Stellantis Rally Cup Maxim Decock wins in the Westhoek!
The Ypres Rally, a traditional highlight of the Belgian rally season, served as the prestigious setting for the second round of the 2025 Stellantis Motorsport Rally Cup Belux. In the first stage on Friday afternoon, German driver Lukas Thiele set the fastest time! However, he was soon overtaken by Maxim Decock, who was the fastest in SS2. A little later, Lander Depotter also clocked the fastest time in SS4, concluding the first loop. The stage was set for an exciting competition!
Things took a turn for Thiele from the third stage onward when he suffered a broken rim and had to replace a wheel with the help of… Decock. The ensuing loss of time, compounded by a penalty for arriving late after the service, caused the German driver to slip down the rankings. Corentin Dozot also faced misfortune when he broke a drive shaft, leading to a forced stop before he could continue action on Saturday, thanks to the SuperRally regulations.
Maxim Decock, who was leading after the first loop, spun in SS6 and lost more than a minute, dropping him to fourth place. The new leader was Lander Depotter, who finished Friday evening ahead of Lander Dhaene and Maxim Decock, as Decock managed to climb back to third. Manuel Merlevede, fastest in SS5, suffered a puncture in SS7, as did the unlucky Lukas Thiele.
On the second day of competition, Lander Depotter started strong with a fastest time but made a costly mistake in SS11 on the legendary Kemmelberg and rolled out of the competition. This allowed Lander Dhaene to become the new leader, holding a 12.7-second lead over Maxim Decock after the first loop on Saturday. Decock continued to push and reclaimed the lead after the second passage over the Kemmelberg!
The duel for the lead continued fiercely until the finish, with Maxim Decock and Tom Buyse clinching victory with their Opel Corsa Rally4 by just 2.4 seconds! Maxim expressed his feelings after the last stage: "What a rally! After my mistake on Friday evening in the Wijtschate stage, we had to chase all day. We attacked hard and went to the limit to get past Lander Dhaene. He participates in only a few rallies a year and drove an excellent race."
Lander Dhaene and Dennis Vanspeybrouck finished second with their Corsa Rally4, narrowly missing out on the victory, while Manuel Merlevede and Thomas Cloet (also in an Opel Corsa Rally4) were the top performers of the event, achieving eight fastest times.
In the wake of the leading drivers, Simon and Lucas Rubrecht with their Peugeot 208 Rally4 secured the points for fourth place, finishing just ahead of fellow competitors Valéry Revillod and Aurélien Delforge, who gained valuable experience in this competitive context. The unfortunate Lukas Thiele, paired with Ann Felke, completed the result, together with Corentin Dozot and Coline Fally.
Although they were fifth with one stage remaining, Irishman Niall O’Sullivan and co-driver Michael Hamilton made a mistake in the final SS, ending up on the retirement list, just like Jordy and Laury Cruys, who went off track in SS16!
After this second round of the 2025 Stellantis Motorsport Rally Cup Belux, Manuel Merlevede has the lead in the standings with 44 points, followed by Lukas Thiele with 38 points, Lander Depotter with 33 points, Lander Dhaene with 31 points, and Maxim Decock with 27 points.
The Opel Corsa Rally4 and Peugeot 208 Rally4 will be back in action on September 5th and 6th, as part of the Omloop van Vlaanderen.
