Wed July 27, 2011

 Bouffier disqualified from 2nd in Ypres Following the meeting held on 21 July by the FIA stewards concerned, it was decided to exclude car number 2 – the Peugeot 207 S2000 of Bryan Bouffier and Xavier Panseri – from the final results of the 2011 Geko Ypres Rally. The reason for this decision is an item of non-conformit...

 Seventh heaven for Loix in Ypres Freddy Loix has maintained his comfortable overnight lead to win the GEKO Ypres Rally for a seventh time today (Saturday). Loix led the Intercontinental Rally Challenge qualifier from start to finish and moves back to the top of the IRC standings as a result. His victory, at the ...

 A good points harvest for Bouffier

 Proton Ypres Rally review

 Kangur finishes 4th in R3 class

Sun June 26, 2011

 Loix dominates Ypres Rally for Skoda Freddy Loix in a factory Škoda Fabia Super 2000 comfortably won the fifth IRC event this season, the Ypres Rally in Belgium. His seventh victory in Ypres has earned him a place in the history of this rally. “Fast” Freddy Loix won nine stages of 18 in total and finished 1 minute a...

Sat June 25, 2011

 The 207 S2000s in hot poursuit This weekend’s Geko Ypres rally, round five of the 2011 IRC, got off to a flying start, with plenty of drama and three Peugeots in close formation on the heels of the overnight leader this evening....

 Home hero Loix on top in Ypres Freddy Loix has gained a huge boost in his efforts to win the GEKO Ypres Rally for a seventh time after he completed the opening day of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge event with a lead of almost 40 seconds over Guy Wilks, while his key rival Thierry Neuville retired on the ...

NEWS JUST IN

 B end - Loix win number 7! @ 09:06 PM - Loix wins Ypres for the 7th time! This turns Loix into the most successful IRC driver (7 IRC wins, like Hänninen, aber 196 vs 173 pts). Wilks passes Kruuda. Final results (after SS18)(subject to last road section and scrutineering):
1st= Loix/Miclotte, Skoda, 2h40m03s9;
2nd= Bouffier/Panseri, Peugeot, +1m41s6;
3rd= Weijs/Degandt, Skoda, +3m56s9;
4th= Solowow/Baran, Ford, +6m06s8;
5th= Snijers/Gitsels, Mini, +6m20s;
6th= Wilks/Pugh, Peugeot, +6m33s8;
7th= Kruuda/Järveoja, Skoda, +6m50s6;
8th= Gardemeister/Suominen, Skoda, +6m57s4;
9th= Rossetti/Chiarcossi, Fiat Abarth, +7m25s;
10th= ten Brinke/Thierie, Skoda, +7m37s9

 B SS17 - Loix in control @ 08:51 PM - Loix seems in control, but with one stage to go There are plenty of battles further down. Van Eldik lost time and such Rossetti moves into the top10, stright into 9th. PG Andersson moves into 12th. Snijers overtakes Kruuda for 5th and Wilks is on Kruuda's heels now too. Results after SS17:
1st= Loix/Miclotte, Skoda, 2h33m54s9;
2nd= Bouffier/Panseri, Peugeot, +1m40s3;
3rd= Weijs/Degandt, Skoda, +3m45s7;
4th= Solowow/Baran, Ford, +5m45s;
5th= Snijers/Gitsels, Mini, +6m19s1;
6th= Kruuda/Järveoja, Skoda, +6m27s;
7th= Wilks/Pugh, Peugeot, +6m34s7;
8th= Gardemeister/Suominen, Skoda, +6m55s3;
9th= Rossetti/Chiarcossi, Fiat Abarth, +7m19s9;
10th= ten Brinke/Thierie, Skoda, +7m20s

 B SS16 - Still many hard battles @ 06:54 PM - Although the stages are mainly dry now, this stage was one for punctures again. Wilks, Kruuda and Snijers all suffered punctures, Snijers worst, dropping from 4th to 6th right between Kruuda and Wilks. Further down is Gardemeister the meat in a close Dutch sandwich. Results after SS16:
1st= Loix/Miclotte, Skoda, 2h17m31s6;
2nd= Bouffier/Panseri, Peugeot, +1m35s3;
3rd= Weijs/Degandt, Skoda, +3m19s9;
4th= Solowow/Baran, Ford, +5m08s1;
5th= Kruuda/Järveoja, Skoda, +5m52s3;
6th= Snijers/Gitsels, Mini, +6m02s6;
7th= Wilks/Pugh, Peugeot, +6m29s3;
8th= van Eldik/Buysmans, Skoda, +6m38s3;
9th= Gardemeister/Suominen, Skoda, +6m44s6;
10th= ten Brinke/Thierie, Skoda, +6m47s3

