Double blow for Kronos Racing on home soil

The multiple IRC event-winning Kronos Racing team is facing a hefty repair bill after two of its Peugeot 207 Super 2000s were badly damaged in separate crashes on the Geko Ypres Rally, its home round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge.

Pieter Tsjoen, the current Belgian championship leader, crashed heavily into a ditch on Saturday’s opening stage, while Kris Meeke – last year’s Ypres winner – rolled his 207 several times on the very next test.

“It is very bad for us but that is rallying,” said joint team boss Marc van Dalen. “Pieter’s car did not roll but was badly bent and I think it is now dead. Kris rolled many times and there is a lot of damage.”

Of Meeke’s crash, van Dalen said: “Kris was not out of control, he was driving at 100 per cent but nothing more. I am convinced it was a problem with the pacenote and not the speed. He was in sixth gear instead of fifth and was not in the right line. Both him and Freddy [Loix] were on full attack and this can happen but it is not the fault of Kris going too quickly.”

It’s not all doom and gloom for Kronos: its rising star Thierry Neuville has climbed to third overall in his Team Peugeot Belgium-Luxembourg 207.