Road rallies – 7th Dourdou rally: Apocalypse Night! –

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7th Dourdou rally: Apocalypse Night !

Road rallies - 7th Dourdou rally: Apocalypse Night! -

In Villecomtal, in Aveyron, nobody expected a rally in such catastrophic weather conditions … But neither the driving rain nor the fog got the better of the indisputable supremacy of the evil knight Serge Nuques. Story.

By winning the Dourdou Rally this weekend, Serge Nuques consolidates his first place in the provisional classification of the 2008 French rally championship.

This rally was fought "backwards", with first the night test on Saturday evening then the day on Sunday, marked by the return of the sun and a very selective course! Report.

After a few days of "framed" reconnaissance – only authorized since Tuesday between 7:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. – the pilots are on the starting blocks! But although duly regulated, the recos did not prove to be more secure than if they had been free…

Among the pilots who fell, Cedric Mac Ginley (400 Beta n ° 50) and Philippe Tassart (Buell) were the most banged up: broken ribs and cracked vertebrae for Cedric, head trauma (without loss of consciousness) and broken collarbone for Philippe. Fear therefore does not avoid danger…

For his part, the knight Serge Nuques, who arrived on the rally late Friday evening, will be content with a single drive up in each special (the same as last year) as a recognition: "my Yamaha 450 WRF "Les Deux Roues" will put gas on tomorrow", decrees the sinister character.

The Moto Club de Villecomtal had planned distinguished "guests" such as Manoël Delaval, 2003 French Scratch champion, who had moved away from rallies since his last Dark Dog Tour in 2007 (read) to devote himself more to speed, but who returned this weekend to the handlebars of an official Buell XB12STT in the colors of the Central Team !

"When the managers of Buell France contacted me two weeks ago to offer me a Buell XB 12 STT, it was without thinking for a second that we went for it.", explains Thierry Boyer, owner of the Harley-Davidson and Buell Central Twin dealership in Sevrey (71):"I knew Mano’s talent is huge, but I won’t hide from you that this weekend, he blew everyone away !"

Ditto for Gerard Roland – still on his 350 RDLC – who, as a "VIP" with his "Elite" plates, does not participate in the 2008 French championship..

The night event consists of a loop of approximately 120 km to be covered once, with three specials of 3.1 km each: Pruines, Golinhac and Villecomtal.

We find the same specials for the day race, but the route has to be completed twice with around 40 additional kilometers during the first passage..

Dantesque night !

Saturday evening, 10 p.m.: start of the first stage! The sun that bathed the reconnaissance throughout the week did not portend any degradation, but as the day progressed, disturbing clouds approached…

But after the departure of the Chevalier Nuques – "Republican Guard" style – and a few other competitors, the first drops quickly give way to a well-established rain….

The road course is selective: lots of changes of direction, a little light signage – even if in rally, we mainly use the road book! – and gravel, a lot, a lot of gravel !

And to top it off, just to add a handicap: a fog to be cut with a cutter! From the first TC (time control), the late penalties also start to rain…

Serge Nuques got the best time in the first special at Pruines, despite the fog. By slamming a time of 2’31.923, he stuck nearly 11 seconds to the second, Manoël Delaval, who scores here a very correct 2’42.847 !

In the Golinhac special, we take the same ones and start again: 2’44.283 for Serge against 2’49.099 for Mano.

A little further behind, the rest of the troop defends themselves: Julien Toniutti (KTM Superduke), Patrick Curtat (KTM Superduke), Frederic Ber (BMW R 1200 S) and even the astonishing Daniel Dunaud (KTM 400 EXC) stand all within a few seconds…

Equally performing in the Villecomtal special, the Herve Laur and Marie-Laure Ferrieu crew (Choda 1300 GSXR sidecar) clocked a time of 2’48.034 in the same second as Manoël Delaval, but still nearly 8 seconds behind Sergeï the Basque-Grolandese extra-terrestrial (2’40.176).

Alain Amblard, on his KTM 660 SMC, has a little more trouble: a small silly fall during an adjustment test caused him some bruises and some material damage shortly before presenting his motorcycle to technical control, with a makeshift repair for the left footrest … not easy to control with one foot on a bolt stump instead of a notched footrest !

Alain will even go so far as to take a 2-minute penalty for being late at a TC, even if in this case it is not the footrest that is involved, but a slightly too long pause at a refueling !

The driving rain sometimes makes visibility almost zero, so much so that Nick Ayrton (Buell XB12STT) notes, with the British accent that characterizes him: "we said that the spectator threw buckets of water at us on the face !"

Fortunately there was only one lap, because this night was a real slaughter for many riders in terms of lap times (miraculously, no accident was to be deplored on this stage).

It is almost 3 am when the last competitor arrives: the rain stops immediately! Come on, we quickly put the motorcycles in parc ferme and to bed! Tomorrow, first departure at 10 a.m..