 B SS15 - Major top10 changes again @ 06:12 PM - Bernd Casier has not reached the stage finish, so many drivers move up. Rossetti jumps Barrable to move from 13th to 11th, 15s from a top10 result. Patrick Snijers had a mild off near the stage finish to narrow the podium chances he suddenly had. Results after SS15:
1st= Loix/Miclotte, Skoda, 2h04m05s6;
2nd= Bouffier/Panseri, Peugeot, +1m41s8;
3rd= Weijs/Degandt, Skoda, +3m11s3;
4th= Snijers/Gitsels, Mini, +4m31s5;
5th= Solowow/Baran, Ford, +4m56s;
6th= Kruuda/Järveoja, Skoda, +5m34s3;
7th= Wilks/Pugh, Peugeot, +6m03s;
8th= van Eldik/Buysmans, Skoda, +6m16s;
9th= ten Brinke/Thierie, Skoda, +6m26s;
10th= Gardemeister/Suominen, Skoda, +6m40s3

 B SS14 - Casier with problems @ 06:06 PM - Casier loses 3rd place to Weijs again with powersteering problems. As Loix eases, some interesting times on this stage, top4 in the stage: Wilks, Weijs, Gardemeister, then Snijers in the Mini. Results after SS14:
1st= Loix/Miclotte, Skoda, 1h57m05s6;
2nd= Bouffier/Panseri, Peugeot, +1m41s;
3rd= Weijs/Degandt, Skoda, +3m06s9;
4th= Casier/Caesemaeker, Skoda, +3m37s3;
5th= Snijers/Gitsels, Mini, +3m42s8;
6th= Solowow/Baran, Ford, +4m47s2;
7th= Kruuda/Järveoja, Skoda, +5m26s9;
8th= Wilks/Pugh, Peugeot, +5m59s3;
9th= van Eldik/Buysmqns, Skoda, +6m09s9;
10th= ten Brinke/Thierie, Skoda, +6m16s1

 B SS13 - Strong stage for Peugeot @ 04:14 PM - Back in Belgium on the first run through the fa,ous Kemmelberg stage. Bouffier wins this stage ahead of Wilks. Weijs has a spin and drops behind Casier again. Although dry at the moment, he next stages are repeats and bound to be even splippier. Results after SS13:
1st= Loix/Miclotte, Skoda, 1h48m46s;
2nd= Bouffier/Panseri, Peugeot, +1m41s3;
3rd= Casier/Caesemaeker, Skoda, +3m05s;
4th= Weijs/Degandt, Skoda, +3m11s5;
5th= Snijers/Gitsels, Mini, +3m46s1;
6th= Solowow/Baran, Ford, +4m40s8;
7th= Kruuda/Järveoja, Skoda, +5m10s6;
8th= van Eldik/Buysmqns, Skoda, +6m00s7;
9th= ten Brinke/Thierie, Skoda, +6m06s2;
10th= Wilks/Pugh, Peugeot, +6m07s7

 B SS12 - Tsjoen only stars in Belgium @ 04:04 PM - The big news is that Pieter Tsjoen retires from 3rd with a holed radiator. This is the shortest stage of the event, but it is understood that he had the damage already at the end of the previous stage. Results after SS12:
1st= Loix/Miclotte, Skoda, 1h42m44s2;
2nd= Bouffier/Panseri, Peugeot, +1m44s7;
3rd= Weijs/Degandt, Skoda, +3m01s;
4th= Casier/Caesemaeker, Skoda, +3m01s7;
5th= Snijers/Gitsels, Mini, +3m32s3;
6th= Solowow/Baran, Ford, +4m19s9;
7th= Kruuda/Järveoja, Skoda, +4m53s6;
8th= ten Brinke/Thierie, Skoda, +5m39s4;
9th= van Eldik/Buysmans, Skoda, +5m42s5;
10th= Wilks/Pugh, Peugeot, +6m08s8

