After clocking the fastest time four times, Jari-Matti Latvala is the comfortable leader in the FIA European Historic round of the Ardeca Ypres Historic Rally.
“It is striking how much you have to drink in this heat to stay focused. Together with co-driver Juho Koski-Lammi, I have a good feeling in the Toyota Celica ST185, but we did notice that the tyres overheat much faster in these hot conditions. We hope to continue this trend tomorrow, although it will be a long day.”
Paul Lietaer was the Finn’s closest challenger in the opening stage, but the Subaru Impreza WRC S5 withdrew from the rally due to a broken driveshaft. François Delecour made a mistake on Kemmelberg with the Peugeot 306 Maxi, dropping two minutes, and he was complaining of steering problems upon arrival at the Grote Markt in Ypres. This resulted in a disappointing 13th place in the provisional standings.
After Day 1, the provisional podium is sees the Polish driver, Maciej Lubiak (Porsche 911) trailing leader Latvala over a minute. Pieter-Jan Maeyaert, who admitted to experiencing problems with the BMW M3 is in a tight battle with Lubiak.
“The engine was sputtering constantly during the final special stages. We think there must be an air bubble somewhere in the fuel line. All in all, the times weren’t too bad, but we still dropped from 2nd to 3rd. Hopefully, we can get the problem fixed, because a long, sweltering day awaits us tomorrow,” Maeyaert said.
Seb Perez places his stunning Lancia Stratos in fourth position, while Wouter Lievens managed to settle into the top 5 after his first competitive kilometers behind the wheel of a MATS-BMW M3.
The first day has already claimed its victims. In addition to Lietaer, the retirees include Gino Bux (Ford Escort MKI), Enrico Brazzoli (Porsche 911), and Hervé Guignard (Renault 5 Turbo), all of whom went off the road with their cars. Meanwhile Maxime Castelein experienced clutch problems in the Lancia Stratos right from the start.
Olivier Breittmayer lost five minutes after being stuck in a ditch on the first stage. Fortunately the fans were on hand to pull his beautiful Opel Manta 400 back onto the road but also dropped out of the competition later in the day.
Among the BRC drivers, Claudie Tanghe is the fastest behind the wheel of a Ford Escort MkII after Day 1. He is 16 seconds ahead of Tom Boonen (BMW 325i E30). Louis Tytgat currently holds third place with the Opel Ascona A.
On Saturday, the remaining participants face another 10 timed stages, or nearly 130 km against the clock. The first Historic car starts at 8:00 AM on the stage in the Grote Markt.
