The first part of the opening day of the 2024 Spa Rally took place in challenging conditions and the Bruy\u00e8res and Wanne stages in particular proved to be a tough test for the teams. Maxime Potty (Citro\u00ebn) provided proof, missing a braking point in SS2 and losing 34\u201d5. To make matters worse, he then lost even more precious seconds due to damage to the front axle. The reigning champion had fallen back to a provisional sixth place when he returned to the service park. Not ideal regarding his title race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Up front, C\u00e9dric Cherain (Hyundai) initially dominated the first loop, before seeing 8″7 slip through his fingers on the second run through Bruy\u00e8res (SS6). Jos Verstappen (Skoda) was able to take advantage, but still had 7″1 to make up on Cherain. Then, the Dutchman achieved a new scratch in SS7 Fays Show. That stage meant the end of the road to Nicola Stampaert (Skoda): an impressive crash just after the jump, but fortunately the crew remained unharmed. The crash did cause a so-called \u2018Stop Start\u2019 procedure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The first seven stages are behind us and the gaps continue to narrow. Cherain lacks confidence and sees his bonus melt like snow in the sun. His Hyundai i20 N Rally2 attacks SS8 with a 2\u201d0 lead over a lightning fast Jos Verstappen. Next up are Niels Reynvoet (Citro\u00ebn, 19\u201d3), Charles Munster (Hyundai, 41\u201d9), Maxime Potty (Citro\u00ebn, 54\u201d7), who is progressing after his error this morning, John Wartique (Skoda, 55\u201d0), Bernhard ten Brinke (Skoda, 1’10\u201d2) and Tom Rensonnet (Citro\u00ebn, 1’41\u201d8), who continues to show signs of improvement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Romain Delhez (Porsche) continues to lead in RGT, ahead of S\u00e9bastien Incardona (Alpine), while Harry Bouillon (Renault) is in charge in Rally3. Maxim Decock (Opel) follows his example in the Stellantis Motorsport Rally Cup Belux, with Tom Heindrichs (Opel) in hot pursuit. Dutchman Nard Ippen (Renault) confirms he is the favourite to win the Clio Trophy Belgium, where he\u2019s up front ahead of Thomas Martens. After Rainer Feltes’ (Ford Escort Mk2) puncture in SS5, Geoffrey Leyon (Ford Escort Mk1) is the driver to beat in Historic BRC, ahead of Olivier Breittmayer’s melodious BMW M3 E30.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After five stages, Laurent Vanton (Renault Clio R3) finds himself at the head of the pack in Division 2, ahead of Antoine Luxen (Renault Clio RS) and Valentin Dozot (Peugeot 208 R2), while J\u00e9r\u00f4me Septon (Peugeot 208 Rally) is mainly thinking about capturing the title.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Blue skies in Spa, but even so, the remaining stages on Saturday promise to pose a tricky challenge, as temperatures will drop even further as evening falls.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The first part of the opening day of the 2024 Spa Rally took place in challenging conditions and the Bruy\u00e8res […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":22289,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[73,2],"tags":[],"acf":{"vhrs":false,"show_group":false},"yoast_head":"\n