Jos Verstappen, alongside co-driver Renaud Jamoul, secured an impressive second place in the Rallye International du Valais. For this event, Verstappen temporarily swapped his trusted Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 for a Citroën C3 Rally2 from Sarrazin Motorsport. In Switzerland, the duo fell short by just 21.5 seconds to the winner, Jonathan Hirschi, after thirteen special stages.
After the first seven stages on Friday, Verstappen ended the day second in the overall standings, 14.1 seconds behind the Swiss driver. Saturday saw another six stages, divided into three sections each run twice: Les Cols (29.22 km), Val de Bagnes (8.88 km), and Pays du St.-Bernard (9.80 km).
During the first loop, Verstappen clocked a third, second, and another second time. This kept him second in the standings, 12.7 seconds behind Hirschi. In the second loop, the Dutch driver achieved P2, P3, and P2, which ultimately led to the Swiss driver taking home the victory – although the margins were minimal. Both drivers finished with a substantial lead over the third-place finisher, Jonathan Michellod, who was more than a minute behind the leaders.
Verstappen was recently nominated for the ‘Rookie of the Year’ title at the European Rally Championship awards gala. The award eventually went to Irish driver Craig Rahill. Despite this, Verstappen, who has only been active in rally racing for a few years, continues to make waves on the gravel roads.
