THE 46TH ROUERGUE AVERYRON-OCCITANIE RALLY 2019 NEWSLETTER

After Aveyron, the 2019 French championship title is in sight for Yohan Rossel…

A press conference was held in Rodez on Thursday evening and those involved all explained that they had no intention of staying on the sidelines!

Under the scorching sun, the competition was tough and as for the results, there were many twists and turns. The Aveyron-Rouergue-Occitanie rally brought the first half of the 2019 season to a close under an oppressive heat. After Yann Bonito came off the road, Yohan Russel won for the third consecutive time in the Championship, ahead of Nicolas Caiman. The Citroën driver is now well placed to assume the title. And yet… Yoann Bonato (Citroën C3 R5), who had gone back to a high-performance car, unlike Friday evening, had gone from a 3”1 to 11”1 lead after the first lap of two stages on Sunday, making a big impression particularly in the first pass of the legendary Moyrazès special stage. Unfortunately, as during the last stage of the Antibes rally, the double French Champion crashed in the 9th special stage (out of 11 in total). So, Yohan Rossel (Citroën C3 R5) took control of the Aveyron-Rouergue-Occitanie rally, after passing Nicolas Ciamin (Skoda Fabia R5) at the start on Sunday. The driver from La Garde, the Championship leader, then managed his lead to pursue his third success in as many races: enough to take the lead in the rankings.

Smooth IGOL drivers

Let’s go behind the scenes of this rally and in particular to the “IGOL” drivers of this 5th stage of the 2019 Championship.

Yoann Bonato’s misfortune will have left a bitter taste and strong disappointment, as much for the crew themselves, as for his many fans and supporters. However, let’s bet that the second part of the Championship will be favourable for this two-alpine crew. On this 46th Rouergue Occitanie rally, Yoann and Benjamin will have, as usual, worn the IGOL colours beautifully.

 

On Patrick Rouillard’s side, we note that the Skoda Fabia climbs back up the overall rankings with a brilliant 8th place at the final finish in Rodez. Co-driven by Cédric Gamboni, these two boys, managed their race perfectly.

Finally, Sylvain Michel, member of the 2C Competition Team, climbed to 3rd place on the final podium.

IGOL hosts its clients…

IGOL Bretagne-Anjou organised a shaded reception at one of the legendary Moyrazes hairpins. Represented by Serge Labrot and two salespeople, IGOL hosted its guests in a rustic manner by sharing a lunch that was typical of the Aveyron region. The President of the FFSA (French motor sports federation), Nicola Deschaux, was in Moyrazes. The IGOL camp was graced with his presence and that of some of his colleagues. It was light-hearted and friendly, with the competitors racing in the background.

If the top 10 most lively stages had to be selected from the entire Championship, the Moyrazes stage would undoubtedly be in first place. Such a massive and enthusiastic crowd was still there, shouting, cheering and encouraging every passing car.

RODEZ IGOL TROPHY

On Saturday evening, the time came to greet all of the competitors and congratulate the rally winners. For this event, the IGOL Trophies, with figurines from the IGOL PIN-UP collection, were given to Yohan Rossel and Benoît Fulcrand by a delightful hostess who was also wearing the IGOL PIN-UP 70 years colours.

 

The awards to the group winners followed

 

Overall ranking:

1	YOHAN ROSSEL
2	YOANN BONATO
3	QUENTIN GILBERT
4	NICOLAS CIAMIN
5	WILLIAM WAGNER

 

You have a date…

After the summer break, to continue this ever-exciting Championship, the next meeting will be on the Morzine side, with the Mont-Blanc rally on 6 and 7 September.

 

To start the holidays, find the 2019 summer promotion with all of our IGOL partner clients…