Former Formula One racing driver Jos Verstappen will tackle the second round of the Probite British Rally Championship, the Rallynuts Severn Valley Stages on 13th April.
Verstappen, father of F1 superstar, three-time F1 champion and Red Bull Racing driver Max, will make his debut in the BRC and the UK, tackling the world-famous Welsh gravel for the first time. He will drive a Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 with regular co-driver Renaud Jamoul, meaning they will also be responsible for the debut of Skoda’s latest Rally2 example.
The crew will be joined by Wevers Sport teammates Roger Hodenius and Robin Buysmans in similar machinery who have also signed up for the championship, bringing a truly international flavour back to the BRC.
Verstappen has enjoyed a progressive rallying career since his first event on the stages in 2022. Tackling the Belgian Rally Championship, the Dutch driver sealed fourth in the series that season, even managing to contest his very first FIA World Rally Championship round in Ypres.
Last year’s transition to a Skoda Fabia proved fruitful, sealing three overall rally wins on the closed roads in Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands, backed up with two more already this season.
But despite 23 rally starts so far, Verstappen has never contested a loose surface event and will head to the heart of Wales for his first experience of the class British forest stages.
“We are very happy to come to Wales and the British Rally Championship,” says Verstappen.
“Renaud [Jamoul, co-driver] has done Wales Rally GB several times but for me, these stages will be the first.”
“I only started rallying two years ago but only with tarmac events. After two test sessions in the wintertime in the south of France, we have decided to do our first proper gravel rally and as Renaud has some really good memories in Wales, this rally was looking like the best one to start with.
“We will get some good advice from Tom Cave during our pre-event-test in Sweet Lamb and we will try to do our best. There is no plan in terms of performance because it will be my first time on gravel but for sure the target is to improve and be as close as possible to the top guys.
“The entry field will be again really competitive, so we are looking forward”.
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Image credit: Verstappen.com
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