Geko Ypres Rally 2011

The Geko Ypres Rally 2011 took place from June 23rd to 25th near Ypres in West Flanders . The rally was the third round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge 2011 and was also part of the European Rally Championship and the Belgian Rally Championship .

background

The Geko Ypres Rally led over paved farm roads near Ypres in West Flanders. The event opened with the shake down on June 23rd. The first six special stages were scheduled for June 24th . On June 25th, the last day of the rally, another twelve special stages followed. A total of 18 tests were held over 287.89 kilometers. The total distance including connecting stages was 649.87 kilometers.

The rally had a strong field of drivers. 116 teams were entered, including 28 Super 2000 cars in the rating of the IRC. The biggest favorite to win was Belgian Freddy Loix , who had won the rally six times before. Among other things, the German Felix Herbold made his debut at an IRC run. The championship leader, Juho Hänninen , took a break from the Geko Ypres Rally.

course

Škoda works driver Jan Kopecký already had a serious accident during the shake down . Since his co-driver Petr Starý was then found to have a broken collarbone, the team decided not to start.

On SS1, Thierry Neuville had to park his vehicle with a damaged wheel suspension. The rally was already over for Andreas Mikkelsen after he had put his vehicle in a ditch. The Škoda driver Freddy Loix, however, set a high pace in his home game. He was able to set himself apart from Guy Wilks , his closest pursuer, with personal bests. On the first day Loix won all six special stages and by the end of the day already had a lead of 36.7 seconds over Wilks. Pieter Tsjoen and Bryan Bouffier fought a close duel for third place , but both were almost a minute behind the leaders.

On the second day, Freddy Loix easily controlled his lead. Meanwhile, Guy Wilks continued to lose ground on the wet track. Wilks suffered a setback on SS10 when two punctures threw him back to tenth place. As a result, Bryan Bouffier moved up to second place, but he was too far behind to be able to endanger Loix's victory. On SS11, Pieter Tsjoen, who had previously placed third, was thrown out of the rally because his Peugeot lost coolant. Hans Weijs junior and Bernd Casier were now fighting for third place . Casier had to give up on SS15 due to problems with the power steering of his Škoda. Andreas Mikkelsen, who started again on the second day according to the Superally regulations, still set a few best times towards the end of the rally, but no longer played a role in the overall standings.

Finally, Freddy Loix won with 1: 41.6 minutes ahead of Bryan Bouffier. However, Bouffier was subsequently disqualified for non-homologated parts on the steering of his Peugeot. All participants initially placed behind him moved up one place. Hans Weijs junior was second, 3: 56.9 minutes behind Loix. Behind third-placed Michał Sołowow was Guy Wilks, who worked his way up to fourth place with a race to catch up. Felix Herbold finished the rally in 21st place in the IRC ranking after being thrown back by two punctures. A total of 55 vehicles were rated, 54 of them in the rating of the IRC. With his win, Loix took the lead in the championship.

Results of the IRC

Overall rating

Item	driver	Co-driver	vehicle	total time	Residue	Points
1	Freddy Loix	Frédéric Miclotte	Škoda Fabia S2000	2: 40: 03.9		25th
DSQ	Bryan Bouffier	Xavier Panseri	Peugeot 207 S2000	2: 41: 45.5	1: 41.6	-
2	Hans Weijs junior	Bjorn Degandt	Škoda Fabia S2000	2: 44: 00.8	3: 56.9	18th
3	Michał Sołowow	Maciej Baran	Ford Fiesta S2000	2: 46: 10.7	6: 06.8	15th
4th	Guy Wilks	Phil Pugh	Peugeot 207 S2000	2: 46: 37.7	6: 33.8	12
5	Karl Kruuda	Martin Järveoja	Škoda Fabia S2000	2: 46: 44.5	6: 40.6	10
6th	Toni Gardemeister	Tapio Suominen	Škoda Fabia S2000	2: 47: 01.3	6: 57.4	8th
7th	Luca Rossetti	Matteo Chiarcossi	Abarth Grande Punto S2000	2: 47: 28.9	7: 25.0	6th
8th	Bernhard ten Brinke	Davy Thierie	Škoda Fabia S2000	2: 47: 41.2	7: 37.3	4th
9	Robert Barrable	Damien Connolly	Škoda Fabia S2000	2: 47: 57.7	7: 53.8	2
10	Julien Maurin	Olivier Ural	Ford Fiesta S2000	2: 49: 41.9	9: 38.0	1

Special stages

Day	WP	Time	Surname	length	winner	time	Ø pace	Overall leader
Day 1 (June 24th)	SS1	16:49	Dikkebus – Westouter 1	14.30 km	Freddy Loix	7: 53.0	108.84 km / h	Freddy Loix
	SS2	17:36	Mesen – Sauvegarde 1	14.75 km	Freddy Loix	8: 02.5	110.05 km / h
	SS3	18:15	Langemark 1	18.84 km	Freddy Loix	9: 44.2	116.10 km / h
	SS4	20:10	Dikkebus – Westouter 2	14.30 km	Freddy Loix	7: 52.0	109.07 km / h
	SS5	20:57	Mesen – Sauvegarde 2	14.75 km	Freddy Loix	7: 54.1	112.00 km / h
	SS6	21:36	Langemark 2	18.84 km	Freddy Loix	9: 45.3	115.88 km / h
Day 2 (June 25th)	SS7	11:18	Proven – Vleteren 1	14.76 km	Guy Wilks	8: 24.8	105.26 km / h
	SS8	11:40	Watou 1	12.33 km	Freddy Loix	7: 05.5	104.32 km / h
	SS9	12:16	Heuvelland 1	24.74 km	Freddy Loix	13: 50.3	107.27 km / h
	SS10	14:03	Hollebeke 1	28.82 km	Freddy Loix	16: 20.3	105.84 km / h
	SS11	15:06	Lille – Eurométropole	8.47 km	Bryan Bouffier	4: 30.9	112.56 km / h
	SS12	15:38	Show Wasquehal	1.88 km	Andreas Mikkelsen	1: 17.3	87.55 km / h
	SS13	16:41	Kemmelberg 1	10.23 km	Bryan Bouffier	5: 58.4	102.76 km / h
	SS14	18:27	Proven – Vleteren 2	14.76 km	Guy Wilks	8: 11.2	108.18 km / h
	SS15	18:49	Watou 2	12.33 km	Andreas Mikkelsen	6: 53.4	107.37 km / h
	SS16	19:25	Heuvelland 2	24.74 km	Andreas Mikkelsen	13: 14.4	112.11 km / h
	SS17	21:12	Hollebeke 2	28.82 km	Andreas Mikkelsen	16: 19.5	105.92 km / h
	SS18	21:56	Kemmelberg 2	10.23 km	Guy Wilks	6: 08.1	100.05 km / h

Web links

• Official website
• Results on eWRC-results.com

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Next level for Herbold (Rallye-Magazin.de on June 23, 2011)
2. ↑ Hänninen taps Loix (Motorsport-Total.com on June 21, 2011)
3. ↑ ^{a b} SS1-6: Loix in Ypres outstanding (Motorsport-Total.com on June 24, 2011)
4. ↑ SS7-13: Loix expands leadership - bad luck for Wilks (Motorsport-Total.com on June 25, 2011)
5. ↑ ^{a b} Victory number seven for Loix in Ypres (Motorsport-Total.com on June 25, 2011)
6. ↑ Bouffier subsequently disqualified (Rallye-Magazin.de on July 22, 2011)