Bernd Casier was one of the stars of Ypres 2008 here is a video of him testing prior to the rally and one of him during it

Bernd Casier certainly impressed in the Rene Georges Rally Sport Polo S2000 on the Ieper rally but it started very differently at shakedown. Casier went off on his first run crashing into a house, it wasn't known how badly the car was damaged and if it could be fixed for the rally in the morning. He didn't even set a time for shakedown!

Thankfully the car wasn't as badly damaged as was first thought, it was mainly the bodywork that needed fixed by the team through the night. Casier was able to start and promised he would make up for the accident with a good run for the team. He didn't disappoint as was consistently running in the top three for the duration of the event and was up to second at one point. The only cars ahead of him were the Peugeot's with their more powerful, responsive and torquier engines. In fact, Casier was beating all the Punto's, despite the Polo's short gearing but Casier didn't complain as he was thankful he could even start the rally.

By the end of the rally Casier had to settle for fourth, after a four way battle over the last few stages, but Casier was ecstatic with the result. Although it could be argued that the Fiat's are having severe developmental problems at the minute and that Casier and his team have local knowledge of the highly specialised Ypres terrain (RGRS regularly test in the area) nothing can take away from the reward the team got after such a fraught start.

Casier testing a couple of days before Ypres 2008 and getting very sideways

Casier giving it some on Ieper 2008

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