 B SS11 - French French stage win @ 03:58 PM - The larger one of two French stages and Bouffier takes his first stage win of the event. Hans Weijs takes Bernd Casier for 4th by just 0.1s. Results after SS11:
1st= Loix/Miclotte, Skoda, 1h41m24s4;
2nd= Bouffier/Panseri, Peugeot, +1m42s8;
3rd= Tsjoen/Vanneste, Peugeot, +2m11s3;
4th= Weijs/Degandt, Skoda, +2m56s6;
5th= Casier/Caesemaeker, Skoda, +3m29s3;
6th= Snijers/Gitsels, Mini, +4m13s5;
7th= Solowow/Baran, Ford, +4m13s5;
8th= Kruuda/Järveoja, Skoda, +4m50s5;
9th= ten Brinke/Thierie, Skoda, +5m36s3;
10th= van Eldik/Buysmans, Skoda, +5m40s2

 B SS10 - Punctures for everyone @ 01:43 PM - Roads are dry now, but it is still very cloudy, nearly dark. Most drivers went out with a cut slick and 2 rain tyres as spares. Wilks dropped a lot of time with 2 punctures and now no spare left with 3 stages to go. Rossetti and Gardemeister also suffered punctures, all lost in excess of 3min. This was the longest stage of the rally too, with two stages in France to follow now. Results after SS10:
1st= Loix/Miclotte, Skoda, 1h36m52s4;
2nd= Bouffier/Panseri, Peugeot, +1m43s9;
3rd= Tsjoen/Vanneste, Peugeot, +2m05s8;
4th= Casier/Caesemaeker, Skoda, +2m50s6;
5th= Weijs/Degandt, Skoda, +2m54s3;
6th= Snijers/Gitsels, Mini, +3m25s;
7th= Solowow/Baran, Ford, +4m03s2;
8th= Kruuda/Järveoja, Skoda, +4m40s7;
9th= ten Brinke/Thierie, Skoda, +5m30s9;
10th= van Eldik/Buysmans, Skoda, +5m55s7

 B SS9 - Casier closes on Weijs @ 11:45 AM - Still wet roads and drivers expect the 2nd loop to be even ,ore slippy. However there are 4 more stages until the first repeat stage comes. Casier closes in on Weijs to within 5s in the rain. Also Tsjoen seem to not take risks in fighting Bouffier. Rossetti overtakes Solowow. Snijers closes on Gardemeister. Results after SS9:
1st= Loix/Miclotte, Skoda, 1h20m32s1;
2nd= Wilks/Pugh, Peugeot, +46s9;
3rd= Bouffier/Panseri, Peugeot, +1m32s2;
4th= Tsjoen/Vanneste, Peugeot, +1m46s2;
5th= Weijs/Degandt, Skoda, +2m23s6;
6th= Casier/Caesemaeker, Skoda, +2m28s6;
7th= Gardemeister/Suominen, Skoda, +2m55s3;
8th= Snijers/Gitsels, Mini, +2m56s5;
9th= Rossetti/Chiarcossi, Fiat Abarth, +3m22s6;
10th= Solowow/Baran, Ford, +3m25s6

 B SS8 - Bouffier takes Tsjoen @ 11:19 AM - Bouffier overtakes Tsjoen for 3rd, just. Loix replies to Wilks as he wins this stage by 4.6s. Results after SS8:
1st= Loix/Miclotte, Skoda, 1h06m41s8;
2nd= Wilks/Pugh, Peugeot, +40s9;
3rd= Bouffier/Panseri, Peugeot, +1m24s1;
4th= Tsjoen/Vanneste, Peugeot, +1m27s4;
5th= Weijs/Degandt, Skoda, +2m00s2;
6th= Casier/Caesemaeker, Skoda, +2m12s7;
7th= Gardemeister/Suominen, Skoda, +2m21s1;
8th= Snijers/Gitsels, Mini, +2m36s7;
9th= Solowow/Baran, Ford, +2m53s3;
10th= Rossetti/Chiarcossi, Fiat Abarth, +2m57s3

