Road rallies – First stage: after the rain … the rain! –

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First step: after the rain … the rain !

Road rallies - First stage: after the rain ... the rain! -

Fred Fiorentino’s smashing entry into the International Rally Championship riding his KTM 690 Supermoto: by winning this first stage, Fred finds himself leader of the international rally scene, a fiercely contested place.

Fred Fiorentino’s sensational entry into the International Rally Championship on his KTM 690 Supermoto: by winning this first stage, Fred finds himself leader of the international rally scene, a place which is nevertheless fiercely contested. Report.

Let’s go !

After a final update during breakfast with impeccable rally assistance (thanks to Rob and his gang), we had to get started! Rob, the man in the red cap, is Robert Degaudez, a former French rally champion in 1985.

So I gaily get on my faithful FZ6 Site to give you an inside experience of this Belgian rally, the first stage of the new International Rally Championship. Rally is all weather, right? So gas !

Special 1

The start is given in driving rain which will not stop for the rest of the stage! And from the first special, the tone is set: Denis Bouan, number 1 in this opening round (winner of the last Dark Dog Moto Tour) secures himself the sixth time in 2’51.40.

But it was Fred Fiorentino who took the scratch in 2’40.94 with 7 seconds ahead of the second, Wilfried Tallone, remarkable for his passage in multicylinder, in 2’47.50

First time in the Promo, Crutzen Bruno on the handlebars of his BMW 1200 GS achieved a time of 2’55.71 and placed twelfth in the scratch.

Given the state of the road, the question "multi or mono" no longer arose and I would have loved to drive a 450 WR….

Godfroid Thierry on his Kawasaki XCX 300 R takes second Mono behind Fred Fiorentino and takes seventh time just over three tenths behind Denis Bouan.

The course

A few short clearings attempt an appearance during the day, but without success: you have to resign yourself to the wet on the entire stage! Lots of changes of direction – that we expected! – but the relatively long connection times (50 km / h on average) made it possible to take advantage of the landscape and to cross the agglomerations at a strictly regulatory speed.

No incident was therefore to be deplored on the course, a real rally course with the small road often broken up, muddy and gravel at will but rarely tricky. It’s beautiful, Belgium !

Around noon, a short break for 30 minutes of neutralization: a not insignificant break to have a snack that allows Belgian television to approach the leaders for short wet interviews.

Special 2

Confirmation: today a Mono was needed: the first two scratch times on the La Redoute special go to Fred Fiorentiono (1’58.00) and Godfroid Thierry (1’59.40) !

Third place is for Emmanuel Siaux (2’06.64) ahead of … the first Promo, Pierre Delfosse riding his BMW R1150R in 2’07.11 !

Despite the indisputable supremacy of Fred Fiorentino on this first day, we can expect a serious stir among the places of honor … The stages to come are not all of the same style and there will certainly be some mayhem in the rankings when it rolls a little faster…

Arrival of the first loop

The rain finally stops … but only on the last kilometers of the course! The arrival of the day will still be in the dry with broad times which allow the pilots to recover a little before the two hours of assistance to prepare for tonight’s stage..

Today’s rankings

Scratch

  1. Fiorentino

  2. Godfroid

  3. Lejeune Frederic (BMW HP2)

  4. Siaux

  5. Tallone Suzuki750 GSXR

First Promo : Pierre Delfosse BMW R1150R (9th Scratch)

Premier Classic : Gerard Rolland Yamaha 350 RDLC (34th Scratch)

As for me, I finished 26th scratch, just ahead of Patrick Curtat. Tonight, a short stage awaits the competitors with a small convoy link to the karting circuit where the night special will take place over 5 laps in series of eight drivers! Placement on the grid in order of the numbers … I’ll let you guess where I will end up with my faithful number 8 !

So don’t let go: the full report from tomorrow !

Marcus HIMSELF

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