Geko Ypres Rally is a classic which has a long history as part of the European and Belgian Rally Championships, and this year, it’s the second full-tarmac event in the IRC. Precise pace notes are essential as the rally features super-fast long straights and 90-degree junctions which can be too demanding for newcomers, as well as hidden hazards such as ditches. The 2-day rally has a competitive distance of 293.62km stretched over 19 stages with Day 2 the longest, at some 194 km.

Eight SUBARU drivers entered this event. This time, Toshi Arai from Japan tackled his first IRC event to gain experience before the two tarmac events in the second half of the P-WRC season in an Impreza WRX STI prepared in the UK. Still fresh from taking the World’s first win in the 2010 Impreza WRX STI spec C in the Polish Rally Championship, Kajetan Kajetanowicz from SUBARU Poland Rally Team participated in a rally away from home for the first time. Other strong European drivers such as Dominique Bruyneel (Belgium) and Florian Gonon (Switzerland) also entered this rally in Imprezas.

SUBARU’s leading driver in the entry list was Toshi in Car No.6. The Japanese driver had a spin on Stage 1 and got stuck in a grassy ditch as he turned his car around while trying to get back on the road. He lost a massive 10 minutes there. He described this rally as the fastest tarmac rally he’d ever driven on at a top speed of 230 Kph. He continued to struggle on these high-speed stages after the spin, but as Day 2 began, he managed a string of top 10 times. However, later on the day’s fourth stage (SS10), he was forced to retire due to a broken right rear suspension link. Toshi later said: “I have gone through difficulties, but I’ve been able to gather a lot of data including setups, and it’s turned out to be a good trial run for the coming P-WRC event in Germany”.

Meanwhile, SUBARU’s top finisher was Gonon, who was also taking part in the Geko Ypres Rally for the first time. The Swiss champion started off slowly on Stage 1 in 37th place, but steadily climbed the leaders board marking good time including the 9th fastest time on Stage 13, and ultimately finished 16th overall.