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Heading to the Ardèche this Sunday morning from Valence, for the 2nd part of the Classification Leg. The first regularity stage, between Saint-Julien-du-Gua and the Col des Quatre Vios (SR5, 16.8km), started in cold conditions. As on the previous day, the temperature was below 0°C but the sky was of an immaculate blue and there was plenty of snow around, in the landscape. The result was very different from Saturday stages: a 1982 VW Scirocco GTI won this RS5, that of Ilya Kashin and Boris Kostyrko, tied with the BMW 2002 TI of Laurent and David Combier, on one hand, and the Lancia Fulvia Coupé of Fabrizio Rossi and Marco Frascaroli, on the other. The only crew in the Top 8 on this stage to have chosen to compete in the low average category.
These three crews were awarded just 50 penalty points on this stage. And the battle was fierce, on a very twisty route, as five other cars only took 60 penalty points over 16 km: two other BMWs, including that of young Isère chef Louis Chabran, two Porsches, a 911 and a 924, as well as a Lancia Fulvia in the hands of a Danish duo, Simonsen-Kristensen. And that was just the warm-up for the big event of the morning, the passage through the formidable Burzet stage on the way to Saint-Bonnet-le-Froid, where the ACM had prepared a live stream on its YouTube account from 3pm.
In the overall classification, nothing changed at the top, with the Belgian duo of Michel Decremer and Jennifer Hugo, in their 1965 Alfa Romeo Giulia TI, still leading after limiting damage in this stage (9th). But behind them, in the chasing pack, the small Austin Mini Cooper S of Italians Giorgio Schön and Francesco Giammarino (2nd) passed the Jaguar of Lithuanians Karolis Raysis and Ovidijus Meilunas (3rd), now followed very closely by the BMW 323i of Luis Climent Asensio, a former Spanish rally champion, and Carles Jimenez Valls (4th). And still in the Top 5, the Fiat 128 Rally of Greek drivers Aris Georgosopoulos and Ioulios Iatridis.
