Ypres Rally Belgium – Day One
Hyundai Motorsport has enjoyed a competitive start to this weekend’s Ypres Rally Belgium, the eighth round of the 2021 FIA World Rally Championship (WRC), as the team leads the event after the opening day of action.
Photo:Hyundai
Home heroes Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe set the pace as Hyundai Motorsport made a positive impression during Friday’s stages. All three crews claimed stage wins with Neuville topping the overall timesheets ahead of Craig Breen in second. Ott Tänak secured a provisional Hyundai 1-2-3 with seven out of the planned eight stages completed. The Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC took a clean sweep of wins with the final test driven in road mode due to spectator issues in stage.
A busy opening day started with the pre-event shakedown on the 9.81km Langemark route ahead of the competitive start to the rally in the afternoon. A compact itinerary, located within a 30km radius of Ypres, saw crews contest seven tarmac stages across two loops: Reninge-Vleteren (SS1/SS5, 15km), Westouter-Boeschepe (SS2/SS6, 19.60km), Kemmelberg (SS3/SS7, 23.62km) and Zonnebeke (SS4, 9.45km). A flexi-service separated the two loops allowing teams to prepare their cars for the repeat runs into the evening.
Neuville got his home rally off to a spirited start by setting the benchmark in Shakedown ahead of Tänak. All three crews found strong pace in the opening pass, taking a 1-2-3 in the first stage and continuing to rack up fast times during the afternoon. At the end of the opening loop, it was the Belgian duo who had moved into a slender advantage out front, just 0.4-seconds ahead of Breen and co-driver Paul Nagle; the Irish pair had claimed two stage wins (SS2/SS3) to assume an early lead. Tänak and Järveoja held third spot, having set their own fastest time in SS1.
The afternoon loop saw more stage victories as Neuville extended his lead ahead of Breen. With a lack of experience at Ypres compared to his team-mates, Tänak continued to show an encouraging performance to finish in third at the end of the day.
Crew Notes: Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (#11 Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC)
Neuville said: “We knew if we had a clean run today that we could be among the fastest. Of course, experience counts for a lot and the car has been working well, but it’s good to be leading at the end of the first day. We have tried to keep a good rhythm without taking risks and everything went smoothly. The target for the afternoon was to have another clean run. I was able to drive a bit faster because the pace notes had been checked and the gravel crew had done a good job, so I felt comfortable to push a bit and extend the lead. We got up to seven seconds during three stages which was great; I would have loved to have done the final stage with all those spectators but unfortunately the stage had to be cancelled. So far, it has been a great team effort, and we have some tough challenges ahead of us tomorrow.”
Crew Notes: Craig Breen/Paul Nagle (#42 Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC)
Breen said: “Honestly, I am really happy and have to be pleased with how the day has gone. The car has been feeling fantastic, and Paul is doing a great job as always. It’s nice to get back the feeling on tarmac; Croatia was a struggle, but the car here fits me like a glove. The first three stages this morning went well. I lost time on the fourth one as I took some references from the R5 car, which didn’t work, but it was a brilliant loop. Two fastest times and we led the rally. The gap to the lead went out a bit this afternoon but we knew it would be a challenge to match Thierry here; to be seven seconds behind after 135km isn’t terrible. The conditions on the second loop were tricky but I still enjoyed it and it’ll be another interesting day tomorrow – after I’ve had a cup of tea and some sleep!”
Crew Notes: Ott Tänak/Martin Järveoja (#8 Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC)
Tänak said: “It is certainly a challenge to be competing at Ypres Rally for the first time, but I am happy to be here. We had a clean morning loop; there was a lot of dirt on the road already, sometimes more than I expected. The car was working well, but it was slippery in places, so we were careful. The long stages were quite demanding and on occasions it was difficult to know where you need to drive and find the grip. At times, the experience is definitely missing but we were learning step by step and the feeling was not so bad. In the afternoon, we were a bit low on boost but apart from that it was enjoyable to drive. Let’s see what tomorrow brings, with more new stages for us. It has been close, so for sure tomorrow we’d like to do a bit better.”
Team Principal Andrea Adamo said: “Clearly, it has been a day that has finished well for us with a provisional 1-2-3, and leading WRC 2 with the new Hyundai i20 N Rally2. We knew that coming here would be difficult and the first day has only served to highlight that. We can only say that all our engineers, mechanics, and drivers – the whole team – has done a good job to prepare for this event. That said, the rally is still far, far from over, so we have to fly low and keep our hopes in check because the next two days are long and complicated.”
Saturday at a glance
1 T. Neuville M. Wydaeghe Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 1:04:27.0
2 C. Breen P. Nagle Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC +7.6
3 O. Tänak M. Järveoja Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC +31.2
4 K. Rovanperä J. Halttunen Toyota Yaris WRC +32.6
5 E. Evans S. Martin Toyota Yaris WRC +33.4
6 S. Ogier J. Ingrassia Toyota Yaris WRC +39.4
7 T. Katsuta K. Williams Toyota Yaris WRC +1:24.5
8 Loubet -Labourdette Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC +2:50.0
A busy opening day started with the pre-event shakedown on the 9.81km Langemark route ahead of the competitive start to the rally in the afternoon. A compact itinerary, located within a 30km radius of Ypres, saw crews contest seven tarmac stages across two loops: Reninge-Vleteren (SS1/SS5, 15km), Westouter-Boeschepe (SS2/SS6, 19.60km), Kemmelberg (SS3/SS7, 23.62km) and Zonnebeke (SS4, 9.45km). A flexi-service separated the two loops allowing teams to prepare their cars for the repeat runs into the evening.
