Last weekend in Spa, the second round of the Jobfixers Belgian Rally Championship was contested. In very difficult and changeable weather conditions, the brave spectators got to see a fine battle of three that was finally won by Cédric Cherain.
With Guillaume De Mévius (sortie Shakedown), the Herock Spa Rally lost a podium contender even before the start. However, Cédric Cherain did not let it bother him and took the lead immediately on Saturday morning. Kris Princen provided some resistance for a while, but at FP 7 a broken suspension meant it was game over for the BMA VW Polo. Cherain would eventually lead from start to finish, but it was by no means an easy win. Indeed, Adrian Fernémont kept up the pressure and stranded at 13″.
Cédric De Cecco initially seemed to be heading for third place, but a break in the transmission proved fatal. But with Ghislain De Mévius, it was still a complete Skoda podium. Patrick Snijers still secretly thought of closing the gap with the eldest son of Grégoire De Mévius on Sunday morning, but he had to make peace with fourth place and a first scratch in his VW Polo.
PJM Cracco looked set to confirm his fifth place of 2018, but his Fiesta's oil cooler failed him on Sunday morning, forcing him to park the car early. Joachim Wagemans thus dived into the Top 5 with his own prepared Peugeot 208 T16 and is ready for his Tour European Rally campaign which also takes him to Roeselare in September.
Pascal Gaban, meanwhile, proved that his driving skills are not yet worn out. After an eight-year absence, the Brussels-based driver made his comeback with a new Porsche 997 GT3 and drove to a handsome sixth place. In doing so, he convincingly won the R-GT category ahead of Frederic Bouvy who finished ninth.
A nice duel in the race was also witnessed between the Opels of Grégoire Munster and Timo Van Der Marel. The Dutchman seemed to have the upper hand all weekend, but with an ultimate final sprint it was still the Belgian Junior champion who managed to outsmart his companion and finish seventh. A duel that will be continued, as Van Der Marel already announced that he will finish all remaining heats of the Jobfixers BRC.
Closing out the Top 10 was Philip Cracco with his Ford Fiesta R5. Two other R5 drivers did not make it to the finish: Armand Fumal (clutch) and Vincent Prégardien (driving licence revoked).
Gino Büx was the first leader in the Historic BRC, but after a puncture he had to relinquish command to Guino Kenis. But the BMW driver did not have luck on his side, as he had to abandon with a broken drive shaft. Büx could not take advantage, as ignition problems also forced the Escort driver to abandon the race. Johnny Delhez was thus able to taste the lead for a while, but on the final day the local driver proved no match for Dirk Deveux who christened his new Sierra with a first victory. Stefaan Prinzie (motorbike) and Patrick Deblauwe (sortie) did not make it to the end.
Sunday saw the first manche of the RACB Criterium at Spa this year. Some 50 teams took advantage of this to venture onto the infamous tests. In this, it was the local drivers who took the lead with a resounding win by Thomas Delrez. Jean-Pierre Van de Wauwer rode in second position for a while until he dropped out of the rally with a broken drive shaft. Thus, place two went to Jonathan Georges. Jony Vande Walle finished as the first championship driver in third, but in the standings it was Johnny Louies who cemented his lead in the RACB Criterium with eighth place.
(Photo Jobfixers BRC)
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