Terre des Causses - Mathieu Franceschi in leader

It was in a winter setting that the drivers of the French Land Rally Championship rediscovered the atmosphere of competition. Mathieu Franceschi finished the first day in the lead after two changes of leaders.

Published on 02/04/2022 à 21:52

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Terre des Causses – Mathieu Franceschi as leader

After two years of absence from the calendar of the French Land Rally Championship, Terre des Causses and Villeneuve d'Aveyron found all the players in the discipline with more than 140 modern crews at the start.

Engaged at the wheel of a Polo GTI R5 from Team Sarrazin Motorsport, François-Xavier Blanc became the first leader of this 2022 season. Unfortunately “FX” quickly got trapped in SS 3 and had to retire.

In the list of candidates for the title in 2021, “Manu” Gascou found the C3 Rally2 from CHL Sport Automobile. In the lead from SS 2, Gascou would experience the same fate as “FX” Blanc by hitting a tree at slow speed. The sanction was radical with a broken suspension rod which did not allow him to continue.

Launched into a program with the new AMD Motorsport team at the wheel of a Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo, Mathieu Franceschi took the measure of his new mount and took the lead of the rally from SS 3. Confident after passing the service, the Fayence driver retained the lead before signing the last two scratches of the day.

Matthieu MARGAILLAN Photo Gregory Lenormand / DPPI

Back in the French Terrestrial Championship with an “old generation” Fabia R5, Matthieu Margaillan quickly confirmed his ambitions by regularly finishing in the Top 3 on each special before finishing the day in second place ahead of Florent Todeschini, author of a great first day for his debut behind the wheel of the Fiesta Rally2. The 2021 Junior Champion quickly made his mark with promising times.

Florent Todeschini – Photo Gregory Lenormand / DPPI

Benjamin Clémençon (Hyundai i20 R5) et Cyrille Feraud complétaient le Top 5 provisoire de cette première journée.

In the 2 Wheel Drive Championship, Réhane Gany (208 Rally4) occupied first place ahead of Nazim Bangui (208 Rally4). Back on gravel, Romain di Fante (Clio Rally5) was on the third step of the podium at the end of this first day. The driver from Nice also held the lead in the Clio Trophy France Terre just ahead of Jean-Paul Monnin (Clio Rally5), determined to make up for his deficit during the second stage.