ERC – Consani to open Rally Liepaja, Bouffier behind

Rally Liepaja, second event of theERC, will be contested this weekend on tracks mixing dirt and snow, winter conditions close to Rally Monte-Carlo where Bryan Bouffier caused a sensation by taking second place after leading a good part of the event. The Frenchman will be entered in a PH Sport Citroën DS3 RRC, while his compatriot Robert Consani will continue his apprenticeship at the wheel of his Peugeot 207 S2000 with which he only drove in the Jännerrallye. Craig Breen is also in the game with Peugeot.

If the qualifications disappeared in WRC, the ERC adopted this starting order. Sepp Wiegand achieved the scratch in the 4,19km qualifying special with a time of 1'41"4 achieved at the wheel of his Fabia S2000. Craig Breen (Peugeot) was the closest with a second delay. The Irishman was only seven hundredths ahead of Esapekka Lappi's Skoda and only a tenth ahead of Vasily Gryazin's Fiesta S2000. Bryan Bouffier set the eighth fastest time in his Citroën DS3 RRC, three seconds behind the reference time. Robert Consani was even further behind since he failed by more than six seconds.

Having the privilege of choosing his position on the road, Sepp Wiegand opted for seventh place while Robert Consani will have to open the road ahead of Antoni Tlustak (Skoda) and Oleksei Tamrazov (Fiesta). The French driver was unable to choose his position after being penalized for being late at the start of the special. Craig Breen and Bryan Bouffier were luckier since the Irishman will start from 14th position while the Frenchman will start from 16th place.