Jos Verstappen’s Rallye de Wallonie ended in retirement on Sunday morning after a heavy crash during the Loyers special stage, cutting short what had been a strong recovery drive in the Belgian Rally Championship round.
The reigning Belgian rally champion and father of four-time Formula 1 Champion Max Verstappen, had climbed to third overall by the end of Saturday, but his Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 rolled after sliding into a tree. Verstappen and co driver Jasper Vermeulen escaped the incident unharmed, although the car sustained extensive damage.
Verstappen’s weekend had started on the back foot after a 40 second time penalty for speeding on a liaison section dropped him to seventeenth overall on Saturday.
Despite also carrying damage from an incident on the fourth stage, he mounted an aggressive comeback through the field. Stage wins, including the ninth test and the final run in Marche Les Dames, lifted him into third place behind Adrian Fernémont and Maxime Potty by the end of the day.
The weekend also saw Verstappen without regular co driver Renaud Jamoul, who was ruled out earlier in the week after sustaining a serious ankle injury.
“I had to undergo surgery because my ankle was broken in two places,” Jamoul confirmed ahead of the event.
Jasper Vermeulen, usually paired with Cédric Cherain, stepped in to join Verstappen in the Sarrazin Motorsport entry.
Despite the unfamiliar pairing, Verstappen was encouraged by their progress on Saturday: “For Jasper, it is the first time doing English notes because we are just using the notes we already have. But it went well and the car feels good too.”
Looking ahead to Sunday, he remained optimistic about continuing the fight at the front: “It is incredibly exciting, but we are not giving up. There is another day tomorrow and anything can still happen.”
That proved decisive, but not in the way Verstappen had hoped. His rally ended in the opening stages of Sunday, with images from the scene showing heavy damage to the car, even as both crew members walked away unhurt.
