Jos 16th after Saturday in ERC Rally Sierra Morena: 'We're still learning'
Published on 05 April 2025 by Misha van der Kroon
This weekend, Jos Verstappen and co-driver Renaud Jamoul make their debut in the European Rally Championship (ERC). The 53-year-old Dutchman participates in the Rally Sierra Morena in his Skoda Fabia RS Rally2-car. In Andalusia, in the south of Spain, the duo competes against top drivers from the European Championship. They are currently in P16, after the six stages driven on Saturday.
The rally kicked off on Friday evening with a short opening stage through the streets of Córdoba. Saturday featured three different stages, each run twice over the course of the day. The morning began with a foggy run on the technical Obejo stage (6.7km), winding through the mountains. “It was still tricky, but everything is working well, the car responds nicely and I have confidence,” Jos said after going eleventh fastest, just 5.8 seconds off the leading time. “There’s still a lot to learn, though.”
Stage three, Villanueva del Rey (12.8km), proved to be more of a challenge. Jos finished 22nd, slipping to P17 overall. “Some parts of the asphalt were still damp, so you had to be careful. It was the first time we ran this stage, so we’re still figuring things out. It wasn’t bad though, and I don’t want to overdo it and make a mistake. It’s a steep learning curve, but we’re quite competitive and I’m happy with our performance so far.”
The fourth stage, Villaviciosa, a demanding 27.19km test, is the longest of the rally. Jos posted the 15th-fastest time, 44.6 seconds down. “It was very difficult, but this is exactly why we’re here,” Jos explained. “I’m still enjoying it. We do need to make some changes to the brakes though, they started fading, probably because I’m braking too much,” he added with a smile.
The second loop in the afternoon featured the same three stages. On the repeat run of Obejo, Jos finished 20th (+8.9s), which brought the duo back up to P16 overall. “The driving is getting better, but the road conditions were worse this time,” he said. “There was a lot more gravel from everyone cutting the corners. That made it harder. I might have pushed a bit too much, too, because I was experiencing a lot of understeer. We still need to find the right balance.”
Stage six was again Villanueva del Rey, where Jos finished in P19, improving to 14th place overall. “We reviewed our pace notes and made some adjustments based on what we experienced earlier in the day,” said Jos. “We’re still learning. In Belgium, the rallies don’t have as many turns as this one.”
Saturday wrapped up with a second pass through the long and demanding Villaviciosa stage, where Jos ended with the 15th-fastest time. That result sees him hold 16th place overall heading into the final day.
Sunday will feature three new stages, each run twice, bringing the total number of competitive stages for the Rally Sierra Morena to thirteen.
