Estonian Martin Kangur overcame the challenge of a host of rivals including Mathieu Arzeno, Harry Hunt, local hero Kris Princen and Christian Riedemann to win the IRC 2WD Cup for the first time in 2012.
Arzeno, making his Geko Ypres Rally debut, led until he inadvertently drove into a ditch following a spin on stage five. The young Frenchman fought back into contention only to crash out on stage 10.
Riedemann’s hopes of winning ended when he got stuck in a ditch for several minutes on the first stage. His recovery to ninth in class, which was blighted by a puncture and brake issues, netted several stage wins.
Briton Harry Hunt was heading for a podium finish only for an electrical fault to trigger his retirement 100 metres after the start of stage eight.
“I am very happy to have won my class,” said Kangur, who was partnered by Andres Ots in a Honda Civic Type R run by the Catwees Honda Racing team. “I like all the stages here, especially the new ones and the car was very good.”
Belgians Melissa Debackere and Davy Vanneste finished second and third respectively. Xavier Baugnet finished fourth in his M-Sport Ford Fiesta R2 with Bernie Ozeel the leading Renault Clio driver in 11th place.