Joe Cruttenden 1st round of Belgium Rally Championship

Joe Cruttenden 1st round of Belgium Rally Championship

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This weekend saw international co-driver, Joe Cruttenden competing in the opening round of the Belgium Rally Championship. Sitting alongside Jamie Brown, a young up and coming driver from Norfolk, Joe navigated the pair in their R2 Fiesta on the Rally van Haspengouw; based in Landen, just outside Brussels, the rally ran 14 stages on typical Belgium closed roads.

Seeded 48th and the only British entry, the pair were competing against some of the top Belgium rally teams in a very competitive 1600cc R2 class and on their home Tarmac (mud and concrete). With an 8.45 start, the English pair launched into the first pair of stages, 13km and a 9km, before the first service back at Landen.

The weather played a big part in the event with the day starting dry and cold, with ice patches on the second stage waiting to catch the lads out, but with the right tyres and a steady drive they moved up the leader board and into 3rd in the very competitive Fiesta battle.

With an incident free drive, despite the weather turning colder and wetter, the pair continued to improve on their seeding, moving into the top thirty and setting times equal to some of the bigger engine, 4 wheel drive entries. And by the last service they were placed 21st overall.

The final 2 stages of the day were the sting in the tail; as darkness fell the rain turned to snow and the pair, running on cut slick tyres, spun losing 20 seconds dropping them back to 22nd overall at the finish, 7th in class and 3rd Fiesta.

‘A great rally and despite the weather an excellent result for us, the roads where exceptionally quick!’ said Joe ‘I love the Belgium rallying on closed roads and I am looking forward to the next round in April’