The Ypres Rally Belgium organizer Club Superstage has now announced the rally will not be featured on the 2023 FIA World Rally Championship schedule after two successful seasons on the top level of rallying.
The 2023 Ardeca Ypres Rally will return to its traditional date at the end of June as the world-famous rally will be part of the 2023 British Rally Championship schedule with the dates set to be at 23/24 June.
The rally was featured on the WRC schedule for the 2021 season and the 2022 season as part of a multi-year contract signed during the COVID-19 pandemic, the rally was set to make its debut in the 2020 season but they were forced to cancel it due to the pandemic. The request fee to host a WRC rally was financially unaffordable for the organization without government support and therefore they will not be featured in the WRC calendar next year.
“The Ardeca Ypres Rally will be the third round of the British Rally Championship on 23 and 24 June, from 2017 to 2019, the British were also guests in Ypres. We are happy that they are coming back to Ypres this year, because it always resulted in an exciting battle between the Belgian and British stars, both in the Rally2/R5 main class and among the youngsters with Rally4s. Ypres is also the only round on the British Championship calendar to be held outside Great Britain.” Alain Penasse, Club Superstage president, said.
“We are presenting a calendar of 7 rounds, each with its own character. We will visit the four nations within the United Kingdom: Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales. In addition, the intention was to put longer and tougher races on the calendar, in order to increase the challenge for the drivers. The Ardeca Ypres Rally certainly fits in. The fast, narrow track on asphalt is very challenging. A great challenge for our BRC drivers.” Reece Tarren, British Rally Championship manager, said.
