What a final! What a duel! The A&D Omloop van Vlaanderen, the 10th race of the Kroon-Oil Belgian Rally Championship, was only decided in the closing metres. After two days of racing, Jos Verstappen and Niels Reynvoet went into the final lap with a difference of barely 0″1. At first, the former Dutch F1 driver seemed to decide the race in his favour, but on the penultimate test Jos Verstappen made a small mistake. Thus, Niels Reynvoet and Willem Verbeke took their first victory at national level. Mentally a great boost after they let victory in the Aarova Rally slip through their fingers a fortnight ago due to a rollover in the closing stages.
Maxime Potty and Andy Lefevere out
The battle for victory was very exciting for two days at the A&D Omloop van Vlaanderen. In total, the lead went to a different rider nine times on 20 special stages. The fastest starter Friday night was Andy Lefevere. In front of his own crowd, he steered the VW Polo GTi Rally2 to the first scratch. His night blindness then played tricks on him on the last two tests, dropping him to third place. On Saturday morning, Andy Lefevere gave chase, but a mistake on the Zilverberg caused a broken wheel on the back of the Polo.
The second leader in the race was Maxime Potty, who took the lead on the third test, but damaged the left front wheel on the second go-around in Beveren while tackling a left. The shock absorber broke and Potty had to give up. The BRC leader was due to start again on Saturday, but after the first loop he quit the race. "We couldn't score any points and our chance of winning was gone. We only drove today to discover the tests and to make sure the Citroën was back in order after our mistake yesterday. Further insistence was pointless," said Maxime Potty.
Verstappen in error
Niels Reynvoet went into the night as leader, but the East Fleming could not enjoy the lead for long. Due to a mistake when clocking in for the start of FP 7 Passendale, the Citroën driver received 10″ penalty time. The lead was taken over by Jos Verstappen, who drove very strongly on his debut on the special stages around Roeselare.
"We recently raced in Germany and our notes are just really good. I know I can rely on Renaud's notes and, despite the difficult conditions with tests that looked surprisingly wet this morning, I had immediate confidence in the car. It has enough grip in the fast corners. I was able to set top times straight away without taking excessive risks," Verstappen said. Yet things still went wrong for the Dutchman when they clocked in too late on the second lap for the start at Zilverberg. "We got to the time control a few seconds late because we were in traffic twice at a red light. Brutal bad luck..."
Immediately the counters were level again. At KP 14, Niels Reynvoet was still 0″1 ahead, but after the lap at Zoning, Jos Verstappen was leading by 0″1. Niels Reynvoet responded by driving the scratch in Houthulst, but Jos Verstappen's answer were two canon times in Passendale and De Ruiter. With a 4″3 lead, the Skoda driver seemed to have the win in his pocket, but on Zilverberg, Verstappen went wrong.
"I was perhaps concentrating too hard on a fast right, so I missed the note that we had to turn left immediately after. We shot past that left at high speed... A mistake on my part. Too bad, but I'm also happy with this second place because it was a nice, challenging course and we attacked to the max. It was a nice duel with Niels," Jos Verstappen, second and a winner in the BRC Master Cup, told me.
Niels Reynvoet recorded his first major national victory at 31. A mental boost after he narrowly missed out on victory in Oudenaarde a few weeks ago. "From the start I was able to attack with confidence, but without going over the limit, because we definitely wanted to finish this time. On Saturday, I tried to stay close to Jos to keep pressure on him. When he in turn got 10″ penalty time, things got raging. We were on the limit and Jos made a mistake just when I had already resigned myself to second place. This victory is immensely gratifying after the setbacks we had this year in Wallonie and Oudenaarde," winner Niels Reynvoet, navigated by his half-brother Willem Verbeke, told me.
Syx on stage
Following Vincent Verschueren's abandonment with a loose turbo hose, third place went to Bjorn Syx in barely his second race with the Citroën C3 Rally2. "This podium finish exceeds my expectations. I was already happy with a top five, but this is even better. For a dry course we had a great set-up, so when it got drier the car felt fine and I was able to attack."
Bernhard ten Brinke made his comeback in rallying after four years with a handsome fourth place. The Dutchman, who had been active in Dakar in previous years, quickly found his automatisms again and clocked up handsome times. He beat Roger Hodenius, who discovered the course in Roeselare. Hodenius still had to stretch for an unleashed Nicola Stampaert in the closing stages, finishing 0″8 off the top five. "It was just right in the closing stages. Suddenly we had the right set-ups that gave me optimum confidence," Stampaert explained his strong times.
The top 10 was completed by Thibaud Mazuin, ahead of Jimmy D'hondt, making his debut with his new Citroën C3 Rally2, and Pieter-Jan Maeyaert, authoritative winner in Historic with his BMW M3 E30. Bert Coene steered his Ford Fiesta Mk2 Rally2 to 10th place. In the Junior BRC, victory and the title went to 24-year-old Jonas Dewilde from Staden. Pieter-Jan-Michiel Cracco won the GT category with his Porsche 997 GT3.
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