Road rallies – Rallye du Dourdou: Christophe Velardi 2016 French champion – The day after

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Rallye du Dourdou: Christophe Velardi champion of France 2016

Road rallies - Rallye du Dourdou: Christophe Velardi 2016 French champion - The day after

Following a fall from Bruno Schiltz, Christophe Velardi won the 13th Dourdou rally and thus won the supreme title of French rally champion 2016 riding the Ducati 1200 Multistrada from Ducati Moto Prestige Ajaccio. Report.

The day after

The first departure is given at 10 am this morning. There are therefore eight specials to go, which does not worry Christophe Velardi who, following the withdrawal of Bruno Schiltz, already pockets the title of French rally champion in 2016. The Corsican driver is however disappointed with this consecration premature: "I would have preferred that we fight to the end with Bruno and win the title against the clock and not by accident", Christophe confides to MNC before his stage start.

From the first special of the day, Rodelle, Ajaccian Christophe Velardi, did not go into detail and set himself the best time in 1’53.59. Maxime Mettra follows suit in 1’55.28 and Laurent Filleton, pilot of the KTM 1290 Superduke R of KTM Team France / CTM 83, completes the leading trio in 1’56.98.

At the next special, Le Loyre, Velardi fully intends to illustrate his title with an indisputable victory: he still leads his Ducati 1200 Multistrada at the head of the peloton and also takes the best time in 1’51.20. He is always followed by "Super Maxime" Mettra on his Kawasaki 650 Versys jet (1’53.40), ahead of Florent Derrien who has been leading the Mono category since the start of the rally on the handlebars of his KTM 690 SMR (with a time of 1’55.05, he is here in the same second as the 4th, Pierre Lemos on KTM 1290 Superduke).

As during the night stage, 20 minutes are allowed for assistance between each lap. It is not yet noon but some pilots take the opportunity to nibble a bit … The whole point is that the stewardship is calibrated to the millimeter !

Second daytime passage in the specials: at Rodelle, Velardi again dominated the clock, still followed by Mettra while Filleton regained third place in the special.

Le Loyre: same leading trio as in the previous lap with Velardi, Mettra and Derrien … But things are moving a little behind: Pierre Reynaud has indeed understood the operating mode of his Triumph 675 Daytona and posted an eighth time, first Topsport, 6.33 seconds behind the best time (1’50.66) obtained by Christophe Velardi.

Sonia Barbot (KTM 690 Duke R) retains the leadership of the Women, holding on among the ten fastest times (here in 9th position, barely 6 tenths behind Pierre).

Bad plan on the other hand for Yves Constantin, very sympathetic veteran of an excellent level, better known under the nickname "Satanas": too generous on the throttle of his Yamaha MT-09 (who does not hesitate either to impress his groupies from the start with high-flying demonstrations), he suffered a spectacular fall over nearly 200 meters.

Injured, he had to give up with multiple bruises but fortunately came out without fractures. The MT-09 … well, it was an MT-09, in the past: the ignition key must be the only recoverable part…

Only two laps left, the weather is fine, it is very hot and the asphalt is starting to melt in places: caution is required !

At the third passage of the day in Rodelle’s special, Christophe Velardi still leads the way in 1’52.06 but he is followed this time by a Laurent Filleton who spits in his hands in 1’53.92. Third time for Max Mettra who starts to calm things down (1’55.07).

In the categories it is also hard, especially in 125 where Romain Cauquil (Yamaha 125 YZF-R) takes the advantage over the specials on the Husqvarna 125 SMS of Germain Perrot.

With their small difference in points in the provisional general classification – led by Germain -, the 2016 champion will be the one of the two who will rank ahead of the other after this final stage of the championship. !

And with the impressive engine powers developed by these machines (10.3 hp raised at the rear wheel of Romain’s motorcycle), the champion will quite simply be the one who touches the brakes the least! This in no way diminishes the qualities of the two pilots, who manage to obtain honorable classifications: 48th scratch place for Romain Cauquil at the first stage! The 125 remains an excellent machine to start in rallying.

"Unofficial" announcement…

The first Corsican champion of France scratch road rallies, Christophe Velardi, may well not cover again next year, more attracted by the excessiveness of the USA and in particular by the Pikes Peak International Hill Climbing (PPIHC), legendary larger world hill climb !

But he foresees the succession so that Ducati continues to shine in road rallying. Things should be confirmed in the coming days and we could well see the talented young driver from Le Mans Florent Derrien on a red motorbike in 2017 … To be continued on MNC: stay tuned !

Le Loyre, sixth special of the day: Velardi is still ahead in 1’50.40 ahead of Max Mettra in 1’51.79 and Laurent Filleton in 1’53. The game is almost made for the final podium: Laurent managed to hang up the lead car, Mettra has a good lead in second position and Velardi is undoubtedly well above the lot..

Christophe is particularly keen to honor his title of champion of France and he will prove it again in the last two specials that he will win hands down !

At the last passage to Rodelle for example, the Corsican ducatist posted a clock of 1.50.60 with more than 4 seconds ahead of Laurent Filleton (1’54.72) while Maxime Mettra was third in 1’55, 04.

At Le Loyre, record broken: 1’50.02 for Christophe Velardi! Second time for Florent Derrien (1’53.26) and third Pierre Lemos (1’53.91).

All you have to do is join Villecomtal now, which will be done without any particular pitfalls. Competitors rediscover their audience who welcome them with deserved honors.

A big congratulations to Katy Vandeginste-Demaison, assertive sexagenarian and foolproof rally-woman, who ends this rally riding her Suzuki 1000 GSXR (which as everyone knows is a motorcycle for grandmothers …) afterwards to have held the whole race despite ribs and a cracked wrist during a fall a few days before the rally. If it is not the will, that !!!

Marcus HIMSELF

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