Rally France
Jordan Berfa delights at Val d'Agout
Jordan Berfa and Damien Augustin rounded off this first day of racing by winning the Viala special at night, their sixth victory of the day out of 6 contested stages.
Le rally began with the traditional technical checks on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning in the host town of Brassac, under rather cool temperatures for the season. Fortunately, the event seems to be able to escape the storms that were predicted. The competitors have on the program 6 special stages in three loops for this first stage with a third loop at night, a first since 2007 on this rally.
Already a double winner of the event, Jordan Berfa is the logical favorite and proves it by setting the best time in SS1. Nevertheless, Guillaume Fontes was surprising for his first rally with the Skoda Fabia, finishing just 3''6 behind. Again in the second special with Fontes only 1''5 behind Berfa. From the second loop Jordan Berfa increased the pace, this time winning the other 4 specials by a good margin. Guillaume Fontes and Jérémy Puech are clearly behind but put in a solid rally.
Patrick Benne and Brice Segui largely lead the debates in FRC4 and logically dominate the 2-wheel drive category of the Michelin Rally Tour. On the other hand, the fight is fierce between the Saxo De Jean-François Bérenguer and the Clio S1600 of Benoît Salas, respectively 6th and 7th.
A nice duel was expected in the FrallyNat group between the BMW of Nicolas Rouillard and the Subaru of Lionel Espinasse but the retirement of the former in SS3 spoiled the party. Lionel Espinasse and Florent Delpech place their Subaru in 9th place in the general classification and at the top of the 4-wheel drive ranking of the Michelin Rally Tour.
Ranking Rallye du Val d’Agout – Stage 1
1. Berfa-Augustin (VW Polo) 46'46''3 (1er Gr.FRC2), 2. Fontes-Beger (Skoda Fabia) à 1’21’’6, 3. Puech-Auge (Skoda Fabia) à 2’05’’6 , 4. Lechartier-Manent (Porsche 997 Cup) à 2’19’’3 (1er Gr.FRGT), 5. Benne-Segui (208 Rally4) at 3'19''5 (1er Gr.FRC4), 6. Berenguer-Berenguer (Saxo Kit-Car) at 3'54''4, 7. Salas-Cauvy (Clio S1600) at 3'56''2, 8. Ridel-Gary (106 S16) at 4'01''6. Espinasse-Delpech (Impreza R9) at 4'4''07 (5er Gr.FrallyNat), 10. Padilla-Amiel (Saxo VTS) at 5'14''9… 19. Hebrard-Nolorgues (Clio RC5) at 6'39''7 (1er Gr;FRC5), etc…
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