After almost five months without competition, the entire rally world is yearning for the moment when the engines can once again roar in the fields and forests and the tyres can screech on asphalt. In Belgium, everyone hopes that the JobFIXers Belgian Rally Championship can continue during the first weekend of September, just like the World Rally Championship. In our country with the ConXioN Omloop van Vlaanderen in Roeselare.
The question on everyone's mind at the moment is: "Will the health crisis allow the 2nd round of the championship to be run?" KAMV, the organising club from Roeselare, tells how the team is currently feeling
"As the Corona outlook was hopeful in May, we and the board decided to allow all the necessary preparations for the 61st edition of the ConXioN Omloop van Vlaanderen (TER, BRC, Criterium and RnR Regularity race) to go ahead," explained Marc Vandemoortele, KAMV Secretary and Deputy Rally Director.
"Entries opened at the end of May and we immediately got a lot of international response. Clearly everyone is looking forward to being able to rally again! The only downside to the huge interest is that we had to create a waiting list. The participants concerned were informed of this via email.
The meetings with the government, namely the Rally Commission, and the Provincial coordination meetings, went smoothly and preliminary approvals from all municipalities involved have been delivered. Since 1 July, the Flemish Government made a CERM (Covid Event Risk Model) online available to organisers. Together with the municipalities, this was completed regarding the ConXioN Omloop van Vlaanderen for the Shakedown, the service park, the public points and the public point for the Rally HQ at KP Zoning. By providing the necessary measures (limited public access, mouth masks, decontamination gels, walking lines, extra stewards, limited number of public zones...) we were given "code green".
However, we cannot deny that, as organisers, we are not 100% comfortable at the moment. The media is bringing us a lot of "bad news" regarding the rising infection rate. The second wave is coming. As an organiser, a participant and a spectator, it is coffee-gazing. How will things evolve? It certainly won't be up to us. We are working hard on the preparations, but we are keeping the possibility in the back of our minds that stricter conditions may be imposed and that it could even come to a cancellation. We realise now better than ever what our fellow organisers who saw their competition cancelled shortly before it was due to take place have gone through.
Therefore, we ask all motorsport fans to understand our decision not to publish any participant lists yet and not to start pre-selling tickets. Like you, we are anxiously monitoring the evolution and hope to bring you good news from 15 August (3 weeks before our race)."
So everything is ready for another edition of Belgium's oldest rally. Entries poured in en masse. Among them a lot of British teams, who also miss the competition. The Criterium is full and also in 'Historic' an impressive field of participants will be at the start. We just have to cross our fingers that the Belgians are sufficiently careful not to aggravate the health crisis.
(Photo BRC Media - Alexander Ramon)
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