Below are some notes straight from the Hankook Camp at Ypres Rally Belgium. Jonny Leonard and Jackie Elliott  have been busy with two days of recce ahead of Thursday shakedown.

Day 2, Tuesday: Jonny and Jackie spent a very long first day on a recce of 4 stages, 2 of which will be used on Friday and 2 from Saturdays test.

Day 3, Wednesday: The Northern Ireland pair face the daunting task of a further 7 stage recce today. Very high road mileage and two passes over the stages which will mean a very late finish tonight.

Jonny has reported that the stages so far are very fast and difficult, and will test drivers to the maximum. Fast sections of smooth tar are interspersed with very tight, twisty sections with several crests thrown in, more reminiscent of Irish stages. “There are some very big cuts on some of the stages. At recce speeds it wasn’t possible to fully check out how aggressive you could afford to be. Fast times will come to the very brave!”. The weather forecast suggests that the rally may be run in damp/wet conditions. Add changeable surfaces and stage distances of over 20km to the mix and tyre choice becomes critical.

Mike Patterson, Hankook Motorsport manager has reported that Hankook has 3 tyre compound choices available for the rally. Tyre choice will be made stage by stage after the recce is completed with an eye on local weather conditions. The team will meet for a final briefing after the shakedown stage on Thursday evening.

Jonny is beginning to realise how challenging IRC competition really is, long recce days, short periods of sleep followed by intense concentration on stages which are on average 2-3 times longer than the normal stage in Ireland. Fortunately they have an in car camera in the recce car which will allow further study of the stages (at the expense of sleep!!)

Mike Patterson was very impressed by Jackie’s considerable organizing skills, “Surprisingly Jackie wasn’t fazed by any of the tight scheduling which they faced on Day 1. She quietly got them to where they needed to be with a minimum of fuss and on schedule. Very impressive!”

Day 4 Thursday will be much more relaxed. Scrutiny and Documentation take place at 3.00pm followed by shakedown stage at 8:30pm. Jonny is hoping to get at least one run with the lightpod attached as some of the stages on Friday will run in the dark. Jonny has very little experience of night rally stages but reckons he will be ok. Jackie is playing a blinder keeping him on schedule and organised.