Night stage classification (unofficial) :

  1. Serge Nuques (Yamaha 450 WRF "Les Deux Roues") – Cumulative time: 7’56.392

  2. Manoël Delaval (Buell XB12STT): 8’19.980

  3. Julien Toniutti (KTM 990 Superduke): 8’30.743

  4. Patrick Curtat (KTM 990 Superduke): 8’35.458

  5. Frederic Ber (BMW R 1200 S): 8’40.996

  6. Laur / Ferrieu (Choda Suzuki 1300 GSXR): 8’43.743

  7. Jerôme Argoud (Yamaha FZ6): 8’45.817

  8. Michael Pefaure (Yamaha 450 WRF): 8’56.0

  9. Thierry Canazzi (KTM 400 EXC): 9’04.0

  10. Laforest / Moreau (Choda Suzuki 1000 TLS): 9’06.2

Sunday in the sun…

Sunday morning, the weather is finally fine and the road is practically dry. Hope it lasts ! The sky is radiant and reminds those who have forgotten it last night how the Aveyron is a beautiful country…

After one hour of authorized assistance, the competitors present themselves again under the starting arch. And we’re off again: on our way to Pruines for the first special of this first lap !

While Serge Nuques already has a good lead, Manoël Delaval plummets in the rankings: from the first kilometers of the road, the transmission belt of his Buell breaks … He replaces it immediately – which still takes some time – and takes a good ten minutes penalty at the first CH, but not demoralized, he continues the race.

"After an accelerated preparation of the bike, Mano was only able to cover around a hundred kilometers to get the machine in hand before showing up for the start of the rally on Saturday.", specifies Thierry Boyer:"in the rain and in the fog, Mano managed the feat of finishing second in the night standings behind the discipline specialist for several years, Serge Nuques. The next day, the Buell Central Team driver offers us a festival with two scratch times and a second place in the general classification. !"

In Pruines, the sinister knight Sergeï pocketed another scratch with a time of 2’16.089, the best time ahead … Patrick Curtat and his KTM 990 Superduke less than 2 seconds! (2’17.950). Jerôme Argoud, the CMPN driver who won the 2007 Espoir Cup, posted the third fastest time in 2’18.226. As if to save his belt, Manoël Delaval is satisfied with the fourth time in 2’18.717.

In Golinhac, few surprises with another victory for Serge Nuques, untouchable in 2’32.637 ahead of Patrick Curtat (2’36.775) and Manoël Delaval (2’37.460).

Under the sun, the pilots take much more pleasure to ride! Magnificent colors, a splendid road: we would almost be caught up in sightseeing !

But the route of this first day tour is extended by 40 km particularly strong…

Nearly 40 very technical course markers with gravel everywhere, some roads closer to the path than to the asphalt road, and of course intersections everywhere without too many arrows … The total to easily take pawns !

So now is not the time to stop sightseeing, but you shouldn’t drive too fast either because the constabulary prowls around, ambushing behind a thicket, binoculars in hand … A priori, they came back empty-handed. . It just goes to show that the rally driver respects the highway code … sometimes! That said, many penalty minutes have fallen….

In the second lap, Serge Nuques well in advance gives back his hand and Manoël Delaval takes the opportunity to take the best time for Pruines in 2’12.711, ahead of the Chevalier (2’14.060) and Jerôme Argoud (2’14.849).

In Golinhac, Serge regains control in 2’27.585, more than 3 seconds ahead of Mano who ends this rally with the best time in the last special, Villecomtal, with a brilliant 2’11.288 ahead of Sergei (2’12.725) and Maxime Mettra ( another coupon from the Coupe Espoir 2007) on KTM 950 Supermoto, third (2’13.022).

Grolandaise price reduction

Due to several technical problems (yes, the rankings managed by the electronics, it’s good when it works, but a little bug and presto, that messes everything up!), The official rankings do not have could be communicated.

In addition, there were time cards from the night stage that could not be used because they were soaked – for those who had remained in one piece, because mine was torn in four! – and penalties that refuse to apply automatically to the times of competitors, it creates a huge mess…

Let us therefore pay tribute to the volunteers of the Moto Club de Villecomtal, who spent much of the night in an attempt to unravel the affair … But it looked sad, this phony awards ceremony !

To save the situation and deliver cuts despite everything, the organizers and members of the FFM rally commission still called the best three in specials in each category, without taking into account the penalties that distorted the rankings….

So not to leave you hungry for lack of classification of the day stage, the general (unofficial) classification of the rally would be as follows:

For the Elite: Serge Nuques, Patrick Curtat and Julien Toniutti. Be careful, Jerôme Argoud is just behind less than 2 seconds! If Special 6 had to be canceled, he would pass Julien…

In Mono, Serge takes first place and it’s Michael Pefaure who climbs on the second step of the podium.

In Side-cars, the Guillet / Chanal crew having been the victim of an electrical problem during the night stage which continued during the day, they gave way to the friendly Laur / Ferrieu duo on their Choda Suzuki 1300 GSXR.

There is now a month and a half left before the final, with the first Rallye des Volcans on August 30 and 31 … By then, we may have an official ranking for Dourdou … Stay tuned !

Marcus HIMSELF

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