Road rallies – 4th South Morvan rally: Langlois wins and Piazza loses the lead – Saturday 9am: let’s go for loop A!

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4th South Morvan rally: Langlois wins and Piazza loses the lead

Road rallies - 4th South Morvan rally: Langlois wins and Piazza loses the lead - Saturday 9am: let's go for loop A!

Impressive in the special on the handlebars of his Ducati 1100 Streetfighter, Bruno Langlois won the rally ahead of Bruno Schiltz (Suzuki 750 GSR) and Mickael Porcu (Aprilia 550 SXV). Report of a race rich in twists and turns: things are moving this year !

Saturday 9am: let’s go for loop A !

Paul-Christian Piazza on KTM 450 EXC, leader of the provisional 2012 championship, opens the ball rolling at the start of the Sevrey Motorcycle Center. Julien Toniutti, the official KTM Site pilot on KTM 990 SMC, follows suit, both with the same goal of victory. And if Julien has the advantage in this race with his official KTM 990 Superduke, more suited to high speeds than Paul-Christian’s small KTM 450 EXC, nothing is won in advance … and especially not in rallying !

Saint-Helène, Act 1. We were expecting a sports car or other fast bike, but it is the young Corsican Flavien Coitoux on KTM 690 SMC who posted the best time in 3’59.16! Second time for the Ducati 1100 Streetfighter by Bruno Langlois in 3’59 37 ahead of Paul-Christian Piazza on his KTM 450 EXC, third in 4’02 05. Julien Toniutti’s official KTM 990 Superduke only obtained the sixth time here in 4’04 50.

The connection is beautiful to reach Aigrefeuille, a real rally as in the good old days, through landscapes as picturesque as they are sublime !

At the Aigrefeuille special, Flavien Coitoux put a layer back on the handlebars of his KTM 690 SMC and again slammed the best time in 2’21.16, nearly two seconds ahead of Paul-Christian Piazza’s KTM 450 EXC (2’23 05). The third fastest time goes to Bruno Langlois on Ducati 1100 Streetfighter, just four hundredths behind Paul-Christian (2’23 09).

A stroke of bad luck for the Site pilot Julien Toniutti on the official KTM 990 Superduke: he bursts from behind at the start of the special but tries to continue (without any grip at all and at a more than reduced speed) … He finishes by snatching the 60th fastest time almost 32 seconds from the best time: the chances for the 2012 title are diminishing but anything can still happen, you should never despair in rallying…

The same misfortune befalls Guy Marchand in the Vintage category riding his inseparable "four legs" Honda 750 Four. Morvan rocks, literally and figuratively !

On the way back to the Sevrey Motorcycle Center, where a time control (CH 6) is installed, things get complicated for others too … Notably for Flavien Coitoux and Paul-Christian Piazza (accompanied by number 4, Florent Derrien on KTM 660 SM) which, after taking the wrong route to reach the CH, arrive in the opposite direction! But the rules are formal and such an error is penalized by two heavy minutes … which means a descent into the depths of the classification for Flavien Coitoux – then leading the rally! – but also for Paul-Christian Piazza who thus takes a heavy handicap for the title … JMP Racing grinds its teeth but continues the race despite everything.

After a 15-minute neutralization to regroup at the Motorcycle Pole, we set off again towards St-Helène for a second passage in the special.

There, Bruno Langlois makes the powder speak and slams a space time on the handlebars of his Ducati 1099 Streetfighter in 3’51.75, almost 9 seconds ahead of second time (Paul-Christian Piazza on KTM 450 EXC in 4’00.36) . Bruno would have reached 228 km / h in the fastest part of the special, which is still not a section of the A7 motorway but rather a good departmental road a little bumpy in places with blind curves … my Aprilia 750 Dorsoduro was barely reaching 170 km / h at this point (23rd time in my best lap in 4’24 and wheelbarrows) and it was already shaking a lot … Impressive !

Third time for Mickael Porcu on Aprilia 550 SXV in 4’01.45: JMP Racing is still there !

Near the finish of this first loop, some 5 or 6 kilometers before St-Jean-de-Vaux on a small downhill gravel road, Site rider Nicolas Pautet on KTM 990 Superduke (who had just slammed eighth fastest time at the last passage to St-Helène) violently loses the front and ends up on the ground in less time than it takes to tell! The KTM 990 Superduke slapped hard on a tree while sliding on the side of the road, but luckily suffered only slight superficial damage. Nico "Crazy" Pautet comes out unscathed, but a little shaken he prefers to throw in the towel for the day stage.

Further behind him, Dominique Quintin alias "Pierrot de la lune", on his Honda 500 CB n ° 42, put one in the same place but unfortunately got away with more damage. His motorbike hits a riding car (fortunately, only material damage is to be deplored for the motorist) and Dominique breaks his wrist … Firefighters, ambulance, blocked road … the total !

Suddenly the race was neutralized just before my departure for loop B behind Didier Beneston on his beautiful Husqvarna 900 Nuda n ° 9…

Marcus HIMSELF

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