Jos Verstappen third after first day in Wallonie: 'We won't give up'
Published on 25 April 2026 by Florence Cobben
Jos Verstappen has finished the first day of the 43rd Rallye de Wallonie, which counts towards the Belgian Rally Championship (BRC), in third place. After setting the fastest time in the opening stage, the pendulum of good fortune quickly turned against car #1 with a 40-second time penalty for speeding on a liaison section, demoting Verstappen and his co-pilot, Jasper Vermeulen, to P17. The remainder of the day was spent making up as much time as possible, and starting the climb back up the standings.
This weekend, Verstappen competes alongside a new co-driver, Jasper Vermeulen, in the Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 prepared by Sarrazin Motorsport. Longtime-teammate Renaud Jamoul broke his ankle earlier this week and was deemed unable to participate. “Despite being determined to still get into the car, I had to undergo surgery because my ankle was broken in two places,” the unfortunate Belgian announced on the eve of the event.
Vermeulen is normally the co-pilot of the leader of the championship, Cédric Cherain. Cherain has withdrawn from the Rally owing to personal reasons, freeing up Vermeulen to jump in for Jamoul.
Following the first of twelve stages this Saturday, in which car #1 set the fastest time, Verstappen shared some thoughts: “We were doing well. For Jasper, it’s the first time using English pace notes since we’re using the notes we already have. But it went well and the car also feels good. The weather is perfect. If we stay on this track, we’ll still have to get used to another but the first impression is good.” Moments later, a message from race control arrived, announcing that the two drivers would be served with a 40-second time penalty.
The second stage of the day saw car #1 finishing third, promoting the team from P17 to P9, with a 41.6 second gap to leader Adrian Fernémont. The third stage also saw Fernémont in first, with Verstappen finishing in P2. In the overall standings, the team moves up to P7.
Verstappen finishes third in the fourth stage, and so climbs another position to claim P6. While racing through the stage, however, the car sustained some damage, and the Skoda comes steaming across the finish line. However, car #1 gets a stroke of luck: the next stage does not start for another two hours, providing plenty of time to fix any damage.
The first stage of the second loop (Natoye) goes to Verstappen, signalling successful repairs to his car. However, the temporary victory marks no improvement in the overall standings, as the gap to Frenchman Thomas Anacleto in fifth place remains too large. However, the rally is far from over.
On the sixth stage (Nettine–Mohiville), the fastest man on track is Maxime Potty. However, his moment in the sun is brief, and the Belgian is served a 30-second penalty for arriving late at the start of the stage. Potty owed the delay to necessary repairs that had to be carried out to a shock absorber on his car's liaison. Meanwhile, Verstappen finished second, 0.7 seconds behind first, noting: “We had a clean run, and we know that the second circuit is a big faster. It’s a shame that Potty already had problems before we even started.”
Stage seven sees a surprise winner in Romain Delhez, with Verstappen second, just 0.4 seconds behind. The reigning world champion remains sixth in the overall standings, but the gap to fifth is reducing every stage.
Verstappen finally claims fifth after the eighth stage, as car #1 comes in second behind Fernémont, sailing past Bastien Rouard in the standings. “The second time around was faster, but still not as good as I’d like it to be. We can do better. Adrian (Fernémont) is also in great form. We keep pushing, because there’s much racing still to go.”
The ninth stage sees Verstappen and Vermeulen claim gold, earning them another leg up in the standings. After nine stages, Verstappen and Vermeulen are fourth in the overall rankings, behind Fernémont, Delhez and Potty.
The tenth and eleventh stages are won by Potty, with Verstappen again coming in second. Following a crash, Anacleto drops from front-field contention. Meanwhile, car #1 is promoted to third. After the eleventh proof, Verstappen opined: “It’s incredibly exciting, but we won’t give up. Tomorrow is another day, and anything can happen. We’ll see.”
Saturday’s climactic final stage (Marche-Les-Dames) is entirely new to the drivers, but nevertheless won by car #1, with Potty on P2.
By the end of day 1, Fernémont has built a comfortable lead of about half a minute to Potty in P2, who in turn has Verstappen and Vermeulen in his rearview mirrors at a 7.2-seconds distance. On Sunday the 43rd Rallye de Wallonie will resume, with another nine stages to go. Anything can happen, and despite a large lead, the winner is far from decided.
