Belgian Rally Championship (Group B era)

Belgium’s asphalt rallies — the Boucles de Spa, the Haspengouw rally at Landen, the Ypres 24 Hours, the Lucien Bianchi and the Condroz — were among the fastest in Europe. In the Group B years the Belgian title passed from Porsches to a Lancia 037 and finally to a Ford RS200.

3
titles for Patrick Snijers
3
for Porsche 911s
1986
Ford RS200 champion
2 s
Droogmans’ margin on the 1986 Bianchi

Champions

Year Driver Co-driver Car
1982 Marc Duez Willy Lux Porsche 911 SC (Group 4)
1983 Patrick Snijers — Porsche 911 SC (Group 4)
1984 Patrick Snijers Colebunders Porsche 911 SC RS (Group B)
1985 Patrick Snijers Colebunders Lancia 037
1986 Robert Droogmans Joosten Ford RS200

Spa, Ypres and the Condroz: Duez, Snijers and Droogmans in the Belgian championship from Porsche to Ford RS200.

Season by season

1982. Marc Duez and Willy Lux won the Lucien Bianchi rally in a Belga Team Porsche 911 SC and took the title; Dealer Opel Team’s Guy Colsoul won Spa and Landen in an Ascona 400.

1983. Duez and Lux switched to an Audi Quattro A1 and won Spa and Landen, but the title went to Patrick Snijers’ Porsche 911 SC, entered by Bastos. Robert Droogmans won the Lucien Bianchi in a Ford Escort RS1800.

1984. Carlo Capone’s Lancia 037 won Spa and Henri Toivonen won Ypres in the Rothmans Porsche, with Snijers second. Droogmans and Joosten, in a Belga Team Porsche 911 SC RS, won Landen, the Bianchi and the Condroz, but Snijers, in his own 911 SC RS, took the title again.

Patrick Snijers, Belgian champion 1983–1985, on the Haspengouw rally in 2007.
Patrick Snijers, Belgian champion 1983–1985, on the Haspengouw rally in 2007.Photo: Klever via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

1985. Snijers and Colebunders moved to a Bastos Texaco Lancia 037 and won Landen, the Bianchi and the Condroz. Björn Waldegård and Hans Thorszelius won Spa, and Jean Ragnotti won Ypres for Renault.

1986. Droogmans and Joosten won Landen, Ypres and the Bianchi — the last by just two seconds from Duez — in a Belga Team Ford RS200, and took the title. Jean-Claude Probst won Spa in a Ford Sierra XR4x4 and Guy Colsoul the Condroz in an Opel Manta 400.

Champions follow the French and Dutch Wikipedia lists, which agree. The French article adds that the RACB’s separate ‘Belgian drivers’ champion’ title for 1986 went to Snijers; we have not been able to confirm how that title differed from the championship won by Droogmans. Event winners come from eWRC-results.com.

In pictures 2 photos

Porsche 911 SC RS.
Porsche 911 SC RS.Photo: BWard 1997 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
1984 Porsche 911 SC RS at the Lime Rock Historic Festival 2021, rear view
1984 Porsche 911 SC RS at the Lime Rock Historic Festival 2021, rear viewPhoto: Mr.choppers via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

More from Championships

Spanish Rally Championship (Group B era)Zanini, Ortiz and Servià — and the young Carlos Sainz — in the Spanish championship from 1982 to 1986.Read more →Dutch Rally Championship (Group B era)Van der Marel’s Manta 400 and Andervang’s RS200: the Dutch championship, most of it raced in Belgium and Germany.Read more →Finnish Rally Championship (Group B era)A separate Group B class from 1983, won every year by an Audi Quattro: Lampi, Laine and Heinonen on Finnish snow and gravel.Read more →Italian Rally Championship (CIR, Group B era)Jolly Club, Grifone and the private Lancias: the Italian championship from Tognana’s Ferrari to Cerrato’s Delta S4.Read more →German Rally Championship (DRM, Group B era)Audi, Opel and then Peugeot: Demuth, Weber, Grundel and Mouton in the German championship from 1982 to 1986.Read more →French Rally Championship (Group B era)Renault against Opel on French asphalt: Thérier, Fréquelin, Ragnotti and Auriol, and the 119-point tie of 1986.Read more →

Sources

  1. Wikipedia (FR), Championnat de Belgique des rallyes — https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Championnat_de_Belgique_des_rallyes
  2. Wikipedia (NL), Belgisch kampioenschap rally — https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgisch_kampioenschap_rally
  3. eWRC-results.com, FIA European Rally Championship 1982 (event results) — https://www.ewrc-results.com/season/1982/6-erc/
  4. eWRC-results.com, FIA European Rally Championship 1983 (event results) — https://www.ewrc-results.com/season/1983/6-erc/
  5. eWRC-results.com, FIA European Rally Championship 1984 (event results) — https://www.ewrc-results.com/season/1984/6-erc/
  6. eWRC-results.com, FIA European Rally Championship 1985 (event results) — https://www.ewrc-results.com/season/1985/6-erc/
  7. eWRC-results.com, FIA European Rally Championship 1986 (event results) — https://www.ewrc-results.com/season/1986/6-erc/

All text is original writing for Grouve Sports Management Group, based on the sources above. Facts checked on 21 October 2026.

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Thumbnail photos on this page: Andrew Bone from Weymouth, England (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0); Calreyn88 (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); BWard 1997 (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0); InSapphoWeTrust from Los Angeles, California, USA (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0); Ramon Espiña Fernand… (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0); estoril (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0).