The Ardeca Ypres Rally will have a musical touch this year with the frontman of Clouseau, Koen Wauters, signalling his intent to take on the legendary Flemish roads.
Wauters showed off his ride in Dentergem on Tuesday evening. He will be behind the wheel of Frédéric Miclotte’s Skoda Fabia RS Rally2. Miclotte will be WRC duty with the Acropolis Rally in Greece, and so the SXM-prepared Skoda is available for Wauters to make his rally debut. Guiding him through the stages will be Nicolas T’joen.
The musician and television presenter has a strong love of motorsport, having competed in circuit racing and rallyraids in the past, but has yet to step into the world of rallying. But he has always wanted to take the step and sees this as the ideal opportunity.
“There is a very good reason why I want to make my debut in the Ardeca Ypres Rally. I have been assured that the Rally of Ypres is the safest rally in the country, especially for the spectators,” Wauters said.
Wauters is not a complete rally novice, however, and twice had the opportunity to drive alongside our world champion Thierry Neuville.
“A few years ago, after the Rally of Portugal, I had the opportunity to drive in Fafe and last year I sat next to Thierry during one of his runs at the shakedown in Ypres. It was an incredible experience. I was particularly impressed by the cutting. I couldn’t imagine that you could throw the car so deep into the corner at that speed. It went so fast that I could barely process it. That will be my biggest challenge by the way: processing the information from the co-driver at that speed.”
Seeing Belgian cycling legend Tom Boonen in action as a rally driver with a Skoda provided another piece of inspiration. “It’s not that Tom convinced me, but I was always jealous of the fact that he enjoyed rallying. After all those years on the circuit, I’m ready for a new challenge. I’m not getting any better on the circuit either and in rallyraid I noticed that I feel good on the technical tests, type “rally”. That’s why I’m really looking forward to my debut in Ypres.”
Fans will have their opportunity to see Wauters in action in Ypres, and will not be doing a test rally beforehand. “No, I’d rather do a test session somewhere where we can try out some things in peace, without pressure from the public.”
With Koen Wauters at the start, one must make sure they experience the atmosphere on the Ypres Market Square on 27 and 28 June.
