Behind the scenes of Monte-Carlo 2023: Yoann Bonato ushers Yohan Rossel

The two men have known each other for several years and they were adversaries in 2019 when the younger of the two (27 years old) was crowned champion of France at the expense of his elder (39 years old). Playing the role of opener was not new for Bonat' who had already fulfilled this function last year for Sébastien Loeb. The Alsatian being absent this year, Bonato was available to help another compatriot.

The presence at his side of Benjamin Boulloud, his usual co-driver, was a godsend for Rossel. In fact, it was with him that he competed in Monte-Carlo 2022. “ Following this participation, I knew its rating system and the routes, explained Benjamin. I think it was an advantage that I was in the car. The route was very close to last year's with a few new kilometers in some special ones. The conditions were those of a rally on dry asphalt and it was even easier than if we had done it in a warm season, because the ropes were frozen. The earth was so hard and compact that it resulted in little degradation, just a little dust. For me it was my first experience as an usher and I found it very interesting. It's a bit stressful, although there isn't the same pressure as you feel when you're a race navigator, because there are fewer things to manage. However, you must ensure that everything works well for the team and be perfectly aligned with the co-driver so that there is a good understanding by telephone or photo.."

Last year, Yohan Rossel competed in Monte-Carlo with Benjamin Boulloud as co-driver (Photo Grégory Lenormand / DPPI)

« They left us no choice, laughs Bonato when asked what motivated this collaboration. We had to do it for Sébastien Loeb, but since he wasn't at the start, we found ourselves with some free time and it was great to do something with Citroën. » Regarding the specific work with the PH-Sport driver, Bonato says: “ Our grading systems are very different, but I don't need to understand that for what I need to do. What is important is to put the correction in the correct place. I think that being a competitor allows you to have a vision of the race which is useful for this task. I open in the same way that I recognize and this is only possible if you have this vision that I am talking about. However, there are very good openers who have never raced much. » 

With the mild conditions experienced by this 91^e edition, the work of the ushers was not too complicated during this Monte-Carlo. “ It looked like an Antibes rally that took place during a very cold month of May., smiles the four-time French champion. When there isn't much to put, you shouldn't want to write it down to say that you've covered it and then you shouldn't forget to note what you shouldn't miss. It's not necessarily difficult, but stupid things happen quickly. You have to stay focused."

Yohan Rossel and Yoann Bonato have already crossed paths several times in the French championship. During this Monte-Carlo 2023, they were able to exchange their opinions on the settings of the C3 Rally2 (Photo: Thomas Fenetre / DPPI)

The other advantage that Bonato had for Rossel was to master the C3 Rally2 like the back of his hand. Based on this know-how, the relationship between Citroën drivers has gone beyond simple road opening. “ I knew the car and the rally well so I knew how it was going to react, where it was going to shake and where it was going to take. I could help them with the settings depending on the stages. I didn't do it with Loeb at all. It was Yohan who asked me. He called me and said: “Can you give me your opinion on the set-up. » We discussed this. I stated my opinion and then they decided based on their feelings. » Among the cogs which allowed Rossel to always remain in ambush in WRC2 (before winning on the green carpet), the intervention of the Bonato/Boulloud duo was very useful to the Gardois.