IRC: BFGoodrich Drivers Team Belgium Rally leg one summary

Patrick Snijers inside the top-five!

Patrick Snijers, who is the BFGoodrich Drivers Team driver on this weekend'sBelgium Ypres Westhoek Rally, ended the opening day of the event in a particularly promising fifth place, just a handful of seconds off the overnight podium.

Patrick Snijers couldn't have wished for a better start to his30th attempt at the Ypres Rally, one of Europe's most selective events . The Belgian driver fully justified the faith placed in him by the panel of Belgian journalists who chose him for the BFGoodrich Drivers Team drive from a shortlist of 54 applicants.

Despite the fact that the Peugeot 207 S2000 he is driving this weekend is totally new to him, he posted top-eight times on every one of the six stages that made up the opening leg, although he wasn't entirely satisfied with his performance over the day's first competitive loop: I didn't have any problems but I don't have any previous experience with this car," he explained at the first service halt. "My times should improve second time round."

Patrick and his co-driver Wim Soensen effectively picked up speed on the second pass and even posted the fourth quickest time over the 21km Langemark stage. At the end of play this evening, the No.17 Peugeot in the colours of BFGoodrich Drivers Team was fifth overall, on the same minute as Freddy Loix, only seven seconds behind the Volkswagen of Snijers' fellow -Belgian Bernd Casier and only 10.9s off the podium.

Patrick Snijers (BFGoodrich Drivers Team): I spent today familiarising myself with the car and I felt more comfortable second time over the same stages, but so did the other drivers! I changed the set- up for the second loop and I had every confidence in my Peugeot 207 S2000 on soft compound g- Force Profiler A02 tyres. Tomorrow I will try to keep to the same pace. This rally has only just begun--"

Marc Van Dalen, Manager, Kronos Racing: "Patrick has been sensational. Despite his lack of experience with this car, and despite the outstanding entry for this event, he is fifth overall. I can hardly believe it. Patrick is fast, consistent and remains focused on the job in hand all the time. It's a pleasure to work with him."

-credit: drivers-team.com