IRC Ypres Rally preview : The competitors

With upwards of 30 pacesetting Super 2000 cars on the capacity 124-car entry, predicting a winner in Ypres will be a tough call. However, two drivers set to produce standout performances are Belgians Freddy Loix and Thierry Neuville.

Loix, who will drive a BFO Skoda Rally Team-run Fabia, is a six-time event winner and led the IRC drivers’ standings following the third round in Corsica. After skipping the previous round in Yalta, the 40-year-old will be eager to get his title bid back on track by repeating his Ypres victory of 2010. In contrast, Neuville is a virtual novice having contested the event just twice in a Super 2000 car. He was third last season but has developed into a formidable force in 2011, claiming a podium finish in the Canary Islands and winning in Corsica in his Team Peugeot Belgium-Luxembourg 207.

With the Ypres Rally not on IRC title leader Juho Hanninen’s schedule, his Skoda Motorsport team-mate Jan Kopecky is well-placed to move to the top of the standings if he can secure a strong finish in Belgium. The Czech is three points shy of the championship lead and his highly adept on sealed-surface stages.

Bryan Bouffier won Rallye Monte-Carlo in January and took second last time out in Ukraine following an impressive performance at the wheel of a Peugeot France 207. The Frenchman lacks Ypres knowledge having contested the event just once in the past but is set to be a contender.

Andreas Mikkelsen has proved quick for Skoda UK Motorsport so far this term but hasn’t always enjoyed the best of fortune. He should have finished on the podium on at least two occasions but a spate of punctures and a handful of driving errors have held him back. The Norwegian will turn 22 in the build up to the rally, which could signal a coming of age moment for the rising star.

Peugeot UK’s Guy Wilks missed out on an appearance in Ypres last season while he recovered from injuries sustained in a high-speed crash on Rally d’Italia-Sardegna. Absent from the podium since Rallye Monte-Carlo, the Briton will be determined not to let his lack of recent Ypres running prevent a push for a top-three finish.

Bruno Magalhaes is back on IRC duty after his Peugeot Sport Portugal team elected not to make the 3600-kilometre trip from its base near Lisbon to Yalta for round four. The 30-year-old thrives on events where he has previous experience and will hope to make the most of the knowledge gained when he tackled the event for the first time last season.
PG Andersson and Giandomenico Basso will be banking on the continued improvements being made to their factory PROTON Satria Neos in order to score points in Ypres after showing further promise in Yalta where Basso, a winner in Ypres back in 2006, ran in the top five.

Luca Rossetti is also a former Ypres winner, taking victory on his debut in 2007 in a Peugeot. Now armed with an Abarth Grande Punto, the Italian is a big fan of the rally. And with four IRC wins to his name, Rossetti is a threat for top honours.

Finn Toni Gardemeister will be expected to extend his 100 per cent point-scoring run to five events in his TGS Worldwide Skoda. Peugeot privateer Pierre Campana is back in the IRC after his impressive run to fourth place on the Tour de Corse, while Karl Kruuda makes his second IRC start at the wheel of his Me3 Rally Team Fabia.

Experienced Polish driver Michal Solowow and Frenchman Julien Maurin head the M-Sport Ford attack in their Fiesta S2000s, while Jasper van den Heuvel will be an unknown quantity in his R4-specification Ralliart Mitsubishi Lancer, as will rapid Dutch youngster Hans Weijs, who will drive a Fabia. British Rally Championship frontrunners Robert Barrable and Jonathan Greer will face a steep learning curve in their Skodas as they look to build their experience for the future.

IRC Production Cup

The IRC Production Cup, which is being run for the first time this season, has attracted 23 entrants with Belgians Alexandre Romain and Jonas Langenakens the highest seeds in their Ralliart Mitsubishi Lancers. However, Florian Gonon – a two-time IRC Production Cup winner this season – will be tough to beat in his Subaru Impreza.

IRC 2WD Cup

Sixty-one crews will be in contention for IRC 2WD Cup drivers’ championship points in Ypres with Kevin Abbring, last season’s class winner, set to pose the biggest threat. Other notable names include Ghislain De Mevius, the son of Belgian rallying legend Gregoire, in a Kronos Racing-run Peugeot 207 RC. Promising young Belgian Matthias Boon will drive a Skoda Fabia R2, while Martin Kangur will start his third IRC event of 2011 in his Honda Civic Type R. Defending IRC 2WD Cup champion Harry Hunt will return to the series after missing the last round in Ukraine.