Jean-Marie Cuoq at the head of the Causses

Opening the gravel rally season, the “Causses” brought together a superb field, with no less than eight WRC at the beginning. On very rolling tracks made a little greasy by frequent showers, Jean-Marie Cuoq (Peugeot 206 WRC) was the quickest in action, taking off during the first two stages. During the second lap, the Ardèche driver slowed down a little, but he finished the stage in the lead with a thirty-five second lead.

For second place, a very good battle began between Paul Chieusse (Peugeot 206 WRC) and Laurent Carbonaro (Ford Focus WRC): “ it's war between us », joked Chieusse. “ We are pure amateurs, we lack training, but we try to do the best with our WRCs. And our goal, for both of us, is to seek out Jean-Marie Cuoq, our reference. It?s not an easy goal, but a motivating one. »

After the withdrawal of Bernard Munster (car not available) and the abandonment of Dominique Bruyneel (engine broken at the start of SS 3), there is only one Skoda Octavia left in the race, that of the Auriol Compétition team. entrusted to Yoann Bonato. Plagued by brake problems as well as poor power distribution (front differential stuck at 0%), the 2 Alpes driver was in fourth place this evening, but hoped to be able to move up tomorrow.

For his first race at the wheel of his new Peugeot 207 Super 2000, Vauclusian Richard Doux performed quite well. Although not completely satisfied with the behavior of his car, he placed fifth, after setting some very good times.

In Group N, after the abandonment of Cédric Tevelle (front left wheel torn off) and the Finn Vierimää (engine problem), both early leaders in the category, it was the surprising Hervé Guignard (Mitsubishi Evo 9) who took the lead. ahead of Arnaud Morel (Subaru Impreza N12 B). Finally, in two-wheel drive, Marc Amourette had widened the gap with all the other Citroën C2 R2s.