Last weekend revolved around Jos Verstappen’s participation in the Rallye de Wallonie, the fourth round of the Belgian Rally Championship. The former Formula 1 driver lined up for the event around Namur with a different navigator, as regular co-driver Renaud Jamoul was sidelined with a broken ankle. His place in the Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 was taken by Jasper Vermeulen.
The rally came to an unfortunate end for Verstappen and Vermeulen on Sunday. During the 13th stage, they suffered a heavy crash in which the Skoda struck a pole and flipped over. Both driver and co-driver escaped the incident unhurt, but their rally was over immediately.
“It was in a right-hand corner. It was dusty and there was gravel on the road. I think we went into the corner a bit too fast and at the exit the car stepped out,” Verstappen explained. “Then we hit the pole, which caused the car to spin around and end up upside down.”
According to Verstappen, the fact that both he and Vermeulen were able to walk away from the crash underlined just how safe modern rally cars are. “The most important thing is that Jasper and I got out of the car safely. It was a big impact, but these cars are incredibly safe — and that shows again. I’m glad we came out of it well.”
Before things went wrong, Verstappen and Vermeulen had been on a strong run. After Saturday’s stages — the opening day of the two-day rally — the reigning Belgian champion was third in the provisional standings. Despite a 40-second time penalty after the first stage, Verstappen trailed only leader Adrian Fernemont and Maxime Potty.
As a result of the crash and his retirement, Verstappen has dropped to fourth place in the championship standings. With second-place finishes in the Rally van Haspengouw and the TAC Rally, the Dutchman sits on 40 points. Potty leads the standings with 65 points, followed by Bastien Rouard and Cedric Cherain.
