The traditional circuit in Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium, will not be part of the World Rally Championship – The Ypres Rally has banned the track from its stages
The Rally of Ypres will be home to round nine of the 2022 World Rally Championship (WRC). Unlike last year, the traditional circuit in Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium, will not be part of the special stages this time. Those responsible for the event have thrown the course out of the stage schedule as the Belgian Grand Prix has thrown a spanner in the works.
Thierry Neuville won his home rally in 2021, which made its debut on the WRC calendar – previously it was a round of the national championship. Parts of the special stages led over famous sections of the track such as the Eau Rouge. Fans, teams and drivers were forced to make a 300-kilometre drive to the stages at the circuit on Sunday.
The organisers have already confirmed an alternative stage layout for the 2022 edition, without the permanent circuit at Spa-Francorchamps. Integration is not possible this year as the Belgian Formula One Grand Prix takes place just a week after the rally and preparations are therefore in full swing, they say.
The long journey to the special stages on Sunday, on the other hand, would not have played a role in the rescheduling. Club Superstage president Alain Penasse says: “It was simply impossible to hold a WRC round on the Spa-Francorchamps circuit, as preparations for the Formula 1 race had already started by then.”
The power stage will therefore be run just ten kilometres from the rally’s headquarters in the Kemmelberg hills. In total, the drivers have to cover 282 kilometres of special stages, which makes up 40 per cent of the entire event route. A total of 13 rallies are planned for the 2022 WRC season – one on snow, four on asphalt and eight on gravel.
