Martijn
Wydaeghe: “We
will complete a few runs on Thursday evening at the shakedown in Nieuwkerke,
with the Hyundai i20 N Rally2 that will function as a “0” car during
the rally. It is nice to be able to give something back to the organisation,
especially as we are also on the honours list of the rally. We even looked at
whether it was possible to participate, but it really did not fit into the
schedule. Our preparation for the WRC round in Poland will, of course, take
priority.
Of course I
have wonderful memories of the Ardeca Ypres Rally. I still get memories of my
first World Championship victory in 2021, together with Thierry Neuville. We
celebrated that victory in Francorchamps. A very special experience! Ypres will
continue to have a special place in my heart. I’ll try to catch the rally here
in Ypres on Friday. On Saturday I will pack my bags at home and there is
another cycling training on the program. On Sunday we leave for Poland.”
Thierry
Neuville: “It
is always entertaining to be present in Ypres again. It is the first time that
I am in Ypres without any stress! I come
to support my brother Tom Heindrichs. I rarely go to his events. Last year I
was at the Sezoensrally to help him. In any case, Tom received my onboards to
prepare. I am also curious how Maxime Potty will do with the car from Lifelive,
my team. I’ve never been in the Yaris GR Rally2 myself. I’ll be doing a few
runs on the Qualifying Stage on Thursday evening with the Hyundai i20 N Rally2.
It is a discovery, because I have never driven the new generation of Rally2. In
any case, I have fond memories of our victory in Ypres, especially because I
was able to celebrate that World Championship victory in Francorchamps, which
is close to home. I’m enjoying the race in Ypres, but then I have to prepare
for the WRC event in Poland. We leave for Poland on Sunday.”
Freddy
Loix: “We have
had good preparation. After Wervik, I tested the Toyota Yaris GR Rally2 on
Monday, together with an engineer. It was important to have time to think about
how we can better tailor the car to my needs. Since the car arrived at PTR, I
have been able to adapt more to the Yaris. I have been driving Skodas for 10
years and have developed them myself. Now I have to learn something new, but I was
still pleasantly surprised that it went so smoothly in Wervik. However, setting
the fastest time in Wervik is not the same as setting the fastest time in
Ypres.
The
starting position is very important in this weather. The road will see bad
conditions. The edges are in poor condition. The chance of flat tyres is much
greater than in other years. My personal ambition? I don’t have to think about
the championship, so we drive to win…”
Niels
Reynvoet:
“This year we decided not to do the Wervik Rally and the test in Boezinge.
We completed a test session ourselves. We have a good rhythm and we have the
confidence after the three victories. In this way we can start relatively
fresh. In any case, I will attack the qualifying stage, because the starting
order will be important. We want to be in a good position as we are against our
championship competitors. So we attack. We are not going to worry about their
times. We will only concentrate on our own competition.”
Chris
Ingram: “Last
year I won the rally for the BRC and we finished just 15 seconds behind Adrien
Fourmaux, in the official Ford. You know, Michael Gilbey, my co-driver, was
Fourmaux’s team manager at the time… I would have loved to come to Ypres with a
Rally2, but our budget is tight and we are concentrating on the British
Championship this season. Then suddenly there was that phone call from Bjorn
Syx, a good friend. He suggested driving his brand new BMW M3 E30 from MATS. An
incredible car. I still have to get used to driving with a rear wheel drive. I
hope those local specialists with their M3s don’t make fun of me.
Melissa
Debackere: “We
are driving a Porsche for the first time in Ypres. That will be an enormous
challenge as it has a lot of power. A Rally2 is made for high cornering speeds
while a Porsche has a lot lower, so the behaviour is different. You have a bit
more work to get the power to the ground. The most impressive thing is the
power. You definitely need a lot of kilometres.
Tim Van
Parijs: “I
said last week in Wervik that it is fantastic that Melissa wants to take up the
challenge with the Porsche. The course in Ypres may not be made for a Porsche,
but we can’t choose that. In any case, we will compete with Patrick Snijers and
the other great GT drivers.”
Thomas
Martens: “It
will be our first experience on asphalt. Two weeks ago I turned 18 and we made
a plan a few years ago to start in Ypres. Last weekend we drove a Renault Clio
Rally4 in Finland. This weekend we are driving a Rally5. It did require an
adjustment to the brakes. We went off track for a while, and it was certainly
not the easiest rally to make our debut. I received some tips from Freddy Loix,
who also gave me the opportunity to drive the Yaris.”
Patrick
Snijers: “A
Porsche is actually a car that is made for circuits, but it remains a great car
to drive. You can’t win with it in general, but it remains a powerful machine.
The spectators are still in front of it.
The very
first time we drove here, we stayed at the Ypra campsite for three weeks. We
didn’t start exploring until around 11pm. Our friends closed the roads and we
blasted through the tests. Those were beautiful, and very different times.
Nowadays you are only allowed to explore at a low speed to a limited extent. It
is different, but Ypres remains a special match. It will be very difficult for
us, the Porsche drivers. We come after the four wheel drive cars that will
throw a lot of much on the road. It will not be easy to get the power to the
ground on the mud. Difficult, but it remains fun. My ambition? I always come to
the start to win!”
