Jos Verstappen makes WRC debut: 'A lot is still new for me'.
General
- GPblog.com
Jos Verstappen will participate in the WRC this weekend. The former Formula 1 driver makes his debut in the Rally2-class and let the website of Verstappen.nl know that he enjoys the challenge. After the first day in Ypres (Belgium) the 50-year old Dutchman, with Harm van Koppen as navigator, took 25th position.
Verstappen sr. stepped into a rally car for the first time at the beginning of this year, after his original debut at the end of 2021 had to be cancelled. Jos has competed several times in the smaller championships, but this weekend he will compete in the real World Championship. With relatively little experience Jos Verstappen knows how to hold his own pretty well.
"Everything worked properly today. I found the beginning of the day difficult, because a lot is still new for me. I have learnt a lot. It is the first time that I drive in this world championship. It is very difficult to master the track here in Ypres. Also, it had been seven weeks since I rode with my co-pilot, so we had to find each other again. After that it went smoothly and we kept improving," Jos explained.
Verstappen Sr. happy with progress
In rallying, communication and cooperation is the key to success, quite different from Formula 1. For the father of the reigning World F1 Champion this is sometimes difficult, but little by little it is getting better. "I notice that the more I am in the car with Harm, the better we understand each other and the better and faster it goes. If you compare the afternoon with the morning, you see that it went much better. I am happy with the result so far."
The car of Verstappen and Van Koppen has remained in one piece so far, which means that there are no technical defects either. The Dutch camp is satisfied with Saturday. They are mainly focused on gaining experience and driving as many kilometres as possible to reach the finish flag at the end of the day on Sunday.