Bonato solid leader at Lyon-Charbonnières

Yoann Bonato (Citroën C3 R5) took direct control of the Rally Lyon-Charbonnières and concluded the first stage with a lead of more than 24 seconds over his closest pursuer, Quentin Gilbert (Volkswagen Polo GTI R5). The reigning French champion remained on the attack by winning five stage wins out of the seven stages contested during the first stage. Only a problem with the report display disrupted the start of the day.

“It was a very good day where everything worked well. The car was good, we had fun, it was nice! We will have to stay focused tomorrow because it will be a big day and the result of this rally is important”, commented the leader of the race.

La lutte est serré pour la deuxième place puisque Quentin Giordano (Hyundai i20 R5) ne pointe qu’à un dixième de la VW de Quentin Gilbert.

“There is a good fight for second place. It was good today, we didn't make any mistakes. Only a small, slow puncture delayed us in SS5. The car is great and the tires work well. I’m happy to be in the leading group”, confided the resident of Team Sarrazin Motorsport.

Yohan Rossel (Citroën C3 R5) follows just over a second behind and is therefore also in the fight for second place. Nicolas Ciamin (Abarth 124 Rally) completes the Top 5 ahead of the Skoda Fabia R5s of Sylvain Michel and Éric Mauffrey. Raphaël Astier (Hyundai i20 R5) is in 8th place ahead of the Ford Fiesta WRC by Eric Brunson. Cédric Robert leads the R3 category on his DS 3 which occupies 14th place in the general classification.

Wiliam Wagner (Volkswagen Polo GTI R5) n’est que 20e à plus de 4 minutes de la tête de la course après avoir souffert d’une crevaison dans l’ES5. Il devance la Porsche 997 GT3 RS de Romain Dumas. Patrick Rouillard est dans les profondeurs du classement après avoir dû changer une roue suite à une touchette dans l’ES7 sur sa Skoda Fabia R5.