Patrick Snijers and Robert Droogmans, fierce rivals throughout the 1980s and 1990s, will reunite this weekend at the Rally 4 Passion – Condroz Rally Festival. Both will be at the wheel of a car that defined their careers: Snijers in a Ford Sierra RS Cosworth 4WD Gr.A « Bastos » and Droogmans in a Ford Sierra RS Cosworth 2WD Gr.A. This promises an exciting event for rally fans.
Alongside Bruno Thiry and Stéphane Prévot, Pascal Gaban, Renaud Verreydt, and Yves Loubet, the Rally 4 Passion – Condroz Rally Festival will welcome two additional prominent rally drivers. In partnership with Gazmot Motorsport and Auto Trends magazine, the organizers are pleased to confirm that Robert Droogmans and Patrick Snijers will each drive a Ford Sierra RS Cosworth Gr.A, a car that contributed significantly to their success in the 1990s.
« For this second edition of Rally 4 Passion, we were secretly hoping to bring together our famous Three Musketeers from the 1980s – Robert Droogmans, Patrick Snijers, and Marc Duez. These are three drivers who have shaped Belgian rallying and made rally fans dream for many years », says Yves Matton. “As part of a recent agreement with the Poland Rally Legend for the promotion of our respective festivals, we travelled to Poland, where we naturally met many rally enthusiasts. Among them was Marek Suder, the boss of Gazmot Motorsport, who let Patrick Snijers drive a ‘Bastos’ Ford Sierra Cosworth and who owns a magnificent collection of Ford rally cars. Thanks to his enthusiasm, the project gained momentum.”
Seven-time Belgian rally champion Patrick Snijers remains active, regularly competing in the BRC with a Porsche. At the Rally 4 Passion – Condroz Rally Festival, he will drive the same Ford Sierra RS Cosworth 4WD Gr.A with ‘Bastos’ livery as in Poland. Robert Droogmans, a three-time Belgian champion and European runner-up, also drove a Porsche at last year’s event. This year, he will drive a Ford Sierra RS Cosworth 2WD Gr.A, a car central to his career. A car that also boasts doubly legendary status, as the Belgian public will be able to admire an equally faithful and powerful replica of the Ford of Marian Bublewicz, a very popular figure in Poland.
Naturally, the organizers of the Rally 4 Passion – Condroz Rally Festival and Yves Matton are delighted with the dual presence: “Robert and Patrick, both first and foremost huge rally enthusiasts, immediately accepted the invitation. And so did Marc Duez. Despite his enthusiasm and determination, he won’t be able to drive Team Gazmot’s third car this weekend. But he promised he’ll try to be there this weekend, both to cheer on his old comrades and to greet the many fans.”
Auto Trends as a partner
This project was made possible in part by the support of Auto Trends, a partner in the entire operation. « The recent publications about Rally 4 Passion on our website, with tens of thousands of views, confirm that rallying remains very popular in Belgium. We are therefore delighted to be joining this project featuring iconic rally drivers and cars », emphasizes Olivier de Wilde, head of the magazine’s sports section. « In only its second edition, Rally 4 Passion has already managed to bring together an impressive field of participants in a region – the Condroz – that boasts a large number of rally enthusiasts. We are delighted to be able to support such an event. »
The public will have the opportunity to see the two Ford Sierra Cosworth Gr.A cars throughout the weekend on 11 demonstration stages. They will also be on display during the ceremonial start and autograph session on Friday afternoon at Place Monseu in Ciney, as well as Saturday morning, shortly after noon and in the early evening in Villers-le-Bouillet, where numerous activities are also planned.
