Rally France – Sébastien Loeb takes control of the Var

The final round of the 2014 French Rally Championship began at the start of the afternoon, after uncertainty, lifted this morning, regarding the holding of the event following the bad weather which has hit the region since yesterday.

With a day cut from the third and last timed sector of the day (Roquebrune), the competitors competed over a little over 28 km of specials, and Sébastien Loeb concludes this stage in the lead, after having dominated the two contested SS. Co-driven on his Citroën DS3 WRC by his wife Séverine, the Alsatian has at the end of this first stage 11″3 ahead of the Citroën C4 WRC of Frédéric Comte. " It was hot ! I had to turn the heating on high because there was a lot of steam, admitted Loeb after SS1. I was wary and had difficulty getting into the rhythm. I rode in the tight sections and eased off in the rapids. » Reigning French Champion Julien Maurin is in 3rd place, more than fifteen seconds behind the WTCC driver. David Salanon (Ford Fiesta) and Patrick Magnou (Peugeot 206 WRC) complete the top 5 of this first stage.

En Trophée Michelin, la Peugeot 207 S2000 de Franck Lions, 7e du général, domine la catégorie devant Sylvain Michel (Porsche 911 997 GT2). Gilles Nantet et sa Porsche 996 GT3 Cup sont 3e de la catégorie devant la Citroën DS3 R5 de Pascal Enjolras, la Porsche 911 997 de Patrick Rouillard et la Peugeot 208 T16 R5 de Pierre Ragues. A noter la présence dans le top 10 du rally of the Citroën DS3 R3 of Cédric Robert (leader in Citroën Racing Trophy). There Renault Manu Guigou's Clio R3T is in 11th place. In the Opel Adam Cup, Jean-René Perry dominates the class, and Cyril Audirac is ahead of Stéphane Lefebvre in the Peugeot 208 Rally Cup.

The second stage will begin tomorrow morning at 9:20 a.m.