Var: Latvala leads, Eric Brunson breathes

Jari-Matti Latvala convincingly develops the Ford Fiesta RS WRC by completing the first stage of Rally du Var with a lead of 7??2 over Stéphane Sarrazin (Peugeot 307 WRC). The Flying Finn took the scratch in the first three stages of the stage while the Frenchman set the best time in the last. Ott Tänak (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) remains in contact with 13??2 behind the Peugeot driver. Pierre Campana (Mini JCW WRC) also showed good performances, occupying 4th place, 8 seconds behind the Estonian, while Bryan Bouffier (Peugeot 207 S2000) was 4” behind the Bastiais.

The fight for the French Rally Championship has seen multiple twists and turns. Of the four contenders for the title, two are on the mat with Dany Snobeck (Citroën C4 WRC) and Gilles Nantet (Porsche GT3 996 Cup), which led the Championship before the Rallye du Var. The fight for the coronation thus becomes a duel between Eric Brunson (Subaru Impreza), who is almost 40 seconds behind the leader of the race, and Pierre Roché (Peugeot 307 WRC), 23” behind the Subaru driver.

The crews will compete tomorrow in five special stages offering a total of 100km timed.