Nine regularity tests, including 3 closed road stages, twice in Ten Brielen and a passage in Kroonaard in Komen, formed the opening evening of the 5th Ypres Historic Regularity. The weather was wintery and cold, which made the roads treacherous and slippery in places, but there was no rain. Yet a number of leaders were surprised.
It started with Yves Deflandre, the favorite and the first leader in the race after the first of nine regularity stages. The Porsche pilot was surprised and slid into a canal at 3 km/h, fortunately without damage. The loss of time was, in any case costly in the standings, though it became even worse later in the evening when the Porsche went off the track a second time. Gilles Bailly also had to stop the fight early due to a broken head gasket.
The race also started problematically for Guino Kenis, but the BMW dealer moved into the lead after the first stage. “We had our share of bad luck early in the race with a flat tire and serious delays when Yves Deflandre’s Porsche was towed. I had fun on the closed road stages, but maybe I was a bit too fast at times. The intercom in the helmet didn’t work either,” Guino laughed.
“At least we will be able to have breakfast together,” laughed daughter Julie Kenis, who is in an excellent fifth place after the first day. “Everything went well. We had fun, without stress. Then the result will come.”
Second place is in the hands of Michel Decremer, who led for three stages with his beautiful Opel Ascona 400. “On the closed road stages I may have lacked some power,” said Decremer, second ahead of Geert and Cédric De Jaeger with their Porsche 911. Mirko Savic and Christophe Pelckmans follow in fourth place, followed by the BMW of Julie Kenis.
Eddy Snaet was in the top 5 for a while, until he was caught by surprise in Zillebeke forest. “What an intense evening. This is our fifth time here and the rhythm has never been as high as tonight. It went well, until I was surprised by fallen leaves in a braking zone. We slid backwards into a canal, which took me a minute and a few places,” said Eddy Snaet.
Christophe Baillet took advantage of the opportunity to make up another place and advance to 6th place, despite problems with the tripmaster on the first RT and a navigation error. 7th place is held by Mario Varrewaere. Johnny Delhez is in 8th place with the Escort, which had quite a few technical problems in the Spa Rally last weekend. Today the Ford was fine.
Tomorrow, Saturday, will be the longest day of this Ypres Historic Regularity, with an afternoon break in Oudenaarde and a challenging loop through Hainaut, with a spectacular gravel stage at the end of the day.
The last word has certainly not yet been said.
Filip De Munck leader in the National competition
In addition to the international component, the organizers also provided a national Ypres Historic Regularity on the occasion of the 5th anniversary. Itended for local drivers who want to experience the event. In this side race, the drivers took to 70% of the evening stage tonight.
The national event provided a special starting field, including a 1975 Triumph Spitfire for Hervé Deconinck: “The Spitfire is particularly low to the ground, but it drives like a kart. This is our second enrty in a regularity competition and our debut in Ypres. We are having a great time!”
The sparkling eyes of the recently retired Frans Naeyaert spoke for themselves: “I have been coming to watch the rally since the 1970s, when “Pedro” won for the first time in Ypres. I have not missed a single edition as a spectator.
“I never had the chance to drive. Four years ago I started building this Opel Kadett and now I can finally make my dream come true,” said the pilot born and raised in Ypres.
Filip De Munck and Kristof Vermant were the first to leave the starting podium with the Alfa Romeo Guilia Super, and their goal was to be the first to start tomorrow after this evening outing. After a somewhat difficult start, they were able to maintain a high level of regularity and regain the lead.
In their wake, Jurgen De Bruyne and Bart Engels (Toyota Corolla) followed, while Rik Dumortier and Bert Werniers secured third place with the small Renault R5 Alpine. An ideal outlet for Rik, since he has to undergo surgery on Monday for a new hip prosthesis.
The French duos Aparicio (VW Golf GTI) and De Dain (Alfa Romeo GTV6) round out the top 5.
Tomorrow Saturday the national teams will be presented with the complete stage, including the ‘closed road stages’.
