Andrea Navarra moves up to a third place finish and gains an extra Intercontinental Rally Championship (IRC) point after the Mitsubishi Evo IX of Larry Cols was disqualified from the Belgium Ypres Westhoek Rally following post rally scrutineering. This development also moved the second factory Abarth & Co. entered Grande Punto Abarth driven Umberto Scandola up to fifth place, allowing the youngster to grab an extra IRC point as well.

The stewards decided to disqualify two of the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX GpN cars that finished in the top eight of the IRC classification at the end of the difficult rally. Consequently, both Cols - who was third - and Bob Colsoul - who was eighth - were stripped of their results. The reason for the disqualification was technical non conformity as the bodyshell of their GpN Evo IX cars did not correspond with the required homologation. Specifically, reinforcement bars which are situated in the side of the doors on the road car were missing on their rally-prepared versions. Cols and Colsoul have confirmed that they will not appeal the decision.

Andrea Navarra retains the lead of the IRC drivers' standings following the decision, but extends his advantage over second placed Enrique Ojeda to ten points, the margin for an IRC classification win, while Peugeot remain just in front of Abarth in the manufacturers' classification. The next round on the IRC calendar will be break more new ground for the series, now in its second year, with the inaugural Rally of Russia.
 

The all-gravel event is based in Vyborg, near the historical city of St Petersburg, and is set to take place from July 13-15 over fast and flowing stages. Navarra and the Abarth team will be in action as they continue to chase a repeat championship title.

Belgium Ypres Westhoek Rally, Final Result - Amended: 1 Luca Rossetti/Matteo Chiarcossi Peugeot 207 S2000 2h38m43.9s; 2 Enrique Ojeda/Jordi Costa Peugeot 207 S2000 +18.6s; 3 Andrea Navarra/Guido d'Amore Grande Punto Abarth +2m03.9s; 4 Bernd Casier/Frederic Miclotte Peugeot 207 S2000 +2m25.6s; 5 Umberto Scandola/Gigi Pirollo Grande Punto Abarth +3m44.8s; 6 Patrick Snijers/Cindy Cokelaere Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 +5m54.5s; 7 Dimitar Iliev/Yanaki Yanakiev Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 +8m46.5s; 8 Simon Jean-Joseph/Jack Boyere Citroen C2 Super 1600 +9m46.2s

Intercontinental Rally Challenge (after 3 rounds) Amended: 1. Andrea Navarra (Grande Punto Abarth) 24 points; 2. Garcia Ojeda (Peugeot 207) 14; 3. Nicolas Vouilloz and Luca Rossetti (Peugeot 207) 10; 5. Hideaki Mijoshi (Mitsubishi Evo IX) 8.