2010 Ypres Rally

The 2010 GEKO Ypres Rally was the 45th running of the Ypres Rally and the sixth round of the 2010 Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC). The event was held between 24–26 June 2010 and was based in the town of Ypres, Belgium.

2010 GEKO Ypres Rally
Round 6 of the 2010 Intercontinental Rally Challenge ← Previous event Next event →
Host country	Belgium
Rally base	Ypres
Dates run	June 24 – 26 2010
Stages	19 (293.62 km; 182.45 miles)[1]
Stage surface	Asphalt
Overall distance	651.30 km (404.70 miles)
Statistics
Crews	97 at start, 48 at finish
Overall results
Overall winner	Freddy Loix Freddy Loix

Introduction

The rally was held over two days with a total of 293.62 km (182.45 mi) covered in nineteen asphalt special stages. Friday had six stages with Saturday having a total of thirteen stages.^[1] In addition to IRC frontrunners Juho Hänninen, Jan Kopecký and Kris Meeke, other entries in S2000 cars included Freddy Loix (Škoda Fabia S2000) and factory Proton pair, Chris Atkinson and Alister McRae.^[2]

Results

The event was dominated by local driver Freddy Loix after two of the main title contenders crashed out of the rally; Juho Hänninen on stage four^[3] and Kris Meeke on stage eight.^[4] In addition to these retirements both Proton's failed to finish due to engine problems related to valve spring failures.^[5] The win was the fifth different winner of an IRC round this season, the fourth for Škoda and its first with the facelift Fabia.^[6]

The Ypres Historic Rally normally runs at the same time as the main event. In 2010, the winner was Robert Droogmans, a Belgian racing driver competing with Marc Duez.

Overall standings

Pos.	Driver	Co-driver	Car	Time	Difference	Points
1.	Freddy Loix	Fréderic Miclotte	Škoda Fabia S2000	2:35:36.9	0.0	10
2.	Jan Kopecký	Petr Starý	Škoda Fabia S2000	2:35:58.3	21.4	8
3.	Thierry Neuville	Nicolas Klinger	Peugeot 207 S2000	2:37:42.4	2:05.5	6
4.	Bernd Casier	Francis Caesemaeker	Škoda Fabia S2000	2:39:38.5	4:01.6	5
5.	Andreas Mikkelsen	Ola Fløene	Ford Fiesta S2000	2:40:57.8	5:20.9	4
6.	Bruno Magalhães	Carlos Magalhães	Peugeot 207 S2000	2:41:43.1	6:06.2	3
7.	Michał Sołowow	Maciej Baran	Ford Fiesta S2000	2:43:01.4	7:24.5	2
8.	Luca Betti	Pierangelo Scalvini	Peugeot 207 S2000	2:45:14.5	9:37.6	1

Special stages

Day	Stage	Time	Name	Length	Winner	Time	Avg. spd.	Rally leader
1 (25 June)	SS1	16:29	Hollebeke 1	28.82 km	Kris Meeke	15:49.4	109.28 km/h	Kris Meeke
	SS2	17:20	Westouter 1	6.04 km	Freddy Loix	3:34.3	101.47 km/h
	SS3	18:00	Mesen – Sauvegarde 1	14.80 km	Freddy Loix	7:58.2	111.42 km/h	Freddy Loix
	SS4	20:06	Hollebeke 2	28.82 km	Freddy Loix	15:40.4	110.33 km/h
	SS5	20:57	Westouter 2	6.04 km	Kris Meeke	3:31.8	102.66 km/h
	SS6	21:37	Mesen – Sauvegarde 2	14.80 km	Freddy Loix	7:56.3	111.86 km/h
2 (26 June)	SS7	11:13	Proven-Vleteren 1	14.80 km	Kris Meeke	7:21.9	120.57 km/h
	SS8	11:31	Watou 1	12.33 km	Freddy Loix	6:40.3	110.89 km/h
	SS9	12:12	Kemmelberg 1	9.06 km	Freddy Loix	4:55.6	110.34 km/h
	SS10	13:41	Langemark 1	18.84 km	Jan Kopecký	9:48.4	115.27 km/h
	SS11	14:16	Dikkebus 1	11.32 km	Jan Kopecký	6:03.6	112.08 km/h
	SS12	14:43	Heuvelland 1	28.80 km	Jan Kopecký	14:59.7	115.24 km/h
	SS13	15:56	Lille-Eurométropole	1.66 km	Jan Kopecký	1:17.5	77.11 km/h
	SS14	18:13	Proven-Vleteren 2	14.80 km	Jan Kopecký	7:21.7	120.62 km/h
	SS15	18:31	Watou 2	12.33 km	Freddy Loix	6:40.1	110.94 km/h
	SS16	19:12	Kemmelberg 2	9.06 km	Freddy Loix	4:53.7	111.05 km/h
	SS17	20:41	Langemark 2	18.84 km	Freddy Loix	9:47.5	115.45 km/h
	SS18	21:16	Dikkebus 2	11.32 km	Jan Kopecký	6:03.2	112.20 km/h
	SS19	21:43	Heuvelland 2	28.80 km	Jan Kopecký	14:54.7	115.88 km/h

References

1. "GEKO Ypres Rally Itinerary 2010" (PDF). Intercontinental Rally Challenge. Retrieved 13 June 2010.^{[permanent dead link]}
2. "S2000 runners to dominate Ypres entry". Intercontinental Rally Challenge. Archived from the original on 13 July 2011. Retrieved 13 June 2010.
3. "Hänninen accepts blame for Ypres crash". Intercontinental Rally Challenge. Archived from the original on 13 July 2011. Retrieved 10 July 2010.
4. "After SS8: Meeke's crash hands Loix big lead". Intercontinental Rally Challenge. Archived from the original on 13 July 2011. Retrieved 10 July 2010.
5. "Proton looks to the future after Ypres exit". Intercontinental Rally Challenge. Archived from the original on 13 July 2011. Retrieved 10 July 2010.
6. "Škoda's Loix lands IRC victory in Belgium". Intercontinental Rally Challenge. Archived from the original on 13 July 2011. Retrieved 10 July 2010.