On Wednesday evening in Paris, in the presence of FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem, the prizes for the FIA European Historic Rally Championship 2025 were awarded. Club Superstage also received accolades. The Ardeca Ypres Historic Rally was declared “Best Rally of the Year” by the FIA. This is a wonderful token of appreciation from the participants, who bestow this prestigious award. The Ardeca Ypres Historic Rally has certainly made a remarkable debut in the European championship.
“Of course, this award is due to all our volunteers and staff members at Club Superstage. Last year, the FIA asked us to host a round of the FIA European Rally Championship. It was a fine challenge to organise three competitions in parallel, because alongside the Historic event, we naturally also organised the Ypres Rally Division 1 and, on Saturday, the Ypres Rally Division 2. In the end, everything went smoothly and there was a great deal of public interest in the stunning line-up for the Historic rally,” says Alain Penasse, chairman of the organising club.
The Ardeca Ypres Historic Rally will also feature on the calendar of the FIA European Historic Rally Championship in 2026. This time, it will do so twice, as two separate championships are being organised, each with its own calendar: the Pre-2000 Championship and the Pre-1992 Championship. In both championships, the Ypres Historic Rally, taking place from 25–27 June, is the fourth round on the calendar.
“This season, we are therefore organising two European rounds. As the European championship is clearly on the rise, we are adjusting the schedule so that we can welcome up to 180 participants across all the competitions in the service park in the centre of Ypres,” continues Alain Penasse. “The Historic competitors will also tackle more special stages on Friday, as this year on the opening evening they will take on the Kemmelberg, the new Rodeberg stage, Reninge, and Zonnebeke. On Saturday, Watou, Westouter, Dikkebus, Zillebeke, and Mesen-Wijtschate follow. In total, the EHRC event will feature 170 km of special stages. The modern D1 event covers about 240 km, with the Dikkebus stage as the Powerstage, while the D2 competition on Saturday is 130 km long. In short, a truly impressive programme.”
This week it was also announced that the rally week in Ypres will already kick off on Saturday, 20 June, with “Special Stage 0”, during which several rally teams will be presented on the Grote Markt. On Wednesday, the Test in Boezinge is scheduled, followed by the Shakedown on Thursday evening in Nieuwkerke.
On the sporting front, last year’s two front-runners—winner Pieter-Jan Maeyaert and World Rally star Jari-Matti Latvala, this time navigated by former Ypres winner Juho Hänninen—are already confirmed for the Ardeca Ypres Historic Rally 2026 on 26 and 27 June.
