Rally France – Maurin Imperial at Terre de Diois

Double French champion of asphalt rallies, Julien Maurin divides its 2016 season between international events in WRC-2 and national meetings. After a third place during the opening round of the French gravel championship in Les Causses, the driver of the Skoda Fabia R5 pinned the Terre de Diois, back on the calendar in 2016.

Best time on five of the six stages of the first day, Maurin built up a solid cushion of 36″ on the championship leader before last weekend, Matthieu Margaillan (Skoda Fabia R5). Enough to approach the final stage with serenity, despite the deterioration of the weather conditions and the arrival of rain.

A second stage which will not, however, turn out in favor of his runner-up from the day before, since Margaillan lost more than seven minutes in a road accident in the first Sunday sector. An error which allowed Jean-Marie Cuoq to place his Citroën C4 in second final position ahead of Frantz Comoli (Citroën DS3 R5) despite recurring engine shutdown problems.

Thanks to this success, Maurin takes control of the championship with six points ahead of the Cuoq / Margaillan duo.

Terre de Diois 2016 provisional final ranking:

1.Julien Maurin – Olivier Ural (Skoda Fabia R5), R5 in 2h02m56s7

2.Jean-Marie Cuoq – Marielle Grandemange (Citroën C4 WRC), A8W + 1m54s3

3.Frantz Comoli – Isabelle Galmiche (DS 3 R5), R5 + 4m13s1

4.Arnaud Mordacq – Frédéric Vauclare (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo9), N4 + 4m37s1

5.Matthieu Margaillan – Mathilde Margaillan (Skoda Fabia R5), R5 + 6m36s0

6.Hugues Lapouille – Philippe Devienne (Subaru Impreza), R4 + 10m42s1

7.François-Xavier Blanc – Thomas Escartefigue (Peugeot 208 R2), R2 + 12m11s5

8.Jean-Pierre Vital – Pierre Decouzon (Citroën Saxo VTS), F2 13 + 16m48s4

9.Fabien Fontaine – Barbara Truchet (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo5), N4 + 17m20s1

10.David Julia – Ludovic Aubertin (Peugeot 206 RC), F2 14 + 17m46s2

Find the report on Terre de Diois, in issue 2065 of AUTOhebdo, available from 22 p.m. this evening in digital version, and from this Wednesday on newsstands.