Maxim Decock is going to compete in the European Championship: “Curious to see where we will be”

Maxim Decock will appear at the start of the Rally Sierra Morena in Spain this weekend, the opening round of the European Championship. The Opel driver wants to combine a European program with a few Belgian races this year.

Maxim Decock grew into a regular in both the Junior BRC and the Stellantis Cup Belux in a few seasons, but in 2025 he will take on a new challenge together with co-driver Tom Buyse. "We have been driving our Opel Corsa Rally4 for three full seasons now," says the 25-year-old from Komen. "The last two seasons we drove the full Stellantis Cup with our victory in the Spa Rally last year as the highlight. This winter we had serious doubts about what we were going to do. We were looking for a new challenge and that is how we ended up at the Junior ERC. Next weekend we will start in the Rally Sierra Morena, the opening round in Spain."

A definitive programme for 2025 has not yet been set. “A lot will depend on our experience in Spain, where we are still somewhat hesitantly approaching”, Decock continues. “We will see how everything goes and how many rounds are financially feasible. After the next rounds in Hungary and Poland, both on unpaved roads, the Rally di Roma Capitale in Italy, the Barum Rally in the Czech Republic and the Croatia Rally are certainly high on our list. To put our sponsors in the spotlight, we will definitely still be driving the Ypres Rally and the Omloop van Vlaanderen in our own country this year. We are extremely grateful to our partners for this opportunity, although we can certainly use some extra support.”

The opening round of the Junior ERC in Cordoba, southern Spain, is a newcomer to the championship. “The Rally Sierra Morena is a smooth and fast rally in the mountains that we don’t know in Belgium. The typical rough asphalt there is also unknown here. In addition, we will have to discover a new tire brand with Hankook. We are going there with our own team, so it will definitely be a big challenge. Our Opel Corsa Rally4 was already brought back into top condition last winter.”

The duo Decock-Buyse will certainly not lack opposition this season. “A total of 22 participants will appear at the start of the Juniors next weekend, so that is completely different from Belgium. The opposition is difficult to estimate and it is therefore not easy to make a prediction. There are a number of Junior pilots who are participating in the European Championship for the second or third year, but there are also a lot of new pilots. The opponents really come from everywhere. The advantage is that the Sierra Morena Rally is new to the European Championship, so the course is actually unknown to everyone. We are very curious to see where we will be. A place in the top ten or maybe even the top five would be nice,” concludes Maxim Decock.

The Rally Sierra Morena starts on Friday evening with a show stage in the centre of Cordoba. On Saturday and Sunday there are twelve more stages on the programme, good for a total of more than 200 km against the clock.

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