Jos encouraged despite DNF on final stage of ERC Rally Poland

Published on 15 June 2025 by Stefan Meens

Jos Verstappen and navigator Renaud Jamoul endured a disappointing end to the Polish round of the European Rally Championship (ERC) after failing to finish the final stage of the fourteen stage event. The duo contested the gravel rally in a Skoda Fabia RS Rally 2 car.

After the first eight stages, which ran on Saturday, Jos an Renaud were fifteenth in the standings. The Sunday featured and additional six stages with Mikolajki (7,2km), Pozezdrze (20km) and Gmina Mragowo (15,2km) each contested twice.

Jos started the day with P26 (+17,7s), P26 (+1:00,2) and P27 (+50,8s) meaning the Verstappen.com entry had dropped to sixteenth in the standings. “We were always the first car on the stage. It’s important to get to know the stages, so it hopefully goes better on the second attempt. The car felt great, with a good balance. The stags are beautiful, and we had our challenges. But I’ve really enjoyed it, whilst still having to learn a lot.”

With the freshly gained experience, Jos and Renaud contested the three stage a second time, resulting in P19 (+13,4s) and P15 (+35,0s). Going into the final stage, and back up to fifteenth in the standings, sadly the duo hit a big boulder, rendering the Skoda undrivable. It meant Jos and Renaud failed to finish the Polish round of the ERC.

Nevertheless, Jos remained positive. “The second time we hit the stages there was more grip and lines to follow. It was more fun, and I could push a bit more. We altered our pace notes and were able to go a lot faster than on our first attempt, so I’m happy with the progress we’re making. We’ll keep learning by contesting more gravel events.”