After completing 70% of the route of their international colleagues yesterday, the participants of the Ypres Historic Regularity National were presented with the same full day today, with a large loop via Tielt to Oudenaarde in East Flanders and then back via Hainaut.
Filip De Munck and Kristof Vermant remained in the lead all day with their Alfa Romeo, but at the finish they realized that a time penalty might follow. The favorite indeed had to settle for second place. “We apparently committed a speeding violation in a short slow zone. We apparently missed that notification from Tripy. So, mixed feelings, but overall we can be satisfied with our performance. It was three years ago that I last had a meeting with Kristof If we did this more, it would automaticly be even better,” said a slightly disappointed Filip De Munck.
Because the French couple Philippe and Karine Aparicio also received a time penalty for a speeding violation, the victory went to Jurgen De Bruyne and Bart Engels. The duo in the Toyota Corolla crowned a very regular race with an unexpected victory. “This was certainly beyond all expectations,” said Jurgen. “It was my first time riding with Bart as a navigator, and it was his first participation in the Ypres Historic Regularity. We have been looking forward to this for a long time. Apart from a small error in the trip master, the car didn’t budge and we really enjoyed ourselves.”
The French duo Philippe and Karine Aparicio placed their VW Golf GTI on the lowest podium platform during their first participation in Ypres. They will definitely come back next year, but for the full three days. Rik Dumortier and Bert Werniers lost three minutes due to a flat tyre, just after they had succeeded on RT21 with a stage win. As a result, the Renault R5 Alpine fell to fifth place. The Dadizeel duo Emiel Ostyn and Sebastien Van Onacker drove together for the first time, also made their debut and unexpectedly worked their way up to a fourth place with the Opel Ascona.
