Canivenq leads Le Touquet

After the steep special stages around Morzine, the French Rally Championship stops in the north where the 49th takes place Rally Le Touquet Pas de Calais from Friday. Contested over three days, the event will welcome nearly 150 competitors, including seven WRC and four Super 2000s.

Among the favorites, we find the usual hosts of the championship. Thus Guillaume Canivenq (Peugeot 207 S2000), new leader since the previous round, will be battling with Patrick Henry (Peugeot 206 WRC), winner of three events this season, whom he precedes by four points. These two drivers will have to be wary of competition from Eric Brunson (Subaru Impreza), winner in 2008, Pierre Roché (Subaru Impreza), second in Morzine, Marc Barbé (Peugeot 307) or even Pieter Tsjoen (Ford Focus), well decided to come and play spoilsport.

« It’s actually been five years since I last came to this rally. All I keep in mind is that it is very easy to make a mistake as there are so many pitfalls. », Explains Canivenq, the championship leader. “ I'm also looking forward to competing against Cédric (Robert, editor's note) who joined us in Super 2000 and against the WRC drivers on this very special terrain. In any case, I will try to score the most points to keep the lead in the Drivers' Championship and the BFGoodrich Trophy. »

In the trophy, the Ruthenois will try to maintain his supremacy against Cédric Robert (Abarth Grande Punto S2000), Julien Maurin (Peugeot 207 S2000) and other keen candidates like Emmanuel Guigou (Renault Clio R3), who will try to redeem himself after going off the road in Morzine, or Marc Amourette (Citroën C2 S1600).

Finally, at the initiative of the organizers who wish to quantify overall CO2 emissions before undertaking eco-design actions from 2010, a design office will carry out a Carbon Assessment during the rally.