Spa Rally Tom Heindrichs and Cédric Cherain dominate the opening loop
After an eventful Friday, the Spa Rally benefited from much more stable weather this Saturday to start the first loop, featuring four special stages! While Cédric Cherain (Porsche 992 Rally GT) set the first fastest time in Fays Show, young Tom Heindrichs (Citroën C3 Rally2) impressed by being the quickest of them all in Chevron, Trois-Ponts Show and Wanne! But the gaps with the Porsche remained small, with the difference between Heindrichs and Cherain only 2.2 seconds when they first returned to the service park at Spa! That bodes well for the rest of the weekend, especially if the weather stays decent...
Behind the two leaders, Tom Rensonnet (+26.5s) emerged at the wheel of the Hyundai i20 N Rally2 entered by Lifelive Motorsport, getting the better of Dutchman Bernhard ten Brinke (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2, +31.2s), fastest in yesterday evening’s Qualifying Stage, who had gambled on slick tyres on Saturday morning.
Cédric De Cecco (Hyundai i20 N Rally2, +43.9s) currently completes the top 5, edging out Thomas Martens (Citroën C3 Rally2, +57.4 s), who needs to pick up the pace. In the second-fastest Porsche 992 Rally GT, John Wartique (+58.3s) made a strong impression, outpacing Romain Delhez (1:04.1) by a few seconds. Delhez is discovering a 992 Rally GT that is quite unlike the Porsche 991 GT3 he usually drives. Emile Breittmayer (Citroën C3 Rally2, +1:05.7), lacking rhythm this morning, and Thibaud Mazuin (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2, +1:06.4) round out the provisional top 10.
Pierre Hubin (Renault Clio Rally3) leads RC3 and is an impressive 13th overall, while German driver Colin Dünker (Ford Fiesta Rally4) surprised everyone in RC4 by beating the leader of the Stellantis Motorsport Rally Cup Belux, Lander Depotter (Opel Corsa Rally4). Jo Muyle (Subaru Impreza) leads Youngtimer BRC, mirrored by Guino Kenis (BMW 325i E30) in Historic BRC.
Competitors will return to the city-centre podium in Spa at 2.20 p.m. before tackling the same four special stages for a second time. As a reminder, Fays Show will be run a third time at 19:48, in the darkness, to conclude the opening day of the 2025 Spa Rally in spectacular fashion.