Neuville got his home rally off to a spirited start by setting the benchmark in Shakedown ahead of Tänak. All three crews found strong pace in the opening pass, taking a 1-2-3 in the first stage and continuing to rack up fast times during the afternoon. At the end of the opening loop, it was the Belgian duo who had moved into a slender advantage out front, just 0.4-seconds ahead of Breen and co-driver Paul Nagle; the Irish pair had claimed two stage wins (SS2/SS3) to assume an early lead. Tänak and Järveoja held third spot, having set their own fastest time in SS1.
The afternoon loop saw more stage victories as Neuville extended his lead ahead of Breen. With a lack of experience at Ypres compared to his team-mates, Tänak continued to show an encouraging performance to finish in third at the end of the day.
Crew Notes: Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (#11 Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC)
- Belgians set the standard in their home rally, leading by 7.6-seconds
- Four stage wins led a Hyundai Motorsport clean sweep and provisional 1-2-3
Neuville said: “We knew if we had a clean run today that we could be among the fastest. Of course, experience counts for a lot and the car has been working well, but it’s good to be leading at the end of the first day. We have tried to keep a good rhythm without taking risks and everything went smoothly. The target for the afternoon was to have another clean run. I was able to drive a bit faster because the pace notes had been checked and the gravel crew had done a good job, so I felt comfortable to push a bit and extend the lead. We got up to seven seconds during three stages which was great; I would have loved to have done the final stage with all those spectators but unfortunately the stage had to be cancelled. So far, it has been a great team effort, and we have some tough challenges ahead of us tomorrow.”
Crew Notes: Craig Breen/Paul Nagle (#42 Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC)
- Irish crew led the rally for two stages during the morning loop
- Wins in SS2 and SS3 saw the crew position themselves for a strong result in Ypres
Breen said: “Honestly, I am really happy and have to be pleased with how the day has gone. The car has been feeling fantastic, and Paul is doing a great job as always. It’s nice to get back the feeling on tarmac; Croatia was a struggle, but the car here fits me like a glove. The first three stages this morning went well. I lost time on the fourth one as I took some references from the R5 car, which didn’t work, but it was a brilliant loop. Two fastest times and we led the rally. The gap to the lead went out a bit this afternoon but we knew it would be a challenge to match Thierry here; to be seven seconds behind after 135km isn’t terrible. The conditions on the second loop were tricky but I still enjoyed it and it’ll be another interesting day tomorrow – after I’ve had a cup of tea and some sleep!”
Crew Notes: Ott Tänak/Martin Järveoja (#8 Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC)
- Estonians opened the rally with a stage win in Reninge-Vleteren
- Building experience on the uniquely challenging Ypres roads
Tänak said: “It is certainly a challenge to be competing at Ypres Rally for the first time, but I am happy to be here. We had a clean morning loop; there was a lot of dirt on the road already, sometimes more than I expected. The car was working well, but it was slippery in places, so we were careful. The long stages were quite demanding and on occasions it was difficult to know where you need to drive and find the grip. At times, the experience is definitely missing but we were learning step by step and the feeling was not so bad. In the afternoon, we were a bit low on boost but apart from that it was enjoyable to drive. Let’s see what tomorrow brings, with more new stages for us. It has been close, so for sure tomorrow we’d like to do a bit better.”
Team Principal Andrea Adamo said: “Clearly, it has been a day that has finished well for us with a provisional 1-2-3, and leading WRC 2 with the new Hyundai i20 N Rally2. We knew that coming here would be difficult and the first day has only served to highlight that. We can only say that all our engineers, mechanics, and drivers – the whole team – has done a good job to prepare for this event. That said, the rally is still far, far from over, so we have to fly low and keep our hopes in check because the next two days are long and complicated.”
Saturday at a glance
- A further eight stages will take place on Saturday, starting with the longest individual test of the weekend – the 25.86km Hollebeke stage
- Dikkebus (12.49km), Watou (13.62km) and Mesen-Middelhoek (7.99km) make up the four-stage loop, which will be repeated following lunchtime service.
- A total of 119.92km of special stages will be run on the middle day of the rally with a total route distance of 310.37km.
1 T. Neuville M. Wydaeghe Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 1:04:27.0
2 C. Breen P. Nagle Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC +7.6
3 O. Tänak M. Järveoja Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC +31.2
4 K. Rovanperä J. Halttunen Toyota Yaris WRC +32.6
5 E. Evans S. Martin Toyota Yaris WRC +33.4
6 S. Ogier J. Ingrassia Toyota Yaris WRC +39.4
7 T. Katsuta K. Williams Toyota Yaris WRC +1:24.5
8 Loubet -Labourdette Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC +2:50.0
