Road rallies – 76th Ain rally: four Ains for Toniutti! – Day stage in the dry

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76th Ain rally: four Ains for Toniutti !

Road rallies - 76th Ain rally: four Ains for Toniutti! - Day stage in the dry

For the fourth time in a row, Julien Toniutti wins the Ain rally. On the handlebars this time of a Yamaha 450 YZF, the official Yamaha MNC rider of Team 2B / Deletang shines once again on this legendary rally after a fierce race. Story.

Day stage in the dry

The little downpour last night decided some pilots to put on the "rain" envelopes, such as Yohann Vigilenti (Husaberg 570 FS) who opts for this choice in view of the few fine drops which still fall this morning…

Other riders such as Julien Toniutti or Christophe Velardi (Ducati 1200 Multistrada) are betting on improving the weather and staying on "dry" tires….

10 a.m. Saturday morning: first departure of the 132 competing pilots !

For the prologue, the special recognition loop, the competitors will start in pairs every 30 seconds. A considerable time saving which will allow us to fit this first passage without a stopwatch in the specials.

This principle of "blanketing" in the stages, already tested last year during the, is an interesting formula. It has therefore been chosen with more safety this year since the road is closed to traffic from the first pass..

The asphalt is still slightly wet at the time of the "real" start, but dries quickly: during the first stop in the special stages located at the start of the course, it puts a lot of gas. !

The best time goes to Sebastien Fassouli (then in eighth place in the provisional Elite of the championship) on Aprilia 1000 Tuono in 1’26.87, second Florent Derrien on KTM 690 SMR in 1’27.33 and third time for Maxime Delorme ( sixth in the provisional before Ain), a youngster who climbs, riding a KTM 690 SM (1’27.97). Julien Toniutti starts cautiously at the controls of his Yamaha 450 YZF and obtains the fifth fastest time, 1.25 seconds from the best time (1’28.12).

The link to the second special is short and just allows you to regain your senses. Here we are already at Merpuis for the second stopwatch, about fifteen kilometers further.

Toniutti is now up to temperature and has the best time on the handlebars of his Yamaha 450 YZF (1’56.18), more than 2 seconds ahead of Christophe Velardi on Ducati 1200 Multistada (1’58.42). The Corsican driver is in good shape and intends to continue his progression towards the title! Sebastien Fassouli confirms that he is also in good shape and signs the third fastest time on his Aprilia 1000 Tuono, less than 4 tenth behind (1’58.80).

Only six pilots are below 2 minutes, but things are going fast at all levels! A little too much, no doubt, for the Choda KTM RC8 hitch of Herve Laur / Marie-Laure Ferrieu who had just driven nearly 5 tenths faster than the leader of the Sidecar category (the Bruno Marlin / Diana Rauch team on Choda 1130 Benelli) in the previous special (1’39.46 against 1’39.91, respectively 45 and 47th scratch time)…

Victims of a "pellet jump" at an exhaust valve, they prefer to abandon the race rather than attempt a makeshift repair for the night stage and risk another breakage. Herve and Marie-Laure lose here a possible new title of champions of France Side-car…

The route of the large loop is relatively simple and pleasant. We never tire of these small roads and crossings of picturesque villages in this superb corner of the Rhône-Alpes region..

After this little getaway in nature, the route joins Cerdon for a 15-minute assistance, then it starts again for a big tour !

On the second lap in the specials, Julien Toniutti (Yamaha 450 YZF Team 2B / Deletang) and Christophe Velardi (Ducati 1200 Multistrada) secure the first two places. Best time in the Ceignes special for the first (1’26.16), Velardi second at three tenths (the KTM 690 SMR of Florent Derrien third at only 4 hundredths) and vice versa at Merpuis: best time for the Corsican rider and second time for Toniutti, less than five tenths behind. Laurent Filleton’s Aprilia 1000 Tuono is third 6 tenths behind. Places are expensive for the podium !

However, it was a hard blow in the Ceignes special for Yohann Vigilenti on his Husaberg 570 FS: he hit a large stone while passing a little too close to the side of the road and flew away … No damage for the pilot, but it was is abandonment.

At the end of the second big loop, fatigue begins to be felt … The 15 minutes of assistance between each loop pass very quickly and some pilots even take penalties for stopping too long.

It’s off again for the third lap. In the two stages of the third round (fourth with the prologue), the scores of the stages are the same: best time at Ceignes for the "official" Yamaha 450 YZF Team 2B / Deletang of Julien Toniutti which improves the time to 1’24.30 , followed by Christophe Velardi’s Ducati 1200 Multistrada (1’25.63). Third time for the KTM 690 SMR of Florent Derrien, a second stack behind in 1’26.63.

Same trio at Merpuis with Toniutti, Velardi and Derrien: 1’54.20 for Julien, 1’54.93 for Christophe and 1’56.15 for Florent.

The return to Cerdon is shorter this time and here we are back to assistance about thirty kilometers further.

Last day loop, the same as during the prologue with a last day pass on the specials.

Julien Toniutti is still on pole on the Ceignes special on the handlebars of his Yamaha 450 YZF in 1’24.71! Second time for Florent Derrien and his KTM 690 SMR (1’25.56), and Laurent Filleton posted the third time on the handlebars of his Aprilia 1000 Tuono in 1’26.19.

Nicolas Pautet, number 4 in the 2014 championship (4th scratch in the), came occasionally to this event with the Kawasaki ZX6R that he will drive at the next Manx GP, his next goal, shows that he still knows how to ride in a rally by slamming 1’26 , 46, fourth fastest time nearly 5 tenths ahead of Christophe Velardi’s Ducati 1200 Multistrada.

The sky seemed to cloud over a bit as we approach the last day special, but the road was still dry and Julien Toniutti once again slammed the fastest time on his Yamaha 450 YZF in 1’54.46. Second Christophe Velardi (Ducati 1200 Multistrada) in 1’54.81, third Laurent Filleton (Aprilia 1000 Tuono) in 1’55.77.

The return is very short to return to Cerdon by a nice little descent on the hillsides … Phew, it was physical! But we must not weaken and prepare the machine for the night stage !

Marcus HIMSELF

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