Road rallies – Rallye du Dourdou: Christophe Velardi champion of France 2016 – Night amputee

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Rallye du Dourdou: Christophe Velardi champion of France 2016

Road rallies - Rallye du Dourdou: Christophe Velardi champion of France 2016 - Night amputee

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.

Amputee night

After a prologue of a first shortened loop passing through the two specials for an untimed passage (reconnaissance), the start of which was given 2 by 2 every thirty seconds from 8:30 p.m., the real start of the rally is set at 10 p.m..

Like warriors going into battle, the two leaders of the 2016 championship will clash without mercy for the final consecration: everything will be played here !

From the first special, Rodelle, the Aprilia 1100 Tuono of the Kiwi Helmets team in the hands of Bruno Schiltz takes the advantage. Christophe Velardi and his Ducati 1200 Multistrada content themselves with the second time (1’54.77 against 1’56.59). Third, Maxime Mettra shows from the start his scratch podium intentions on the handlebars of his Kawasaki 650 Versys Helit Motos / Challenge 24 with a time of 1’57.64.

Goodbye or goodbye ?

For my part, as during the last rally of the Sarthe, I "rolled" with the KTM 990 Superduke which was kindly loaned to me by Francis Mathieu. A memorable moment as I really enjoyed myself with this bike! The preparation of its engine and the efficiency of its cycle part make it bluffing, it is a tool to win this machine, a real weapon of war !

I finished this night stage in 43rd place in the scratch, 21st SW-Motech Roadster and 10th Veteran … Not terrible but not surprising either, given how carefully I drove without taking any risk, I was even surprised by such a result! Francis sells this superb machine, it was not the moment to break it (if interested, contact Francis at 0613451297)! And then my record is behind me, quite far behind…

Lack of motivation and desire: I will not take the start of the day stage tomorrow. I prefer to stay on the great sensations experienced during these last kilometers. Bye bye the French road rally championships: after 35 years of uninterrupted license and 23 years of road rallying, Marcus is taking his bow (as an assiduous driver of the championship, I did not say that I will not do it again. ‘other "exotic" rallies or other occasional races, you should not exaggerate either!). In any case I hope to be able to tell you about the rallies for a long time !

Behind, things are jostling a little: Sonia Barbot, first Feminine, is in ninth position (2’07.37) at the controls of her KTM 690 Duke R of the KTM Team France / CTM 83. She is just behind Pierre Lemos (2 ’06, 72), MNC pilot during the last Bol d’Or, came to this event on time for "take a motorcycle ride"riding a KTM 1290 Superduke superbly prepared by Techno Bike 43 and his friends from the PLR ​​team and his ex-endurance team.

Pierre Reynaud, the 2015 Espoir champion, has finally found the user manual for his Triumph 675 Daytona and here obtains the 11th fastest time, first Topsport in 2’09.45.

But there is a lack of people among the Daytona’s men … Indeed, Thierry Boyer and Frederic Jalade, both registered on 675 Triumphs, did not wait for the first special time to stick one and fall (separately) during the first link. Both injured, they are forced to abandon.

Although at night – therefore without the possibility of seeing the certainly magnificent landscapes – the road course is very pleasant. Varied, with beautiful roads which follow smaller ones and some relatively gravelly parts are there to remind that we are in rally and not on a walk of retirees. This Dourdou is just as successful as the previous editions: bravo to the Moto Club de Villecomtal, organizer of the event !

At the Loyre special, Bruno Schiltz puts the cover back and this time sticks more than 2 seconds to Christophe Velardi! (1’52.39 for Bruno, 1’54.54 for Christophe). Maxime Mettra reiterates and gives himself the third fastest time.

As for the sidecars, the Jacob Norbert / Franck Bacon crew confirm their superiority in this category by securing a twelfth scratch time (2’04.94) at the controls of their Choda Suzuki 1340 GSXR team..

End of first loop, 20 minutes break / assistance and it starts again.

When we got to Rodelle for the second lap, things got complicated … Bruno Schiltz made a mistake in the special. Injured in the shoulder (we will learn later that he suffers from a torn ligaments), he must be evacuated by ambulance.

Time flies and the replacement of the ambulance, essential for the race to resume, lasts more than half an hour. The night is cool and the tires of the motorcycles piled up awaiting the resumption of the race are cold … As a precaution, the race management decides to neutralize this special. Departures are therefore given again one by one every 30 seconds since the special.

But the connection route also takes some time: it is almost two in the morning when we arrive at the second special of the loop..

As with all rallies today, the prefectural decrees concerning the closure of roads to traffic for a time-lapse special cannot exceed 2 am. It was therefore impossible to get the 115 drivers still racing on this night stage in due time..

This second stopover of Le Loyre will therefore not take place either, the first two specials, those of the first loop, to validate the stage for attribution of points obtained by the competitors..

Marcus HIMSELF

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