The end of June means only one thing in the national rally calendar - the annual trip to Belgium for the Ypres Westhoek Rally. This rally, based around the beautiful town of Ypres and organised by A.C. TARGA FLORIO, is one of the premier rounds in the European Championship. The event is based completely on tarmac and utilises the small, twisty lanes across the Ypres countryside. The event attracts a top class entry from across Europe and has an atmosphere that is absolutely unique. The Car Enthusiast photographers Mark Sims and Colin Courtney along with the team from Mark II Motorsport made the trip from Dover to Calais and over the border in order to sample Belgium's hospitality.

Ypres becomes the rally base and for three days does not stop. The whole town buzzes with rally cars, bars, cafés and spectators wandering through the service areas. Regular town life basically comes to a standstill. The rally starts on the Friday evening with two stages and carries on throughout Saturday and into Sunday. The stages are fast and slippery in places - the ultimate test for a tarmac rally driver.

Pieter Tsjoen was the man to beat and it was he who attacked the stages from the outset, with an absolutely blistering pace. Gregoire De Mevius in the Bastos-run Peugeot 206 (Kris Princen's mount until he was sacked from the team) was hard on Tsjoen's heels and Patrick Snijers (in a Subaru WRC) was also hot in pursuit. Snijers briefly took the lead after Tsjoen incurred road penalties for a servicing infringement, but retired with a broken exhaust manifold causing a fire. Kris Princen did compete in the rally in an ex-Neil Wearden Vauxhall Astra. He managed to keep it on the road and finished a creditable 4th. By Sunday, Pieter Tsjoen was unstoppable and he took the podium to stamp his authority on the European and Belgian Championships. De Mevius took second, and Joost Boxoen in a Subaru WRC took 3rd position.

Due to the lack of rallying because of the foot and mouth problem, Ypres was attended by a number of British and Irish drivers. Ian Greer led the Irish boys with a brilliant drive that saw him in 4th position on Sunday when he went off into a ditch. Derek McGarrity was well within the top ten until he retired on the Saturday with gearbox problems. Eamon Boland, who went off in stage one and suffered a series of problems, rounded off the top 10 with a very gutsy and creditable drive. A leading UK driver, Ben Briant's rally never took off as he crashed out on stage one. Dick Curran had a great drive to 14th overall and Mark L'Anson finished 15th. Jim Harrison, driving Kenny McKinstry's hired Subaru WRC drove well through a number of problems but ultimately retired on the Sunday with a broken manifold.

Along with the blistering action, Belgian rallying is very laid back in its approach to running stages. Safety is taken very seriously though, and miles of tape are used to section off and mark out 'no go' zones at all the junctions (it makes taking pictures a challenge!). Police and helicopters comb the stage, ensuring that spectators are stood in safe zones. Apart from the safety aspect, spectators flock to the stages but there are very few car parking problems, generally people park at any point on the road approaching the stages and pay special attention not to block drives, etc. People can buy passes for access to every stage or at the stage entrance and there are excellent facilities in terms of beer tents, fast food vans, etc. It really is a refreshing change from the UK and creates a great atmosphere. The other unique point about Belgian rallying is that the rally literally takes over whole towns and on some stages runs right through the main high street - imagine that in your local town! The residents, young and old, line the route waving and cheering the cars. It really is a fantastic experience.

If you get the chance to spectate or even compete in Belgium, do it, you won't regret it.