 B SS7 - Wilks wins wet stage @ 10:46 AM - It's the first stage of this event Loix didn't win, though Wilks beat him by only 0.4s. Rain havoc, Basso in 11th with the Proton went off and retired, Rossetti got away with a 30s time loss in a similar stunt. Results after SS7:
1st= Loix/Miclotte, Skoda, 59m36s3;
2nd= Wilks/Pugh, Peugeot, +36s3;
3rd= Tsjoen/Vanneste, Peugeot, +1m10s2;
4th= Bouffier/Panseri, Peugeot, +1m16s4;
5th= Weijs/Degandt, Skoda, +1m41s;
6th= Casier/Caesemaeker, Skoda, +1m52s3;
7th= Gardemeister/Suominen, Skoda, +2m00s8;
8th= Snijers/Gitsels, Mini, +2m15s8;
9th= Solowow/Baran, Ford, +2m31s8;
10th= Rossetti/Chiarcossi, Fiat Abarth, +2m38s2

 B leg2 - forecast @ 10:42 AM - It has been drizzling; light but continously all night. The roads are soaking wet and in Vlaanderen that means very slippy asphalt. This means the conditions are very different to yesterday, extremely difficult, and at the moment it doesn't look like change. We could see havoc.

Fri June 24, 2011

 Last news before the start There is a selection of important news before Ypres gets underway. You ,ay have noticed changes to the entry numbers. But also we have to report that Jan Kopecky is not taking the start of the rally. ...

NEWS JUST IN

 B leg1 - Loix clean sweap! @ 09:23 PM - Freddy Loix wins every single stage of day1. Tsjoen with a 2nd fastest time now. Rossetti 5th fastest in this stage, moving back into the top10, while PG Andersson lost a minute with engine problems. Results after leg1 (SS6):
1st= Loix/Miclotte, Skoda, 51m11s1;
2nd= Wilks/Pugh, Peugeot, +36s7;
3rd= Tsjoen/Vanneste, Peugeot, +54s1;
4th= Bouffier/Panseri, Peugeot, +58s9;
5th= Weijs/Degandt, Skoda, +1m20s2;
6th= Casier/Caesemaeker, Skoda, +1m32s2;
7th= Gardemeister/Suominen, Skoda, +1m45s5;
8th= Snijers/Gitsels, Mini, +1m50s5;
9th= Rossetti/Chiarcossi, Fiat Abarth, +1m54s5;
10th= Solowow/Baran, Ford, +2m

 B SS5 - Loix ahead of Wilks @ 08:29 PM - This is now the 4th stage which Loix wins with Wilks 2nd. Accordingly there is a clear trend, but from 3rd everything is open. Rossetti's engine problem seems cured as he passes Basso & Betti for 11th. Results after SS5:
1st= Loix/Miclotte, Skoda, 41m25s8;
2nd= Wilks/Pugh, Peugeot, +28s9;
3rd= Tsjoen/Vanneste, Peugeot, +47s8;
4th= Bouffier/Panseri, Peugeot, +51s8;
5th= Weijs/Degandt, Skoda, +1m06s6;
6th= Casier/Caesemaeker, Skoda, +1m15s5;
7th= Gardemeister/Suominen, Skoda, +1m26s8;
8th= Snijers/Gitsels, Mini, +1m30s5;
9th= Solowow/Baran, Ford, +1m36s8;
10th= Kruuda/Järveoja, Skoda, +1m39s3

 B SS4 - Rossetti drops with engine problem @ 07:46 PM - Rossetti drops a minute down to 13th with an engine problem. Freddy Loix meanwhile was 10s faster than anyone, to try for a save lead. Results after SS4:
1st= Loix/Miclotte, Skoda, 33m31s7;
2nd= Wilks/Pugh, Peugeot, +23s3;
3rd= Tsjoen/Vanneste, Peugeot, +38s2;
4th= Bouffier/Panseri, Peugeot, +44s5;
5th= Weijs/Degandt, Skoda, +51s7;
6th= Casier/Caesemaeker, Skoda, +59s8;
7th= Gardemeister/Suominen, Skoda, +1m08s9;
8th= Snijers/Gitsels, Mini, +1m11s5;
9th= Solowow/Baran, Ford, +1m17s5;
10th= Kruuda/Järveoja, Skoda, +1m21s

