Ypres Rally Belgium is full of entrants

Scheduled from August 18 to 21, the 9th round of the season can be proud of having attracted one of the most consistent fields of the year. Several French teams will be present including Yohan Rossel.

Published on 29/07/2022 à 08:09

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For the second year in a row, Ypres and its region will host the specialty world championship. Unlike 2021 where the event ended on the Spa Francorchamps circuit, this time the three stages will take place around the city of cats. Marking the return of WRC on the asphalt after a series of 5 meetings on the dirt, the rally will attract a large crowd (88 competitors announced), but it will be less than last year when 98 cars and the support structures that go with them invaded the center of the city. The Rally1 category confirms its current difficulties with a workforce reduced to 10 candidates in the absence of Pierre Louis Loubet who had not checked Ypres on his calendar. The two Sébastiens (Loeb et Ogier) ne seront pas de la partie, l’Haut-Alpin laissant sa place à Esapekka Lappi chez Toyota. For its part, Hyundai alignera Oliver Solberg dans la 3^e i20 hybrid.

Yohan Rossel and Valentin Sarreaud during their last WRC2 race in Sardinia (Photo Nikos Katikis / DPPI)

Unlike the Rally1s, the Rally2s are very numerous with almost 50 examples. The 9^e round of WRC2 will see the return of Yohan Rossel who has not raced since Sardinia. Winner in WRC3 last year, the PH-Sport driver will seek to regain the lead of the competition before the final sprint. Always formidable on this type of road, Stéphane Lefebvre (C3) who is leader of the Belgian championship (3 successes) will also be a candidate for victory. Operating at Toksport, the structure that represents Skoda, Andreas Mikkelsen, Marco Bulacia and Nikolay Gryazin will still have to make do with the old version of the Fabia Rally2. Within WRC2, many locals like Grégoire Munster, Vincent Verschueren or Davy Vanneste will try to shine. As is often the case in Belgium, the GT category will be well stocked with around ten spectacular cars. Finally, the participations of Patrick Snijers (7 times Belgian champion), Freddy Loix (7 successes in Ypres) and Jos Verstappen (5^e rally of his career) will be to follow. Twenty special stages are on the program with 281,58 km timed.