods which shook part of Wallonia in July. Years of work were swept away in a few hours by the Hoegne, a raging river which invaded the infrastructure up to 3 m high.

The Citroën C3, entrusted to Kris Princen until recently, had never managed to compete with the contenders for the title. Which also led to the end of the collaboration with the former Belgian champion. In Huy, Stéphane Lefebvre demonstrated how competitive the Double Chevron Rally2 was still.

This triumph at Condroz in no way disrupts the fierce fight between the three protagonists for the Belgian championship. The points scored by Lefebvre not being counted, the 25 units of victory went to Adrian Fernémont, the man who finished 7″3 behind the winner. The intensity of the fight between the title holder, and also championship leader, never allowed the Citroën driver to relax his efforts. The first Belgian also felt the breath of Ghislain de Mévius and Grégoire Munster.

These two never stopped fighting for the last step of the podium until this famous Power Stage, which has the good idea of ​​distributing the same points as in the world to the five best drivers registered in the championship. At Condroz, it was De Mévius who won ahead of Munster and Fernémont. In the final ranking, the three men are separated by 5”4! At the end of 16 special stages actually contested (the last two sectors of Saturday were canceled due to the indiscipline of certain spectators) and the 149,46 km timed full of traps, this gives an idea of ​​the level of the Belgian rally championship .