Jos Verstappen crashes out of WRC Ypres Rally event during Spanish GP weekend

Sunday was a day of two extremes for the Verstappens, with Jos Verstappen’s attempt at the Ypres Rally ending prematurely due to a crash.

While Max Verstappen romped his way to victory in Barcelona to solidify his lead in the F1 drivers’ championship, his father Jos had a frustrating end to his weekend at the Ypres Rally as he and his co-driver escaped injury in a sudden crash.

Jos Verstappen uninjured in Ypres Rally

Taking part in the Belgian Rally Championship round at Ypres, Verstappen and his co-driver Renaud Jamoul got off to a good start on Friday before a flat tyre during the fourth stage sent them tumbling down the order.

Starting from second place, the former F1 driver was consolidating that position when he suffered a flat tyre to lose almost a minute as a result of a rock strike during the fourth stage.

“I hit a big rock on the inside of a fast left turn along a hedge,” he told Verstappen.com.

“We drove for more than eight kilometres on the rim. The victory is gone, but the rally is still long.”

Fighting to climb back up the order on Sunday morning, Verstappen had a hard crash in the forest stage at Kemmelberg, with images and video circulating on social media showing the crash.

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Escaping injury, he and his co-driver climbed out to survey the damage and walk away from their frustrating weekend.

Verstappen takes part in select rallying events to whet his appetite for motorsport and has shown plenty of the speed that helped him stand out during his time in F1.

The week prior to the Ypres Rally, Verstappen and Jamoul took an easy win in the Rally of Wervik – a preparation event for Ypres – with the Dutch driver bringing his Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 car home almost a minute clear of the rest.

“It went super, great,” said Jos after claiming the win.

“The car felt very good and we easily achieved fast times. This was a good test for us for Ypres, where we are driving next week. We tried a lot and learned a lot.”

Over the Austrian GP event, Verstappen senior is set to take part in the Legends Parade – a regular event at the track in the Styrian Mountains during the Grand Prix weekend.

While son Max will be fighting for the F1 victory, Jos will be driving the Red Bull RB8 from 2012 – the car with which Sebastian Vettel won his third world title.

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