Giordano and Bonato neutralize each other in the Heart of France

Author of the first two scratches and first leader of the rally, Quentin Giordano (Polo GTi R5-Sarrazin Motorsport) finishes the first stage of the Rallye Coeur de France at the top of the timesheet after battling tenths with Yoann Bonato (C3 Rally2-CHL Sport Auto) throughout of the afternoon.

Yoann BONATO, Benjamin BOULLOUD © Bastien Roux / DPPI

The two co-leaders of the Championship lost Eric Camilli (C3 Rally2-PH Sport by Minerva Oil), who went off the road in SS5.

Eric CAMILLI Eric, François-Xavier BURESI © Bastien Roux / DPPI

Leading the Michelin “R5” Trophy, William Wagner (C3 Rally2-PH Sport by GT2i) is in third place at the end of this first stage. The Belgian driver must nevertheless be wary of Cédric Robert (A110-Bonneton HDG), also leader in 2-wheel drive, and of Anthony Cosson, who signed 2 scratch times at the wheel of his impressive 911 GT3 Cup. The fight for the podium on Saturday evening promises to be sumptuous!

Anthony COSSON, Edouard DUBOS © Grégory Lenormand / DPPI

At the gates of the Top 5, Julien Saunier (A110-Sébastien Loeb Racing Bardahl) is more and more comfortable behind the wheel of his Alpine since he also occupies first place in the Trophy Alpine Elf Rally. 

With six best times out of seven possible, Thomas Chauffray (Clio RSR Rally5) leads the Clio Trophy France. The Norman is ahead of Romain di Fante by 15”2. Third in the “Trophy”, Romain Fostier must be wary of François Fraymouth who is less than 5” from the podium.

Lonely with the absence of Mathieu Franceschi and Pedro Almeida, Hugo Margaillan (208 Rally4-CHL Sport Auto) sees a path ahead of him in the quest for the title. But, the two “juniors” Réhane Gany (208 Rally4-Rossel Compétition) and Hugo Louvel (208 Rally4) are visibly at ease on the Coeur de France specials and intend to make life difficult for the leader during the second stage .

Hugo MARGAILLAN, Laetitia MARSAULT © Bastien Roux / DPPI

As for the Junior Championship with the Fiesta R2J, Terence Callea finished the first stage in provisional first place ahead of Florian Bouchonneau and Louis Myr. Solid leader of the Junior Championship, Florent Todeschini worked hard all day to compensate for his crash in SS1. Having moved up to 4th place, he still has to scrape around fifteen seconds to get back to 2nd place and hope to win the title on Saturday.

With 114,92 km of timed sections divided into 6 special stages, the second stage promises to be decisive in the different categories.

RANKINGS AFTER SS7: