Jos ends Friday in Sweden with a rollover
Published on 30 May 2025 by Misha van der Kroon
Jos Verstappen and his co-driver Renaud Jamoul are in Sweden this weekend for the third round of the European Rally Championship (ERC). The 53-year-old driver ended Friday with a rollover on the last stage of the day. Both are okay, but their Skoda Fabia RS Rally 2 car suffered some damage.
The first kilometers on the challenging Scandinavian gravel roads took place on Thursday, when Jos finished 15th in the qualifying stage, and was classified 13th (+4.8 seconds) on the first competitive stage, Bråtebäcken (3.12 km). “These are fast gravel stages. It looks great,” Jos said. “But the stages are also demanding. You need a lot of confidence. There’s less grip than we expected, but it’s very beautiful and we learn a lot by driving here.”
On Friday, eight stages were run over four different sections. In the morning there was light rain while the drivers were on the stages Grönlund (9.65 km) and Värmskog (14.46 km). On both stages, Jos finished 21st and commented: “It’s very difficult. I think we also made the wrong tyre choice because the car slides a lot. It’s hard to find the right rhythm.”
On the second loop over the same two stages, results improved slightly with P20 and P17, according to Jos. He commented: “I feel a bit more grip, which gives more confidence. It went much better than the first time. We adjusted the car setup, like the suspension. That feels better. Also, the roads are in better condition than during the first loop. We’re gaining a lot of experience and learning a lot. We’re having a good time.”
Next, they moved on to the Gårdsjö (11.39 km) and Colins (9.01 km) stages, while the gravel slowly dried under the sun. On these stages, Verstappen finished in P19 and P17. Jos, who had switched from supersoft to soft compound tyres, said: “It was still very difficult. There are no racing lines yet, and there’s a lot of loose gravel.” About the big jump on Colins, he said: “At the rally in Hungary, we landed on the nose of the car, which I wanted to avoid. But the jump was good. We had some moments in a tight corner, some oversteer because it was very slippery, but it was a nice stage.”
After the second time on Gårdsjö, finishing P15, Jos was still searching: “I feel like we have too little traction. It doesn’t feel like I want it to. It was still very slippery.” Starting the last stage of Friday from 18th place in the overall standings, Verstappen and Jamoul had a rollover halfway through Colins when the rear wheels of the Skoda caught the gravel just off the road. The duo was able to get out unharmed and hope to continue their way on Saturday, when another eight stages are scheduled in the ERC Rally of Scandinavia.
