Bouffier and Delecour take advantage of the snow

Bryan Bouffier blew hot and cold on the roads of Monte-Carlo. Already best time on the dry asphalt of SS6, the 2010 French Champion then took advantage of the appearance of snow in SS7 to take control. But, in SS8, the driver Peugeot France suffered from the presence of white powder. Wearing snow tires, Bryan Bouffier spun, damaging the rear of his Peugeot 207 S2000 on the side of the road.

At the end of this SS8 contested between the Cimetière de Vassieux and the Col de Gaudissart, Bryan Bouffier lost 27??1 to François Delecour (Peugeot 207 S2000), equipped with studded tires. “I spun twice, we hit the back and then I held on,” explained Bouffier. It's incredible all this snow fell at once. But the car is doing well and we have the possibility of a good result. »

For his part, François Delecour did a very good job by climbing to second place in the general classification. Thanks to a suitable tire mount, the winner of the Rally Monte-Carlo 1994 was able to grab big seconds from all its rivals. “But I was very careful. Even with the nails, it was difficult,” he commented. At the end of SS8, he found himself 28??7 behind the leader, Bryan Bouffier, and was 37??6 ahead of Freddy Loix (Skoda Fabia S2000), who was able to limit the damage.

Several pilots lost a lot. Juho Hänninen (Skoda Fabia S2000), leader before the snow arrived, fell to sixth place in the general classification, 2:36:0 behind Bryan Bouffier. Petter Solberg (Peugeot 207 S2000), author of several mistakes on slippery terrain, is seventh and is 3:49:8 behind the French Champion.

Jan Kopecky (Skoda Fabia S2000), pushed back almost eight minutes, experienced a nightmarish afternoon, as much as Jean-Sébastien Vigion (Peugeot S2000), who lost fifteen minutes in two specials for starting on slick tires . Stéphane Sarrazin (Peugeot 207 S2000), second overall after SS7, lost a lot of time in the following special, placing fifth overall at 1:41:8.