Rally driver Henk Vossen is ready for his first World Cup rally of this season. He will start in Zagreb on Friday in the Croatian Rally.
Until Sunday 24 April, the Tegelnaar will drive twenty special stages in and around Zagreb together with his navigator Hans van Goos.
Registered for Masters Cup
The rally driver from Tegelen will compete in the Masters Cup with his Ford Fiesta R5. By choosing this registration, Vossen is assured of a starting place in the field of participants in the race that counts for the world championship.
Automatic start right
In January, Vossen fell by the wayside at the Monte Carlo Rally. Despite eleven previous participations in this famous rally, he was not selected to start there. Reason for him to register for the WRC2 class now.
Vossen explains: “You have a number of classes in the championship. The WRC1 is exclusively for established works teams and drivers. They drive the ultra-fast World Rally Cars. Below that you have the WRC2 class, which is driven with slightly slower R5 cars. For example my Ford Fiesta R5. In addition, in the WRC2 you have the Masters Cup, especially for drivers over the age of 50. If you register for it, you automatically receive a so-called priority status and you cannot be refused,” said Vossen.
bumpy roads
The Croatian Rally is mostly on asphalt roads. Vossen will first explore the winding and bumpy roads this week. “That requires a softer adjustment of the springs and the dampers.” Vossen then chooses a set-up based on that.
Other fuel
This year the world championship will also be driven with a different fuel. The fuel is now partly synthetic, with the underlying idea of reducing the emissions of the cars. “For this we received an engine management setting from Ford. My Ford Fiesta seems to have become a bit more spicy”, Vossen looks ahead with satisfaction.