Mont-Blanc Rally – High-flying battle in the Alps

At the wheel of the Polo GTI R5 of Team Sarrazin Motorsport, Quentin Giordano opens the hostilities and achieves the best performance in the first special. Yoann Bonato (C3 Rally2-CHL Sport Auto) and Eric Camilli (C3 Rally2-PH Sport by Minerva Oil) lie in ambush behind the Lorraine driver. From then on, the provisional Top 3 of the French Championship forgets its opponents. Giordano and Bonato share the scratches. The first three are within 15'' of each other returning to Morzine at midday. Giordano, Bonato and Camilli take advantage of the assistance to make some adjustments to their car. The arrival of rain changed things, especially as the drivers opted for medium tyres. As at the start of the morning, Giordano set the benchmark in SS 5 just ahead of Bonato while Camilli saw the provisional first place in the French Championship slip away after a puncture. Not satisfied with his pace at midday, Bonato took the fastest time in SS 6 to come back to within 1” of Giordano. The last 9 kilometers of this first stage were unfortunately canceled due to poorly placed spectators who even came to blows with each other...

At the foot of the podium at Rouergue, Ludovic Gal (Polo GTI R5-Sarrazin Motorsport) is at ease on the roads of Mont-Blanc and ends this first day in third place. The Haut-Savoyard leads a crazy peloton led by Quentin Gilbert (Skoda Fabia R5), William Wagner (C3 Rally2-PH Sport by GT2i), Sébastien Loeb (306 Maxi-Sébastien Loeb Racing Bardhal) and Cédric Robert (Alpine A110-Team Bonneton HDG). Suffice it to say that the Polo driver will have a lot to face against these drivers who are wild about grabbing the podium. In two-wheel drive, Cédric Robert leads the way ahead of Julien Saunier (Alpine AA10-Sébastien Loeb Racing Bardhal) and Fabrice Bect (Alpine AA10-Team FJ). In 208 Rally Cup, Hugo Margaillan (208 Rally4-CHL Sport Auto) dominates the proceedings and takes advantage of the setbacks of Mathieu Franceschi (208 Rally4-PH Sport by Minerva Oil) in SS 1 to settle comfortably in first place. The fight is intense on the Clio Trophy side! Romain di Fante and Guillaume Canivenq exchanged the controls of the Trophy and it was ultimately Styve Juif who returned to Morzine as leader after his scratch in SS 6.

The second and final stage will be contested tomorrow from 10:35 a.m.

Manu Naud