Road rallies – Le Chevalier wins the 50th Rallye de la Sarthe in a snap –

Posted on by admin

The Chevalier wins in the snatch the 50th Rallye de la Sarthe

Road rallies - Le Chevalier wins the 50th Rallye de la Sarthe in a snap -

Another victory for Serge Nuques who signs a dazzling return to the French Rally Championship by winning the first round of the 2007 season, and very good operation for Emmanuel Siaux who takes the lead of the championship !

One more victory for the foul knight of Grolandais, who made a dazzling return to the French Rally Championship by winning the first round of the 2007 season despite a rainy passage during his sessions on the night specials on the circuit…

Good operation also for Emmanuel Siaux who takes the lead of the championship in points by stages despite his second place overall scratch.

After a barely cloudy morning freshness, this time under a bright sun this superb 50th edition of the Rallye de la Sarthe took place. Since 1958, the year in which the event was born, the pilots had indeed become accustomed to enduring the rainy whims of the Sarthe weather..

But it is in a much more pleasant light that the entire 2007 field was able to appreciate a complex road course and the Bugatti circuit in all its forms (upside down during the day and upside down at night!), The everything very well organized: hats off to the organizers !

The 2007 edition consisted of three stages in three different loops:

  • a 70 km loop on Saturday morning with specials on the Bugatti and Maison Blanche circuits (between the Bugatti and the karting circuit)

  • a 160 km afternoon loop with the Crannes-en-Champagne (two passages) and Amne-en-Champagne (one passage) specials and one more passage on the Maison Blanche circuit

  • 180 km night stage with two passages in Amne, a new passage at Maison Blanche and … the surprise of this 50th edition: a tour of the Bugatti circuit backwards !

A rather complex route with some common sections and crossroads: despite excellent signage, you shouldn’t lose sight of the road book !

Finally found !

Each year, the reunion between the rally drivers is, during the reconnaissance, a highly anticipated moment of the inter-season. And this year, Serge Nuques’ big comeback adds even more good humor to the general atmosphere … Because the rally is still – and must remain so! – a discipline where the biker spirit reigns above all: something for friends !

The forces involved

This does not prevent seriousness from gradually settling in the discipline: the rally is becoming more professional and more and more brands are investing in it, such as Aprilia which entrusts a 1000 Tuono to the reigning French champion Greg Debize and a 550 SXV to Thierry Canazzi, or Buell with the famous XB 12 STT from Emmanuel Siaux (soon to be tested in Moto-Net!).

Not to mention Yamaha who opts, in addition to Serge Nuques with his nasty black R1, for the good recruit of the CMPN in the person of Thomas Laroche, who drives a 450 WR.

Big level so this season: it will cause serious! Friday evening, everyone manages to pass the rather severe technical controls.

First stage

Departure from La Suze at 7:00 am on Saturday morning to set off for the Bugatti circuit in Le Mans, the first special of this short but decisive stage.

Unsurprisingly, it is Serge Nuques who wins hands down by sticking more than 20 seconds to second, Nick Ayrton, the regional of the stage.

Thomas Laroche, first Mono of the stage, places his 450 WR in 15th scratch place while the first Sport, Jerome Argoud (Suzuki 650 SV) ensures the 9th scratch and at the same time takes the lead of the hope cup !

As for the sidecars, it is the Guillet / Chanal team on their Hechard which dominates the category, occupying the 26th place in the scratch. Finally in old cars, Luc Martin places his BMW 80 GS at the top of the category.

Second step

1:30 p.m .: it starts again … this time 160 km of good small municipal roads to inquire like greedy! Good, very good under the sun more and more present !

The stages are mostly contested on the road, with only one passage on the White House circuit.

Siaux scratches the first special, while Laroche takes the second. Note in these two specials the astonishing 2nd and 3rd times of the hopeful Jerôme Argoud (also from the CMPN) on the handlebars of his Yamaha R1, in front of the knight Sergeï in person !

What seriously annoys the infamous character for insulting the Grolandaise nobility … Suddenly, the sinister Chevalier puts the package and slams a sick time on the second pass of the Crannes special by posting a time of … 1.15. 17! As a reminder, let us remember that the best times of this special had so far never fallen below the 1.17.26 set by Emmanuel Siaux during his first run….

"I really put everything in this special", admits the knight:"it is strictly impossible to go faster! At the place of the slight bump I took off, I was full, my front wheel in the air was looking at the treetops, I cut lightly to level it and once fell I reopened at high speed, full acceleration, it was going in all directions but I remained united … and it happened !", he explains to Moto-Net.

