After the cancellation of the Legend Boucles à Bastogne 2021 due to Covid, Belgium's largest historic rally could finally take place again this year. The Royal Automobile Club Belgium (RACB) postponed the rally from its traditional date at the beginning of February to the beginning of March so as not to risk another cancellation. A good decision, as the many spectators along the route obviously appreciated the mild spring weather.
Over 200 cars in five classes
The starting field for the 63rd edition was very large: a total of 212 vehicles were spread across the five classes. The largest field was made up of 98 cars in the "Classic 60" class, in which participants were not allowed to exceed an average speed of 60 kilometers per hour. The "Classic 50" category, in which the limit was 50 km/h, was even more sedate. With 16 vehicles, it had the smallest starting field.
Those who wanted to set the fastest time could do so in the "Legend" class for cars built up to 1986 according to contemporary FIA specifications, which, together with the field of "Youngtimers" (modernized FIA rally cars), contained as many as 67 cars. In the "Challenger" class, 31 vehicles competed without an FIA pass.
The Escort is unbeatable
Victory in the Legend class was decided between Ford Escort drivers. The French-Belgian team Lefèbvre/Portier won in the RS 1800 ahead of the Belgians Daco/Lemaire in the RS 2000. Third and fourth places also went to locals: Stouf/Werner in the Escort RS 1600 narrowly beat Pirot/Bodet in the RS 2000. Only the (also Belgian) team Marcy/Louka in fifth place in the Porsche 911 SC was able to break the dominance of the Ford drivers.
It was just a shame that, despite the high profile of the rally, the field was almost exclusively Belgian. Just two cars from the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Germany took part in the "Legends", even though the border (around ten kilometers to Luxembourg) is so close. The field of classic drivers was not much more international. Not a single German-speaking team took part.
Back to the tried and tested
Unfortunately, there was not much sign of this major event even in the city center of Bastogne, as the paddock and the start and finish were banished to an industrial estate on the outskirts of the city. However, this did not detract from the large number of spectators.
For next year, the organizers are again considering the traditional date at the beginning of February, as the "Boucles" is to be the first major event in the new racing year. The city center of Bastogne is also set to return next year - at least as far as the presentation of the drivers and vehicles on Friday evening and the start and finish spectacle at the weekend are concerned.
