Rallye des Ardennes: a final in style !
The battle for the 2018 French road rally championship was heated until the end between two Aprilia 1100 Tuono: despite his victory in the Rallye des Ardennes, Bruno Schiltz must bow to the relentless Julien Toniutti for the title of champion of France 2018… Story.
Step 1: Hot in front (+ video)…
The case looked rather good for the Aprilia 1100 Tuono n ° 1 of Bruno Schiltz, which won the first two stages ahead of Luc Breban (Husqvarna 701) at Despite-Tout and in front of the BMW S 1000 R of Damien Lauret at Haybes.
The leader of the championship, Julien Toniutti, started the prologue on the handlebars of his Aprilia 1100 Tuono wearing the last Michelin tire, the. Racing tires would have been more suitable, as Julien will see from the prologue lap: the rather cool temperatures of the evenings in the Grand Est gave way to a great sun on Saturday morning….
The assistance time after the prologue having been reduced to 15 minutes instead of 30 due to a delay at the start, Julien does not have time to change his mount and must keep Road 5 for the complete stage. Not sufficiently confident, he secured and scored respectively 5th and 7th times in the first two specials. But he will gradually climb over the six specials of the daytime stage to finally finish in third position of the stage.
Video: Bruno Schiltz in the special of Despite-everything
Bruno Schiltz indisputably dominates the debates: by winning four specials out of six, he wins the day stage and earns 30 points against 21 obtained by Julien… Everything is still possible! Only 10 points left … Who will be the 2018 champion ?
As for the categories, the battle (of the Ardennes!) Is also raging: Luc Breban impressive wins the best time of the two specials not won by Bruno Schiltz! He goes back to Rally 2, but Romain Cauquil drives intelligently, aware of the fact that he only needs one point to validate his championship title. But he also wants to consolidate his third place overall !
What started badly on the first special in which Romain only obtained a 34th time (10th Rally 2), where Luc Breban came in second! But Romain will quickly recover and get back to the top 5 on the following stages…
We will also note the determination of Damien Lauret (BMW S 1000 R), 5th in the provisional general of the championship, who is pushing hard: always in the top 5 of the specials, twice in third position and even second time on the second special! A very good future, undoubtedly !
It’s also war among the Duos! Fabien Assemat and Celine Gratiot (Yamaha MT-09) fight like ragpickers on the stages with the Bernard family (Thibaut and Laurent at the controls of a Yamaha MT-09), a blow to you, a blow to me … (In the "Duo en MT" family I would like … the beautiful daughter!)
Nice race in any case for Assemat / Gratiot who finished the rally on the third step of the Rallye 1 podium.
In Classics, Johan Daval consolidated his pole position in the category while securing lap times from 22nd to 37th overall: a good performance for an old !
The ancestors do not allow themselves to be fooled either: Richard Pigeat dominates the Anciens category with places between the 45th and the 55th position of the general, the middle of the table, sometimes even classified in front of the first Rallye 3 !
At the end of the first stage the accounts became clearer: Bruno Schiltz took 9 points from Julien out of the 19 he was behind. No significant change in the categories where everything seems to be confirmed, but it remains the night, where everything will be decided for everyone !
Marcus HIMSELF
Related articles
-
Rallye des Ardennes: a final in style ! The battle for the 2018 French road rally championship was heated until the end between two Aprilia 1100 Tuono:…
-
5-5 – Rallye des Ardennes – Rallye des Ardennes: a final in style! – Step 2: at night and it’s over!
Rallye des Ardennes: a final in style ! The battle for the 2018 French road rally championship was heated until the end between two Aprilia 1100 Tuono:…
-
Rallye de Charente: Luc Breban winner and Bruno Schiltz champion of France ! With his comfortable lead before the final of the 2019 French championship…
-
Rallye des Coteaux: an anthology final ! Bruno Schiltz, driver of the CTM83 team on KTM 1290 Superduke, wins the Elite SW Motech and Rallye 1…
-
Rallye des Coteaux: an anthology final ! Bruno Schiltz, driver of the CTM83 team on KTM 1290 Superduke, wins the Elite SW Motech and Rallye 1…
-
Bruno Schiltz wins the Coteaux Rally A mixed rally victory for Bruno Schiltz on the handlebars of his Aprilia 1100 Tuono: winner of the first stage, he…
-
3-5 – Rallye du Dourdou – Bruno Schiltz winner of the 15th Rallye du Dourdou – With knives drawn!
Bruno Schiltz winner of the 15th Rallye du Dourdou After a beating of anthology, the fifteenth edition of the Dourdou rally, third round of the 2018…
-
Bruno Schiltz wins the Coteaux Rally A mixed rally victory for Bruno Schiltz on the handlebars of his Aprilia 1100 Tuono: winner of the first stage, he…
-
2-5 – Rallye de l’Ain – 80th Rallye de l’Ain: Julien Toniutti still vAinqueur! –
80th Rallye de l’Ain: Julien Toniutti still a winner ! Won for the seventh time by Julien Toniutti – this year riding an Aprilia Tuono V4 – this edition…
-
Bruno Schiltz wins the Coteaux Rally A mixed rally victory for Bruno Schiltz on the handlebars of his Aprilia 1100 Tuono: winner of the first stage, he…