 B SS3 - Rossetti takes Bouffier @ 05:56 PM - Rossetti takes Bouffier, as Bouffier had 2 spins in 2 stages now. Tsjoen also continues to impress, his 2nd fastest time could turn this into a 3-way battle. Barrable, Oleksowicz & Maurin all dropped minutes for unconfirmed resons. Snijers in the 1600TS2000 Mini Dooda now in 8th. Results after SS3:
1st= Loix/Miclotte, Skoda, 25m39s7;
2nd= Wilks/Pugh, Peugeot, +14s1;
3rd= Tsjoen/Vanneste, Peugeot, +25s3;
4th= Rossetti/Chiarcossi, Fiat Abarth, +33s7;
5th= Bouffier/Panseri, Peugeot, +34s1;
6th= Weijs/Degandt, Skoda, +37s9;
7th= Casier/Caesemaeker, Skoda, +41s8;
8th= Snijers/Gitsels, Mini, +48s8;
9th= Gardemeister/Suominen, Skoda, +56s5;
10th= Solowow/Baran, Ford, +58s8

 B SS2 - Engine failure for Magalhaes @ 05:15 PM - Following his strong 4th fastest stage time Bruno Magalhaes retires on SS2 with a blown engine! Meanwhile superb times for Tsjoen & Rosseti, who both gain 2 places, Wilks remains very close on Loix's heels. Results after SS2:
1st= Loix/Miclotte, Skoda, 15m55s5;
2nd= Wilks/Pugh, Peugeot, +3s9;
3rd= Tsjoen/Vanneste, Peugeot, +16s3;
4th= Bouffier/Panseri, Peugeot, +20s;
5th= Rossetti/Chiarcossi, Fiat Abarth, +20s5;
6th= Weijs/Degandt, Skoda, +22s;
7th= Barrable/Connolly, Skoda, +23s;
8th= Casier/Caesemaeker, Skoda, +27s1;
9th= Snijers/Gitsels, Mini, +27s9;
10th= Gardemeister/Suominen, Skoda, +33s7

 B SS1 - Surprising start! Neuville out @ 04:28 PM - Surprises. Positive: Wilks is Loix's closest chaser, Magalhaes in 4th, Hans Weijs Jr in 6th, Robert Barrable 8th, Snijers' Mini in top10, van de Heuvel's R4 Mitsubishi near top10. Negative: Mikkelsen crashed out, so Skoda lost 2 of their biggest hopes now, but also Neuville had a puncture resulting in suspension damage. Results after SS1:
1st= Loix/Miclotte, Skoda, 7m53s;
2nd= Wilks/Pugh, Peugeot, +3s4;
3rd= Bouffier/Panseri, Peugeot, +4s6;
4th= Maghalhaes/Grave, Peugeot, +11s;
5th= Tsjoen/Vanneste, Peugeot, +12s1;
6th= Weijs/Degandt, Skoda, +13s4;
7th= Rossetti/Chiarcossi, Fiat Abarth, +13s9;
8th= Barrable/Connolly, Skoda, +15s8;
9th= Gardemeister/Suominen, Skoda, +16s4;
10th= Snijers/Gitsels, Mini, +17s9

Wed June 22, 2011

 Wilks on fast and flat Ypres Peugeot has already won the Ypres Rally a total of five times and Guy and Phil will be aiming to make it six....

 Rally Radio on Ypres Rally Rally Ypres, Round 5 of the 2011 Intercontinental Rally Challenge, gets under way on Friday, and Rally Radio by iRally will be broadcasting from Belgium throughout the event, bringing live reports and interviews from the Stage Ends and Service Park. ...

 Andreas on familiar territory in Belgium Until now, 2011 has been full of new adventures for Andreas Mikkelsen, contesting rallies that were completely new to him or that bore little resemblance to when he’d done them before. Having finished 5th on the Geko Ypres Rally last year, the ŠKODA UK Motorsport Fabia S2000 driv...

 IRC Geko Ypres preview The full IRC Geko Ypres preview with TV & stage times.......

 PROTON Geko Ypres Rally preview The worldwide nature of PROTON Motosports’ 2011 rally programme is demonstrated in the next nine days as the Malaysian manufacturer competes on either side of the globe in two of the most competitive rally championships in the world....

 Peugeot tries to resume winning ways Peugeot’s Ypres record includes five wins, two of which were the work of Bruno Thiry driving a 206 WRC, in 2002 and 2003, while the three others were notched up by 207 S2000 runners who scored back-to-back successes in 2007, 2008 and 2009. This year, Peugeot will be out in fo...

 Second Ypres run for Kangur Dikkebus, Heuvelland, Hollebeke and Kemmelberg are names familiar to any rally fan and rightly so. They're some of the infamous special stages (SS) of the Belgian Geko Ypres Rally, one of the most important and successful rallies on the Intercontinental Rally Challenge calend...