Ardenne Rally Festival DG Sport to organise the Ardenne Rally Festival in May 2024!
The phenomenon never ceases to grow. Ever since Reinhard Klein launched the concept of demonstrations of classic rally cars, without any notion of competition, but with loads of conviviality, it has become a craze. After the Eifel Rallye Festival came the Alsace Rallye Festival. This is all it took for DG Sport to come into contact with the Slowly Sideways company to propose the Ardenne Rally Festival, to be held at the end of May 2024 and based in Vresse-sur-Semois…
“In fact, the idea is to set up an event exclusively reserved for classic rally cars, inspired by what is annually organised in the Eifel and in Alsace, Christian Jupsin, in the name of DG Sport confirmed. To see these legendary Group 4, Group B and Group A cars in action is always synonymous with incredible spectacle and strong sensations. The Ardenne Rally Festival will take place mainly on asphalt, which will obviously take into account the value of the cars entered. The special stages will be on closed sections and will, of course, be untimed.”
Being already organisers of the South Belgian Rally, a round of the Belgian Rally Championship based in Vresse-sur-Semois, DG Sport did not need to think twice when it came to setting up the venue for Ardenne Rally Festival. “For an event that brings together awesome rally machines in a convivial and captivating atmosphere, the splendid roads of the Semois region seemed quite simply to be unmissable, Christian Jupsin continued. The special stages, which some drivers consider to be the greatest of the national competition, lend themselves brilliantly to this type of event. We will also be taking in a loop towards the French Ardennes, which will add to the event’s savoury character. A number of great surprises will be announced after the summer, while an official site– www.ardennerallyfestival.be – will shortly be online …”
For this new initiative, which will certainly please many, DG Sport decided to call on the advice from one of Belgium’s most popular rally drivers: Bruno Thiry!
“In all honesty, up until last year, I knew very little about this type of event, Bruno explained. One day, while working at the nearby Nürburgring’s Nordschleife, I went to the Eifel Rallye Festival as a spectator. However last year I was invited to take part in the Alsace Rallye Festival at the wheel of an Alfa Romeo GTV6 Gr.A, and I thoroughly enjoyed the concept! You can drive when you want, you can call in at the service centre should a problem arise, and then regain your place back in the queue. Brilliant! As for the atmosphere it reminds me of rallies of yesteryears. I’m not really someone who goes in for nostalgia, but I do think, and I’m far from being the only one, that we miss these cars! When DG Sport spoke to me about an Ardenne Rally Festival, I jumped at it! And I’m sure loads of us will appreciate it… “
“I’m delighted to welcome Bruno Thiry to the team, as I have always been a fan of his, both as a driver and a human being, always so charming, Christian Jupsin added. As such, ‘Moustic’ will be a blue-chip ambassador. His experience will help us draw up the course and assist in the sporting management of this Ardenne Rally Festival.”
The project’s foundations are now in place. All that remains is to lie in wait for the details of an event that is sure to seduce all rally aficionados, as from its first edition …
