Yoann Bonato made it back-to-back Rally
Islas Canarias victories with a flawless display on round two of the 2024 FIA
European Rally Championship today (Saturday, 4 May).
Co-driven by fellow Frenchman Benjamin
Boulloud, Bonato started the deciding six-stage leg with a slender margin of 0.3sec over his
compatriot Mathieu Franceschi. But he held on after a thrilling battle in the
heat of the Gran Canaria sunshine by 2.8sec having begun the day with a brace
of fastest stage times.
Bonato’s win was the first for the Citroën
C3 Rally2 in this year’s ERC but the second for Michelin in 2024. With
Franceschi’s Škoda Fabia Rally2 also Michelin-equipped, the French manufacturer
extends its advantage in the new-for-2024 FIA European Rally Championship for
Tyre Suppliers.
For Franceschi, meanwhile, two runner-up
finishes in a row means he climbs to the top of the Drivers’ championship
summit ahead of next month’s BAUHAUS Royal Rally of Scandinavia.
“We are very happy,” Bonato said following
the third victory of his ERC career. “We tried to push as maximum as possible
and the result was perfect for us, the team, the tyres and the car. It was a
hard second loop with the temperatures going higher but everything was okay.”
The 40-year-old continued: “We only do
three events in ERC this year and if we can win each one it should be perfect.
But with such a small gap this morning we had to start like it was a new rally.
And it worked.”
With championship points his priority,
Franceschi admitted he had to resist the temptation to attack Bonato, a
five-time French Tarmac champion, for his maiden ERC win, although he still
notched up a stage win on SS11.
“We tried to have a nice rhythm and a nice
feeling to see if was possible to push with Bonato,” said the 24-year-old. “But
it was demanding too much to take too much risk, so for the points we decided
to calm the situation, follow the road and go to the finish line.
“It’s amazing, we never expected this
result in Gran Canaria because it’s a special event, unlike Tarmac in any other
championship, so we’re so happy. Sometimes it’s important to think about the
championship so we followed the plan.”
Alejandro
Cachón won a thrilling all-Spanish battle for the final podium spot in his
Pirelli-shod Toyota GR Yaris Rally2, defeating Diego Ruiloba by 2.7sec with
Jose Antonio Suarezfinishing fifth. Cachón led
after SS4 but dropped back with a damaged tyre before he launched his stunning
comeback.
Reigning
ERC champion Hayden Paddon started leg two in third place but with his
Pirelli-equipped Hyundai i20 N Rally2 hampered by an understeer issue, the New
Zealander had to settle for sixth.
ERC3 champion Jon Armstrong placed seventh
in his Ford Fiesta Rally2 after earlier intercom problems. Mads Østberg hit
back from a brake issue to finish eighth as Canary Islander Yeray Lemes took
ninth, one place ahead of Austria’s Simon Wagner.
2022 champion Efren Llarena, Enrique Cruz,
Alexey Lukyanuk and Erik Cais were next up as Hankook-equipped Filip Mareš
completed the top 15 championship scorers in his Toyota GR Yaris Rally2. A
two-minute time penalty for a tyre infringement dropped Miko Marczyk out of the
points-paying positions.
Following their high-speed crash on SS3,
Mikós Csomós and Attila Nagy were expected to return home to their native
Hungary before the end of the weekend to recover to full fitness. “We both have
some fractures but nothing serious although we have a lot of pain everywhere
because the impact was from 110kph to zero, so thank you once again to Škoda
for making such a strong car,” Nagy said.
The FIA European Rally Championship is back
on gravel next when the Swedish city of Karlstad hosts the second running of
BAUHAUS Royal Rally of Scandinavia, round three of the season, from 13 - 15
June.