The three blows of the Legend Boucles @ Bastogne 2022 are given at the Marché Couvert

It is a rather quiet day, a sort of calm before the storm, that the organisers and the competitors of the Legend Boucles @ Bastogne are experiencing this Friday. Without its traditional festive part in the city centre, the 2022 edition of the flagship event of the Royal Automobile Club de Spa is nevertheless rich in conviviality. Especially since the covered market is clearly accessible to the public who wish to admire the cars of yesteryear and meet the crews...

Although we obviously regret the absence of the podium on the Place McAuliffe, we can see that the teams have quickly found their feet in the Marché Couvert", explains Pierre Delettre, organiser. With such a large space, everyone has their own space, and that's great. I can only invite the spectators to come and appreciate the cars and meet the drivers, co-drivers and team members this Friday at the end of the day. Just to immerse yourself in the atmosphere of these Legend Boucles @ Bastogne 2022 for the first time. Attention: in spite of the imminent switch to Code Yellow for health reasons, the Covid Safe Ticket is checked at the entrance of the site, and this will be the case throughout the weekend... ".

On Thursday and Friday, the technical and administrative control operations allowed the more than 180 cars finally at the start to present themselves one after the other to the RACB technical commissaires, all in good spirits. At 1.30 pm, the Ford Escort MK1 #9 arrived, arousing the interest of photographers, television crews and other spectators from the early hours. And for good reason, Renaud Verreydt will undoubtedly be the darling of the public on Saturday and Sunday... "I'm impressed by the welcome I've received and by the messages of encouragement since the announcement of my participation", explains the three-time winner of the... Boucles de Spa. Nothing has been easy with the car on the administrative and technical level, but we are there and I am looking forward to the special stage. I just hope I can live up to everyone's expectations..."

At 9.26 am, the 'Legend' competitors will start in RT1 on the side of La Roche-en Ardenne, while the 'Classic' will attack their first section at 9.00 am. This time, it's time for sport!