Ouest Provence: The good beginnings of Bonnefis

Contested on a very large private estate, between Miramas and Istres in Bouches-du-Rhône, this first Terre Ouest Provence marks the opening of the French gravel rally championship. First originality, the rally is very concentrated, with three short, winding and narrow stages following one after the other, and to be contested twice on Saturday and Sunday. If the format is perfect, the terrain was not to the taste of many competitors, who considered it quite rough.

After expressing some fears at the end of the reconnaissance lap, almost all the drivers took the start (there were nevertheless twelve voluntary withdrawals), and in the end, everything went well overall, particularly for Germain Bonnefis: “ This evening, the results can only be positive. We had established a road plan to take charge of the car, and we respected it. No fear, no puncture: the ideal day. Tomorrow we will manage », explained the pilot Peugeot Sport, who has almost two minutes ahead of his closest competitor halfway through the rally.

This one is none other than the Niçois Cyrille Féraud, who had gained the upper hand at the end of the second round over his stablemate from the Sauvan team, Nöel Tron. If the “yellow” Mitsubishis were very fast? the Corsican Loïc Mattéi also set a scratch time in a car from the same team - they also proved to be a little fragile, experiencing quite a few problems with the cardan shaft and differential.

On the side of WRC and the big Group A, the most prominent is Alain Deveza, who places his Subaru Impreza in 4th place, while Cédric Hennion (Citroën C4 WRC) was delayed by half a dozen “stalls” in “straight-aheads”. », while Paul Chieusse, eighth with his 307 WRC, explained that he had never been able to attack, because of the large stones littering the special stages?