The tarmac stages of Belgium will present a fresh challenge for competitors in round seven of the Armajaro MSA British Historic Rally Championship on 11/12 September.The Tour of Flanders will take the crews just over the channel for the first time in several years as the championship battle heads towards an exciting conclusion.Historic (category 1)With a perfect score from the six events to date, the Porsche 911 of Dessie Nutt/Geraldine McBride is well on target to clinch the overall title. However, they may be denied maximum class points in Belgium due to a reduced number of starters in class B5."I've done Ypres quite a few times before and Flanders is apparently very similar to Ypres," says Nutt. "I'll not know the stages, but I'll know what to expect," he adds.The big challenge to Nutt/McBride will come from the similar Porsche 911 of Francis Tuthill. Although he is also responsible for the preparation of Nutt's car, Tuthill is pushing hard to beat the Irishman and will be leading the challenge is Belgium.Two Lotus Cortinas will be chasing the Porsches in the hands of Chris Green/Hilary Green and Neil Calvert/Arlene Cookson. Back in the championship after missing the Manx Historic Rally, the Greens will be determined to score strongly on all three remaining events, while Calvert should fly after missing several rounds this season.Class B3 looks like being a straight fight between the Ford Cortina GTs of Jonathan and Graham Gale and Ronnie Roughead/Ian Canavan. There has been little to choose between the cars this season, though the Gales currently have the advantage in championship points.Mike Barratt/Michelle Calvert should head class B2 in their Mini Cooper S after a fine run on the Manx Historic. Class opposition comes in the form of more Mini Coopers for Philip and Barbara Smith, Alison Lock/tba and Henry Hardiment/Ewan Adams. Meanwhile, in class B1 the Saab 96 of John Parker/Robert Harrison should be a real favourite with the enthusiastic Belgian fans and goes up against the Mini Cooper of Gordon Cameron/Sheila Grimshaw.Post-historic (category 2)An incredible performance on the Manx Historic Rally has put Steven Smith/John Nichols into top slot in the post-historic category, as well as now being major rivals to Nutt/McBride in the contest for the overall BHRC crown.Smith's Pinto-powered Escort RS2000 will surely set the class C3 pace, but will be hard-pressed to challenge the more powerful Escorts in class C5. That's unless Belgium is hit by the type of fog that had such an impact upon the Manx result!With David Stokes/Den Golding missing this event while a fresh Escort is built up to replace the car badly damaged on the Manx, Richard Gower/Carl Williamson and Ray Bellm/tba will go head to head in the Escort contest. Likely to feature strongly are two more Escorts in the hands of Chris Browne/Ali Cornwell and Graham Samuel/Tony Phillips. Browne knows the Belgian stages well, while Samuel has enjoyed some excellent drives this season. However, in terms of overall post-historic success, the Escorts face several significant challenges, notably the Datsun 240Z of Dominic Frattaroli/Wyn Thomas.The Porsche pack in the post-historics is also strong and is headed by Stuart Rolt/tba and Graham Wilson/Steve Dear. Both crews should be hot on the heels of the leading Escorts on the Belgian stages, while Tony Fall makes a welcome return to the BHRC in his Datsun 240Z, partnered by Yvonne Mehta.A fine contest is running in class C2 and that will continue in Belgium as Ken Forster/John Stanger-Leathes and David Dyer/Graham Wride fight to hold off the similar Escort of John Worthing/John Cadwallader and the Hillman Avenger of Philip Atkinson/Gary Wood.