WRC – Bouffier: A dream come true in Monte-Carlo

Bryan Bouffier highlighted himself by fighting for victory in the Rally Monte-Carlo faced in particular with Sébastien Ogier. Leader au soir de la première étape, le pilote privé M-Sport a surpris en imprimant le rythme du pilote Volkswagen jusqu’à ce qu’un tête-à-queue ne lui coûte la première place. L’ancien pilote de développement de Hyundai a ensuite préféré assurer sa place sur le podium, conscient que la Polo R WRC was no longer able to be resumed on a regular basis.

If his error put a premature end to the suspense, his performance remains very satisfactory for those who will find snow again at the end of the month at Rally Liepāja where this time he will be behind the wheel of a Citroën DS3 RRC. “I have to admit that it was a dream for me to finish on the podium before the start of the rally. This result exceeds my expectations”, comments the Frenchman. “It was a real pleasure to fight for the lead of the race. We really pushed on some stages and it was fantastic to see that we were keeping up the pace. This is my first WRC podium, although it was my first event with the Fiesta (RS WRC). I have to thank my co-driver (Xavier Panseri) and the whole team without whom this result would not have been possible. »

Bryan Bouffier can now hope that this performance offers him a new opportunity to highlight himself at world level. The two M-Sport starters, Elfyn Evans and Mikko Hirvonen, had a more difficult weekend as the Welshman finished sixth while the former Citroën driver retired with an alternator problem while he was in front of his teammate. “It was absolutely sublime driving from start to finish”, adds Malcolm Wilson, Team Principal of the British structure. “His second place at Monte, achieved on his debut in the Fiesta (RS WRC), proves that he has real potential. I hope we find a solution to get him back behind the wheel during the season. »

Videos of the Monte-Carlo Rally can be found on this link.

Discover the analysis of the Monte-Carlo Rally carried out by our special correspondents in issue 1944 of AUTOhebdo, available from tomorrow at 23 p.m. in digital version on all platforms, and from Wednesday on newsstands.