Ypres Rally

Thierry Neuville & Nicolas Gilsoul (i20 R5) came back to the Ypres Rally as current leaders of the WRC, hoping for better luck on this year’s event. They took the lead on stage 2 and with a total of 15 fastest or joint fastest stage times they took victory by just over 40 seconds, which pleased the local crowds. Reigning Belgian National Champions Vincent Verschueren & Veronique Hostens (Fabia R5) came home in second place with 4 stage wins but they were under pressure from Kris Princen & Bram Eelbode (Fabia R5) who set fastest stage times on 4 of the last 5 stages, finishing just over 8 seconds behind, taking the final podium place.

Ypres Historic Rally

On paper the Ypres Historic Rally was totally dominated by Paul Lietaer & Bruno Vienne (Manta 400) who took victory by almost 6 minutes. They had been pushed hard by Stefaan Stouf & Joris Erard (Sierra Cosworth) who had been leading until stage 12, when differential issues saw Stouf retire. It had been a two crew battle though, which was reflected in large winning margin. Tom Van Rompuy & Jens Vanoverschelde (M3 E30) took 2nd place by 13 seconds from Danny Kerckhof & Kristof Dejonghe (M3 E30). In the Classic Rally Dirk Deveux & Kris D’Alleine (Escort MkII) took victory.

Silverstone Social – HSCC International Trophy

Images of the Silverstone Social Classic Car Meet from todays HSCC International Trophy meeting at the Silverstone circuit. Please send any enquiries to russ@90right.com, where low resolution proofs are available (which are exactly the same size as displayed on this page). Digital images are £5 each or £10 for all 3 images of your car, displayed on this page, (further images are available but only these 3 angles have been captured, on the circuit).

OVO Energy Women’s Tour

With the Women’s Tour coming so close to home I had to go out and catch the action. Stage 2 saw the riders start in Rushden and finish in Daventry. The finale was over a circuit which saw them tackle Newnham Hill twice and knowing how hard that hill can be that is where I went. Team Sunweb’s Coryn Rivera took the stage win and overall lead of the race in Daventry before the riders moved to Warwickshire stage, the following day. With most of the route on my home patch I had a good idea of where to go and Edgehill was the main draw, on what would be the longest stage of the race. Sarah Roy took the stage win Leamington Spa for the Mitchelton Scott team.

Critérium du Dauphiné

Another great week in France saw Team Sky return to winning ways on the Critérium du Dauphiné. Their 6th success on this race in the last 8 years saw Geraint Thomas add his name to the list of winners, with what is probably his greatest result of his road racing career. It was not simple though as a prologue crash saw him drop 20 seconds or so. He then had to hope he recovered well before the team time trial on stage 3. Team Sky then delivered in emphatic style by taking a crushing victory. It was then just the small matter of defending the lead on the next 4 mountain top finishes to the next 4 stages.