Bouffier: “The season is far from over”

A month ago, Bryan Bouffier and his co-driver Xavier Panseri finished second in the Rally Ypres, 5th round of the IRC championship. The winner of Monte-Carlo 2011 also pocketed a whopping 18 points. Alas, the technical checks at the end of the event revealed that the 2007 S2000 Peugeot France was not compliant due to an assembly error. Very bad news for Bouffier, who falls to 4th place in the general classification, 22 points behind leader Juho Hänninen. On the manufacturer side, the gap between Skoda and Peugeot increased to reach 63 units.

« Obviously, we are disappointed, but the season is far from over, underlines Bryan Bouffier who wants to remain optimistic. We will have to attack to the limits to pocket the title. »

A feeling shared by Fédéric Bertrand, head of customer competition at Peugeot Sport. “We take into account the decision of the authorities, affirms the latter. We identified the problem as an assembly issue. This won't help us in the general classification, but there are still five rallies to go. This will allow the teams from the different subsidiaries to fight until the end. Among them we have Bryan Bouffier and Xavier Panseri who still have chances for the title. We will support them as much as possible, and will continue to develop our car, which is still a reference in this championship for the 5th consecutive season. »

It remains to be hoped that these 18 points will not weigh too heavily in the balance sheet at the end of the season. The final podium of the 2011 Ypres Rally is therefore as follows: The duo Loix Freddy / Miclotte Fréderic (Skoda Fabia) is obviously still the winner, but the pairs Weijs Hans / Degandt Bjorn (Skoda Fabia) and Sołowow Michal / Baran Maciej ( Ford Fiesta), gained one place to find themselves 2nd and 3rd respectively.

Discover in your AUTOhebdo magazine, currently on newsstands, a Mag?Rally on Bryan Bouffier, the winner of the last edition of the Monte-Carlo Rally.