After this untouchable score, Jerôme Argoud still has a very honorable time of 1.16.79 … Future big customer in perspective !

At the end of the stage, we still find Serge Nuques in the lead with now less than 3 seconds ahead of Emmanuel Siaux. Thomas Laroche (first Mono) is 1 second in third place scratch) while the first Sport Olivier Aubonnet (Suzuki 650 SV) is placed in 12th position of the scratch, just ahead of the Guillet / Chanal team, still the first sidecar. In Old, Luc Martin occupies the 74th scratch position.

Following repeated small mechanical problems on his beautiful Italian, Thierry Canazzi, reigning French champion in the Sport category, loses confidence … Too bad, because he has the potential to make her shine in the rankings and still ensures 7th place scratch.

Third stage: Night loop

It is 9:00 pm when the start of the 180 km night is given. Fatigue begins to be felt and it feels like endurance with stops for two hours before setting off again. In addition, the good weather bids farewell and the rain is forecast in the coming hours….

The road course is nevertheless very well chosen, with varied roads, rolling, at least rolling, gravel and dirt … The 50th edition of the Rallye de la Sarthe is really a good vintage !

However, there will be a stir in the rankings, because if the first did only the last special in the rain, the big numbers who left later met her much earlier on the course..

The Bugatti upside down !

A very unusual route in this sense, which did not prevent Emmanuel Siaux from snatching this scratch of a few tenths from Nick Ayrton on his indestructible Yamaha R1 !

As for the dark knight, this time he will really switch to the dark side of the force … He will come out with a 20th time in the Bugatti, a second behind Marc Troussard: "well, I did this stage almost entirely in the dry, it just started to rain when I left and the track didn’t really have time to get wet", explains Marcus the Grolandais monk who is all the same"went for a little walk in the gravel: it’s a sick thing this circuit upside down, you may know it by heart in the place, in the other direction you are lost … So well wet, I can’t even imagine !".

The Grolandais monk will indeed be present again this year to defend the colors of Moto-Net in national and international rallies, in order to make us experience the races from the inside. He will ride once more his Yamaha FZ6 2005 which is in his 3rd season at the breaker (40,000 km) but works "as on the first day, thanks in particular to its Energy Relase engine treatment" (see )

This Trafalgar shot from the weather god turns out even worse at White House, where the damned Sergei is relegated to 34th place! What makes him lose a race which he nevertheless had in his pocket thanks to the spanking which he had put to everyone on his four laps of the circuit in the morning…

The knight draws his sword of war !

Serge therefore had to pull out all the stops in the last night special, with a time 2 seconds faster than his best day. !

"As we did not have the exact times, I had roughly calculated that I could only win my rally at this precise moment.", explains the Knight:"so I gave a good blow of big gas and I did well! This motorcycle is fabulous !"

In the end, Serge therefore wins the rally with barely a second ahead of Emmanuel Siaux who, with his 3rd, 2nd and 2nd places on the three stages, takes the lead in the championship ahead of Serge (1st, 1st and 13th)..

Finally, the first "under 30" (and likely winner of the 2007 Dark Dog Moto Tour registration, read) is Jean-Philippe Menard on his 2007 Yamaha R6, ranked third overall in the Espoir Cup !

Awards

Big, very successful ceremony to celebrate this 50th organization of the Rallye de la Sarthe with guests, to open the award ceremony, the winners of the previous editions (not the 50, but a good fortnight were present!)

Nice podium for this 50th edition: Nuques, Siaux and Laroche! Laroche behind Siaux in the first round of the 2007 championship: it’s the opposite of the 2006 final, but the same bond still exists between these two sympathetic fellows…

For my part, I had the pleasure of personally rewarding Jerôme Argoud, brilliant winner of the Espoir Cup and excellent driver. well done !

The championship promises to be eventful to say the least and the 2007 title will be very expensive … See you in Corsica at Porticcio on April 28 for the second event !

Winning tires: the best times at the Bugatti

  1. Serge Nuques (Yamaha R1 2007): Pirelli Corsa 3

  2. Nick Ayrton (Yamaha R1): Pirelli Super Corsa (SC2)

  3. Yves Constantin (Yamaha R1 2006): Pirelli "Super Corsa" (SC0, the most tender)

Marcus HIMSELF

Related articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *