Causses Country – SS7: Rumeau extends his lead in the overall standings, Gascou shines

In perfect weather, Sarah Rumeau and her co-driver Julie Amblard began the seventh special stage with a major challenge: opening the road for the first time in their careers.

On the 18,21 km of SS7, the first of the four special stages on this Sunday's loop, the role of the opening car was significant, even though the road sweeping proved less of a disadvantage than the previous day. Nevertheless, Sarah Rumeau remained undeterred: It's slippery, it's fun! It's really the line between pleasure and efficiency. " she confided after posting a time of 10:56.9.

Behind her, Conner Martell is losing ground. Having closed to within just 5,9 seconds on Saturday evening after two consecutive stage wins (SS5 and SS6), he nevertheless stumbled on this first Sunday stage. Not the best stage, it was much more slippery than expected " admitted the American driver, who lost a few seconds on that occasion. In the overall standings, Sarah Rumeau breathes a little easier and now has a ten-second lead over her teammate.

Despite his puncture in SS3 yesterday, Manu Gascou repeated his performance in the first special stage the previous day, setting a best time of 10:52.3. Let's hope it lasts! There weren't too many gaps and the grip was excellent. " he rejoiced at the stop point. He thus moves up to tenth place in the provisional general classification.

Behind the two leaders in the general classification, the pressure is mounting: Matthieu Margaillan is maintaining his effort to catch Florent Todeschini. It wasn't easy getting into a rhythm with the sweeping motion. We took a corner we shouldn't have… I thought I had a flat tire on the front left, but in the end, it was more of a scare than anything else. " explained Margaillan. For his part, Todeschini remains in contention for the podium thanks to precise work: I really tried my best to correct those few targeted tenths with my engineer. I thought about it all night. »

In the rest of the pack, Quentin Ribaud achieved his goal of improving his overall position this morning, gaining one place thanks to efficient riding. I was very methodical, but in the end, we were efficient. There was less enjoyment, but the time is there. Finally, for Steven Bossard, who had a disappointing day yesterday, it's time to refocus: It was hard to get back into it after yesterday; it took a few kilometers, but the rhythm returned. »

Next stop: SS8 (20,36 km) followed by the second passes in the afternoon.

CFR Terre 2026 – Rallye Terre des Causses
The provisional classification of SS7

CFR Terre 2026 – Rallye Terre des Causses
The provisional general after ES7

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