Yoann Bonato winner of the Canaries: “It’s very pleasant to experience such a successful rally”

What feeling does you have a few days after your success in Las Palmas?

It's really special. It's very nice to live a rally also successful. Everyone in their field did a great job. 

Before leaving, did you think you could dominate the debates to this extent?

I told myself we had our chances, but I didn't imagine they would be so clear. 

This is probably a false idea, but did you seem very “easy” during the event in the Canaries?

It's never really easy. When you don't have a lead, you have to fight to get it and when you have it, you have to work hard not to do anything stupid and keep it. I believe we managed to run a race in which we never doubted.

Even on the 17th^e time and the 14^e place in the general at the end of SS2 did not worry you?

Pfff, what we received in this special... I tried to reassure myself by telling myself that the people around us had also been struggling. We told ourselves we were going to go back up, but we didn't think we would do it so quickly. In the end we only needed two times since at the end of SS4 we became leaders for the first time. 

Yoann Bonato and Benjamin Boulloud were very effective during the 2nd meeting of theERC 2023 (Red Bull Content Pool)

Your main rival was Hayden Paddon, who wasn't necessarily expected at this level?

It's not a handle at all! This is not the first time that he has shown that he knows how to ride fast on terrain he does not know. We had already met on the tarmac during Rouergue 2016 where he was racing on a Hyundai i20 R5. We were with the DS3 R5 and it was close.

In what area have you made a difference?

There isn't one in particular. As I said, everyone was impeccable. With Benjamin, we made no mistakes, the CHL Sport Auto team did a great job and our understanding with our engineer Matthieu Bassou was excellent. We were testing a new hard tire from Michelin and they worked perfectly. It's always nice to see that what we observed in testing is validated in the race. The doubt persists. It's a bit like the changes made to the C3. The car performs well and we don't yet have everything that appears on Yohan Rossel's car in WRC2. 

How is the rest of your program organized? Will you be in Poland?

No. Our next ERC meeting is in Rome in July (29-30/07) where the locals will be difficult to beat. For the moment, we are focusing on the Antibes rally (19-20/05).