Yoann Bonato: “Rolling in the WRC with Michelins”

Rally Catalunya hosts the final round of the ERC. At the wheel of his C3 Rally2 from the CHL team, Yoann Bonato is counting on French tires to aim for victory in an event run in special conditions.

Published on 17/10/2022 à 10:54

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Yoann Bonato: “Rolling in the WRC with Michelins”

Your participation in this last round of the championship ERC Was it planned at the start of the season?

No way. Our program was to include only the Canaries, Liepaja and Rome. We weren't completely happy with how it turned out so everyone got motivated to add one. With the maintenance of this 8^e meeting, we were waiting to see where it was going to be organized. Upon learning that it would be in Catalonia, we started to think about whether to go there.

What experience do you have on these roads?

The last time I competed rally, it was in 2017 and the course was still mixed. There will be new stages for us, but we will also find things that we know.

By mixing the WRC and the ERC, that’s going to make things a bit unusual, right?

We didn't really know how this was going to be organized when we validated our participation. Obviously, the ERC competitors will start after those in the WRC and the ERC will stop on Saturday evening. There should therefore be a gap of more than two hours. For the morning loop, it's nice, because we can sleep in (laughing), however, at the end of the stage, we will probably have to ride at night. We will also have to see if there is an interruption in the WRC what the consequences will be for us.

Yoann Bonato and Benjamin Boulloud will aim for ERC victory at Catalunya (Photo Bastien Roux / DPPI)

What will be your goal in Salou?

This is an excellent opportunity to ride with Michelin tires on a round of the world championship where it is legally prohibited. By leaving after all the WRC competitors, we know that the road will be very polluted, so it will probably be difficult to compete with the WRC2 drivers. We will also have to take into account the fact that we will operate at night and they will operate during the day. When there are fairly similar conditions, it will still be interesting to make comparisons. There is also a motivating match to play against the 2022 ERC champion (Efren Llarena, Editor's note) who will be at home. It’s a great challenge to take on.