Rally van Wervik 2024 Report Scott Barnes/Andy Hall

An excellent drive from Scott Barnes and Andy Hall on the weekend’s Rally van Wervik saw them bring home a fantastic 21st overall, just missing out on the Flanders International Rally Challenge win due to being very unlucky with local weather conditions.

The “12 hours of Wervik” consisted of 140 competitive kilometres over some classic Flemish stages. On Friday the team had a good recce with only small changes made to the pacenotes. Heavy rain on Friday night meant that the crews would be greeted by damp but drying stages on Saturday morning, with muddy sections present due to dirt being dragged out of the cuts.

Scott and Andy opted for a very brave and bold tyre choice being one of the only crews to be on soft slicks for the morning loop, with most teams going out on wet tyres. With windy conditions, luckily the majority of the two lapped Geluwe stage dried quickly and the crew set a good pace, catching and passing the car who started a minute in front as well as another car who were on their first lap of the stage.

Stage 2 was much more muddy with one section in particular almost catching the Peugeot crew out on slick tyres with a massive “to me, to you” moment that seemed to go on forever. Fortunately Scott was able to gather the car and they continued with caution, picking the cuts in order to preserve the car but not fall off the road.

Stage 3, Kruiseke, was extremely fast, with very long straights seeing the car as fast as it will go on the rev limiter in 6th gear. A solid time set and the Peugeot 106 crew found themselves sitting a very respectable 23rd overall after the first loop.

The team headed back to service where they found a small oil leak which the service crew addressed and gave the car a good checkover. For the second loop the Peugeot pairing stuck with their soft slick tyres which was the right call in drying conditions.

The team were getting into a good rhythm and confidence was growing in the cuts and in the 106’s superb braking performance. Andy and Scott had a great loop, taking big chunks of time out of FIRC rivals Rene Walraven with Joyce Ruiter on the notes. The team now found themselves in 20th overall, with a 20 second lead in class 3F, and 2nd overall in the FIRC behind team mates Bill Paynter and Andy Hollingham who were making full use of their 4WD advantage. Scott and Andy had a healthy 28 second lead in the FIRC 2WD class.

Onto the third loop with rumours of rain coming later but with the sun shining slicks again was the obvious choice. The first two stages of the loop went very well with Scott and Andy pushing on, maintaining their lead in class over the Rally 4 Fiesta of Kim Bauwens, and extending their advantage in the FIRC over last years champion Walraven in the BMW. With team mate Paynter retiring with brake issues, Scott and Andy were now leading the FIRC crews with a comfortable 50 second advantage.

However, Mother Nature did not treat the team nicely. Running with a lower seeding compared to their competitors at car 45, when Scott and Andy were sat in the start queue for SS9, the heavens opened. With their rivals through the stage before the rain had come, the dry conditions quickly turned to full wet, as the Peugeot 106 entered the stage on its slick tyres. Combined with the shiny tarmac surface, the conditions were treacherous. The team tip toed through, knowing they were dropping time and also had a small overshoot on the stage. This terrible luck meant a drop of 59 seconds to Walraven, and over a minute to class rival Bauwens in the Fiesta. In one stage the rally had been flipped on its head, the well earned class lead and FIRC lead were both lost.

The team headed back to service and Pirelli wet tyres were bolted on for the fourth and final loop of stages. On stage ten Barnes and Hall pulled back 4 seconds on Walraven/Ruiter, now sitting only 5 seconds behind with two stages to go, the fight was on. Rene Walraven had seen the times and proceeded to push 110% for the last two.

Conditions now extremely challenging with wet and muddy roads to contend with. The team were in a fantastic rhythm, Scott recall’s “The last two stages felt amazing in the car, really starting to understand the surface and roads around Wervik.”. Unfortunately Walraven was just able to hold off the team with a big push in the last two stages. Scott adds “Seeing the groups of spectators cheering us on made us feel so welcome in Belgium and we must be putting on a great show even if the result we aimed for did not quite materialise this time. We will be back in Boucles Chevrotines looking for that win as always.”.

The team finished a brilliant 21st overall and 2nd in class as well as 2nd overall in the FIRC. The team would have certainly finished in the top 20 had it not been for the bad luck with the weather. A superb drive on tricky stages.

Scott would like to say a big thank you to his partners and service crew for helping to quickly turn the car around after the ORC Canal Rally 3 weeks prior.

Partners include-

Satchell Engineering

Boyles Plumbing and Heating Ltd

Performance Automotive

Scott’s next outing will be the Boucles Chevrotines on 4th August when he will return to Wallonia looking to take consecutive FIRC 2WD wins in the region.

Keep an eye on the BP Rally Facebook Page for news in the build up to the event.