Rhône-Charbonnières Rally – SS6: Bonato concludes the first day in command

Bonato made a strong statement to conclude the first day. On the 8,18-kilometer Ternand-Chamelet stage, the Lancia Ypsilon HF of car number 1 set the fastest time of 04:31.1, averaging 108,6 km/h, nearly 6 seconds quicker than during the first run this morning on the same stage. A stage win as a fitting finale, perfectly summarizing a flawless and consistent day for Bonato and Boullourd. "It's true that we started with warmer tires, so we're faster, that's normal.", smiled the defending champion at the stop point. "It's a good day. When you see the price at the dealership of a Porsche Compared to a Lancia, you have to admit Stellantis did a great job! he joked, taking a little dig at Porsche.

Driving their German 992, Raphaël Astier and Denis Giraudet finished fourth overall in 04:36.3, 5,2 seconds behind the leader, and second overall, 9,3 seconds behind Bonato and Boulloud. The Porsche 992 GT+ managed to shave seconds off their times throughout the day, setting several fastest stage times, but never managed to permanently dislodge the Lancia from the lead.

Hugo Margaillan and Mathieu Coppa, who had almost caught Bonato by a tenth of a second on SS5, finished second in 04:34.6, 3,5 seconds behind, and are third overall, 13,8 seconds back. Hyundai The i20 of the CHL Sport Auto team will undoubtedly be one of the major threats tomorrow — fast on every special stage, the duo never gave up and remains perfectly positioned to reverse the hierarchy.

Rehane Gany and Franck Le Floch (Hyundai i20, #6) set the third fastest time on the special stage in 4:36.2 and maintain their fourth place overall, 46 seconds behind. Lucas Darmezin and Charlyne Quartini (#5) finished fifth on the special stage in 04:37.7 and are 1:08.4 behind overall. Benjamin and Florence Stirling (Citroën C3, #04), seventh on the special stage in 04:43.3, are sixth overall, 1:43.4 behind. Ghislain Barbier and Yoann Bouchet (Porsche 992, #12) recorded the sixth fastest time on the special stage in 04:42.1 and are seventh overall, 1:59.1 behind, ahead of Ludovic Godard and Alexis Maillefert (Alpine A110, #10), eighth at 2:12.5. Jonathan Hirschi and Mélanie Tendille (Citroën C3, #8) and Kenneth Madsen and Mads Dalsager (Citroën C3 DNK, #7) complete the overall top 10 at 3:00.1 and 3:17.1 respectively.

With a 9,3-second lead over Astier and 13,8 seconds over Margaillan, Bonato heads into the second day in a strong position, but without any guarantees. Six stages remain to be run tomorrow on the same roads in the Rhône region, and the slightest incident or mistake in tire choice could change everything. See you tomorrow morning for the continuation of the action.

CFR – Rhône-Charbonnières Rally 
The classification of SS6

The general classification after SS6