Legend Boucles @ Bastogne - Cédric Cherain leader, François Delecour unlucky -full results 05.02.2023: As expected, the first stage of the Legend Boucles @ Bastogne 2023 was full of emotions and twists. In a weather that was not very accommodating to the crews, with a fog sometimes omnipresent, the grip level was lower than ever on the RTs, while some mech

As expected, the first stage of the Legend Boucles @ Bastogne 2023 was full of emotions and twists. In a weather that was not very accommodating to the crews, with a fog sometimes omnipresent, the grip level was lower than ever on the RTs, while some mechanics clearly suffered.

While Loïc Pirot (Ford Escort Mk2) did not take the start (personal decision), Fred Caprasse (Ford Escort Mk2) inaugurated the list of withdrawals, the engine of his car giving up the ghost while the event had just started! In the same RT1 of La Roche-en-Ardenne, Ghislain de Mévius (Ford Escort Mk2) lost a lot of time, while Marc Duez (Ford Escort Mk2) had a brake failure!



If François Delecour (Ford Escort Mk2) was the first leader of the event, Cédric Cherain (Ford Escort Mk2) started an impressive series of scratches, to quickly find himself in the lead of the Legend Boucles!



As the crews were returning to the industrial area of Bastogne at midday, the news came to the Rallying Solutions clan that Delecour was suffering from injection problems and could no longer exploit the full power of his Escort. He decided to throw down the gauntlet in order to preserve the mechanics of the 'PYB-106'. This time, Christophe Jacob's favourite car would not win in Bastogne...



From that moment on, the way was clear for Cédric Cherain and Damien Withers, who closed this first day with a comfortable lead of 86 points over former Legend Boucles winner Stefaan Stouf (Ford Escort Mk1). Olivier Cartelle (Ford Escort Mk2) was in the wake of the citizen of Ostend and was in a solid 3rd position until the link to the last RT of the day. An ignition coil immobilised the Ford, which therefore incurred a heavy penalty!

It was Christophe Daco (Ford Escort Mk2), runner-up of Stéphane Lefebvre last year, who inherited the smallest step of the provisional podium, ahead of an excellent Emile Breittmayer (Ford Escort Mk2), the metronome Guino Kenis (BMW 325i E30) and the Frenchman Eric Mauffrey (Ford Escort Mk2).



The provisional top 10 on Saturday evening was completed by John Wartique (Ford Escort Mk2), Sébastien Incardona (Ford Escort Mk2), who was for a while in 3rd place overall before a small mistake in La Roche-en-Ardenne, Yves Matton (Porsche 911) and a Patrick Snijers who was the darling of the public with the Chevrolet Corvette C3 Stingray! Not really the kind of car that is cut out for such an event, but what a treat!





As for Ghislain de Mévius, in search of lost time, he realised at the end of the day that the morning puncture had in fact damaged the deck of his Escort, which made his task much more difficult on such a course and left him in 13th place overall, behind Fred Bouvy (Ford Escort Mk2) and ahead of Jean-Pierre 'Vande' (Lancia Beta Monte-Carlo), the latter being limited in power.  



Less success for Bernard Munster (Porsche 911), who had to replace his gearbox, Frédéric François (Ford Escort Mk2), who had to give up because of a broken gearbox, and Tom Boonen (Porsche 911), who had to replace his clutch.  



It should be noted that, as in previous years, this general classification is totally provisional and purely indicative, not including possible penalties, notably for not respecting the Slow Zones.






And the other leaders are...



In the 'Youngtimers' category, Charles Blerot (BMW 325i E30) dominated most of the day... before breaking all the studs of a rear wheel in the last RT! As a result Stéphane Hubin, in his impressive Opel Omega 3000, will lead the category on Sunday morning ahead of the BMW 3 Series of Simon Puype and Paul Fraikin!



Jencôme Theis (Ford Escort Mk1), winner of the 'Challenger' category in 2022, was again at the top of the ranking this Saturday evening, ahead of Dimitri Van Hove (Alfa Romeo GTV6) and Michael Magerotte (Ford Escort Mk2). This means that the regionals still have the upper hand in the 80 km/h category. Julien Collette (Opel Kadett GT/E), who was still in third place before the final RT of the day, dropped to 7th provisional.



The day started with a bang in the 'Classic 65' category, with Alexandre Delhez and Thomas Collard (Ford Escort Mk1), but also Patrick Lambert and Yannick Albert (BMW 2002 Ti) going off the track! It was the duo of Gaëtan Schoonbroodt and François Gehlen (Ford Escort Mk1) who led the debates at the end of the first 10 regularity tests, ahead of Eric Gengou and Didier Gathy (Volvo 142 S) and Claude Ninane and Christophe Simon (Opel Kadett C). The best international team, the Frenchmen Christophe Baillet and Pierre Colliard (Ford Escort Mk2), were in 4th position.



Finally, in the 'Classic 50', the battle was intense between Patrice Simon and Christian Bernard (Porsche 924) on the one hand, and Dominique Dufrasne and Isabelle Dogne (BMW 323i E21) on the other. And it was last year's winners, Dufrasne and Dogne, who were leading by a whisker on Saturday evening. The provisional podium is completed by Frenchmen Jérôme Ambrosini and Montgomery Abel (Audi 80 GT).




This Sunday, the Legend Boucles @ Bastogne will finally be back in the forest, with five RTs with double penalties, which, as tradition dictates, will be decisive in all categories.





Classification ‘Legend’-‘Youngtimers’-‘Challenger’

Classification ‘Classic 65’ & ‘Classic 50’

- Vincent Franssen, transl. Deepl  photos RAC Spa / Jacques Létihon