Jos after rally debut in Haspengouw rally: 'Great fun and challenging'

Published on 27 February 2022 by Kees-Jan Koster

Jos Verstappen debuted last Saturday 26 February in the first round of the Kroon-Oil Belgian Rally Championship (BRC), the Rally of Haspengouw (Belgium). Jos had a good start in his Citroen C3 R5 (Rally2 Car), with a couple of placings in the top, but fell back a bit in the final phase of the day, finishing in eighth position. The rally was supremely won by Stéphane Lefebvre, Jos’ teammate in the DG Sport Competition.

“This day was great fun and very challenging”, says Jos. “Overall I am very pleased with my rally debut. The goal was to have fun and to finish, we managed that. Of course, there is still a lot to learn for me, also with regard to the partnership with my navigator Kris Botson. Only by driving together a lot, can I get more experienced with pace notes and can we really drive as one. Listening to and processing the notes is the most challenging for me at the moment.”

The track over Belgian roads consisted of four stages, each were driven three times during the day. Jos finished each time between fifth and nineth position, with a third place in the second stage and a 26th place in the seventh stage as the outliers. After five stages was Jos in fifth position, a strong start of the day, on the treacherously muddy track.”

In the seventh stage went Jos straight ahead of the slippery road, after which he was stuck for half a minute losing a lot of time. Also in the final stage, at dusk, lost Jos some time, after which he finished in a neat eight position. Jos, who will turn fifty on Friday, did win in the new Masters class, for over fifties.

Jos explains: “It was very challenging to drive the last stage in the dark. I had no confidence, because I was not able to see clearly. I have driven in the dark before, for example at Le Mans, but as the years go by my night vision is not getting better. But driving this rally car is great, I had lots of fun.”

In three weeks time, on 19 March, will Jos get behind the wheel of his Citroen C3 R5 again for the second round of the BRC, the South Belgian Rally.