Belgium Ypres Rally 2009: Final Results – Kris Meeke wins at his first attempt

meeke 1 Belgium Ypres Rally 2009: Final Results Kris Meeke wins at his first attempt

Photo: ircseries.com

Peugeot UK driver Kris Meeke has won the 2009 Belgium Ypres Rally after a superlative performance on his first visit to the renowned specialist event and he now, of course, also increases his IRC championship lead.

Meeke and co-driver Paul Nagle have now won their last three IRC events contested, but this victory must rank as their greatest to date. No one expected Meeke to come and win on his first appearance in Belgium against such strong opposition, particularly with the presence of local specialists Freddy Loix and Francois Duval.

Ypres Rally winner Meeke commented at the finish:

It was incredibly close and I have to congratulate Jan Kopecky and Freddy for such a great battle.

When it's this close it's fantastic. To have three wins with only four rallies gone is great, and it's nice to have those points on the board but there's a long way to go yet. Ypres, though, has been an amazing experience.

meeke 3 Belgium Ypres Rally 2009: Final Results Kris Meeke wins at his first attempt

Photo: ©willyweyens-rallyworld

The Northern Irishman hit the front on SS12 after pushing, the pre-event and clear favourite, Loix from the outset. The presssure seeemed to ruffle the Belgian as he suffered a puncture on the next stage after, perhaps, taking too much of a cut on a corner. To underline his outstanding showing on the Belgian classic, Meeke set 8 fastest stage times out of the 16 run.

Skoda's Jan Kopecky finished second, just a shade over 20s behind Meeke. Juho Hanninen lost third place on the final stage to Freddy Loix following a puncture and dropped to fifth behind Pieter Tsjoen's Kronos Peugeot.

Abarth's Giandomenico Basso suffered mechanical problems in the last test, resulting in him dropping several minutes to finish down in eighth.

The IRC 2WD Cup was won in dominant fashion by Dutchman Marcel Piepers, driving a Honda Civic Type R. Second place went to Denis Millet which was enough to give the Frenchman the joint lead of the IRC 2WD Cup standings.

WIWMEEKE%3b89 Belgium Ypres Rally 2009: Final Results Kris Meeke wins at his first attempt

Photo: ©willyweyens-rallyworld

Event victor Kris Meeke joins an illustrious group of Ypres winners, following in the footsteps of greats like; Gilbert Staepelare, Bernard Darniche, Walter Rohrl, Tony Pond, Jean-Claude Andruet, Miki Biasion, Henri Toivonen, Jean Ragnotti, Jimmy McRae, Robert Droogmans, Patrick Snijers, Bruno Thiry and, of course, 5 time record winner Freddy Loix.

http://blog.krismeeke.com/2009/06/kris-wins-in-ypres/

Ypres Rally 2009 Final Results

1 Meeke / Nagle Peugeot 207 S2000 2hrs 32m 16.3s
2 Kopecky / Stary Skoda Fabia S2000 +20.4s
3 Loix / Smeets Peugeot 207 S2000 +1m40.5s
4 Tsjoen / Chevaillier Peugeot 207 S2000 +2m35.3s
5 Hanninen / Markkula Skoda Fabia S2000 +3m35.1s
6 Schammel / Jamoul Peugeot 207 S2000 +4m06.4s
7 Van den Heuvel / Kolman Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 10 +4m06.5s
8 Basso / Dotta Abarth Grande Punto S2000 +4m 24.9s
9 Betti/ Capolongo Peugeot 207 S2000 +5m48.3s
10 Fontana/Cassina Peugeot 207 S2000 +6m24.5s

meeke 4 Belgium Ypres Rally 2009: Final Results Kris Meeke wins at his first attempt

Photo: ircseries.com

IRC STANDINGS

Drivers

1 Kris Meeke UK 30
2 Freddy Loix B 24
3 Jan Kopecky CZ 21
4 Nicolas Vouilloz F 14
5 Giandomenico Basso I 11
6 Sebastien Ogier F 10
7 Carl Tundo EAK 10
8 Alistair Cavenagh GB 8
9 Lee Rose EAK 6
10 Stephane Sarrazin F 6

Manufacturers

1 Peugeot 68
3 Ralliart 35
3 Skoda 25
4 Abarth 15

meeke 2 Belgium Ypres Rally 2009: Final Results Kris Meeke wins at his first attempt