Jos Verstappen was forced to retire from the ERC Rally in Poland just shy of the finish line. The fourth round of the European Rally Championship (ERC) ended in disappointment, but the 53-year-old rally driver primarily sees the positive side of the race weekend. “We continue to learn by participating in more gravel rallies,” he said.
Not far from the finish line on the final stage, things went wrong: the Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 hit a large rock, rendering the car uncontrollable. This marked an unfortunate end to the ERC Rally in Poland for Jos Verstappen and his regular co-driver, Renaud Jamoul.
Nevertheless, the Dutchman reflects on a valuable weekend on the Polish gravel. By the end of Saturday, after eight completed stages, the father of Max Verstappen was in fifteenth place in the overall standings. “We made progress, as we were about ten seconds faster on each stage,” he said immediately after the event.
Progress
Today, six stages were on the schedule: Mikolajki (7.2 km), Pozezdrze (20 km), and Gmina Mrągowo (15.2 km) were each run twice. In the first round, Jos Verstappen finished twice as P26 and once as P27, after which he fell back to the sixteenth place in the standings. “We were always the first to go over the course. The goal is to get to know the stages, so hopefully it will go better the second time,” emphasizes Verstappen. “The car felt good, the balance is good. The stages are really beautiful, but we had our difficult moments. There is a lot to learn, but I’m enjoying it.”
In the second round, after Verstappen had gained some experience, he went considerably faster. This resulted in a P19 and a P15, with which he fought his way back to the fifteenth place in the standings. “This was the second time over these stages so that helps a lot,” concludes Verstappen. “There are more tracks and there is more grip. It’s more fun and I can push a bit more. We adjusted the notes and went much faster than the first time. I’m happy with the progress we’ve made. We continue to learn by driving more gravel rallies.”
