Jean-Baptiste Franceschi: “Sportingly, there is a little frustration”

After having brilliantly won the first round of the French Terrestrial Rally Championship, “JB” Franceschi was logically eagerly awaited on the resumption of the asphalt section last weekend at Mont-Blanc.

All approached with humility by the driver of the Citroën C3 R5 – PH Sport. “I don’t want to skip steps, the Frenchman admitted to us. We are coming off a big weekend with the victory in Lozère and it’s a very good dynamic.

The objective would of course be to prove that we can also go very fast on asphalt. Our experience, however, remains quite low, both with the R5 category and in this event at Mont-Blanc.

I think it will be complicated against drivers who have already raced several times and who have experience. But the C3 R5 is excellent, and we've done some good testing in my opinion, so there's no reason why it shouldn't work. Everyone will be boosted and you will have to be in the rhythm from the start. »

Unfortunately, a puncture in SS3 undermined Franceschi's hopes, the event then turning into a full-scale test session before a final 11th place.

“We tried to ignore that puncture on the second lap to see if we were able to play up front, which we were, he analyzes. It's positive. For our first here, we prove that we can fight with the others, it's encouraging to play the leading roles on asphalt.

Sportingly, there is a bit of frustration with the final result. We were able to test a lot of things, including driving. The advantage for the future is that I know the next rallies. »

Discover the full report of the Rally du Mont-Blanc – Morzine, produced by our special correspondent in Morzine, in issue 2277 of AUTOhebdo, available now in digital version and now on newsstands.