Jos Verstappen does good business during first day of Hellendoorn Rally

Jos Verstappen did excellent business during the first day of the Hellendoorn Rally. Despite tricky conditions, the Dutchman managed to grab fifth place in the standings for now.

In six stages, the participating drivers drove three different tests. Verstappen had Harm van Koppen with him as co-pilot and managed to do well immediately in his Citroën C3 Rally2. During the first round, he finished sixth twice and seventh once. The difference with the out-and-out Sebastian Lefebvre was 42 seconds.

However, these were not easy tasks for Verstappen. As the racing took place in the evening, he had to deal with dark conditions. Moreover, it had rained earlier, so the Dutchman had to reckon with tricky situations.

"The second trial felt a bit better than the first one, but it is slippery. Much slippery than we expected," he therefore revealed after the second test to Verstappen.com. In the end, he managed to fight his way to fifth place. Verstappen will face 10 more tests on Saturday.

Verstappen has confidence in son

The former Formula 1 driver spoke earlier during the event about his son's big lead in the world championship. In doing so, he revealed that he is confident that the Red Bull Racing driver will soon take his second world title.