Road rallies – Rallye des Garrigues: Toniutti already in tune! – Loops and times of the day

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Rallye des Garrigues: Toniutti already in tune !

Road rallies - Rallye des Garrigues: Toniutti already in tune! - Loops and times of the day

Let’s go for the French rally championship 2014! Despite strong Corsican resistance and in difficult conditions, Julien Toniutti reiterates his 2013 victory, thus offering his first victory to his new Yamaha MT-09. Story.

Loops and chronos of the day

A first connection of 30 minutes takes us to Murles for the first special. The Laverune region is very urban and many red lights and 30 zones break the average considerably … The times seem a little too tight to drive strictly in accordance with road regulations, but it is possible if we do not ‘fault. At the slightest misstep in the wrong direction, the sentence of hourly penalties could fall…

This is what actually happens to some pilots! But at the end of the first loop, the race management will decide to cancel the penalties for this first lap, admitting that these first thirty minutes were a bit tight to cover the 25 kilometers of the first link without being tempted to go too far. following the slightest error in the course.

"Joker" therefore for the first victims of these penalties, which suits Thierry Canazzi, the pilot of the KTM 350 EXC F n ° 9, who had taken penalties by inadvertently pointing two minutes early at the second time control, much more wide than the first … You had luck on this one, Thierry !

The festivities really start in Murles, where you have to put big gas! But in the wet, without having been able to recognize a motorbike in the days preceding the race (motorbike recce is now prohibited on almost all rallies: this is the price to pay so that such organizations can still be authorized by the local authorities …) it is not easy to have confidence in the grip right from the start where you put the wheels !

And it is the Corsican rider Luc Deiana on Honda 450 CRF HM who opens the ball: he slams the best time in 1 ‘49.80 ahead of Benoit Nimis’ Yamaha 450 YZF (1′ 52.41) and the KTM 690 SMR by Florent Derrien (1 ‘53,56).

The fourth beat is also won by a mono, the Husaberg 570 FS of Yohann Vigilenti (1 ‘54.37). Julien Toniutti meets his official Yamaha MT-09 of Team 2B and places it in fifth position, just two hundredths behind (1 ‘54.39).

Hats off to the crew Alain and Olivier Amblard on their old Choda 1100 Kawasaki "topspin" sidecar that they slip to seventh place in this special, two tenths behind the sixth time that goes to Thierry Canazzi on KTM 350 EXC F (1 ‘55.23 for Thierry against 1’ 55.46 for Alain and Olivier).

The second link is twice as long in mileage but the times are wider. They have this said the same hourly average of 50 km / h, but include much less built-up areas and "30 zones", which allows to drive in perfect safety while being on time..

If the sky hadn’t been so hazy, the views would certainly have been magnificent. The route takes us up to Pic St Loup, cross large scrubland, pass more than picturesque villages such as, for example, this village with a sympathetic name: Saint Jean de Cuculles !

After an hour of this very nice driver, here we are in Saint Mathieu de Treviers, for the second special, really "special" by the way … A real ice rink, short but slippery everywhere. We’ll have to go on the tip of the tires !

This does not prevent the official Yamaha MT-09 of Julien Toniutti’s Team 2B from offering the best scratch times in 1 ‘17.46. He is followed by Benoit Nimis on the handlebars of his Yamaha 450 YZF in 1 ‘19.53: nice! Third fastest time for yet another "new kid" in road rally: Denis Jover on KTM 400 EXC. First in the Sport category in the standings of this special, he slammed 1’19.62 (he had obtained the eleventh Scratch time in the Murles special, 8.11 seconds behind the best time).

There are people driving fast this year and seats will be all the more expensive! The route then takes us to Laverune to complete this first lap.

Fifteen minutes of assistance and we must already be at the start for the second loop. But it does not start again immediately: a fall in the first special (the Honda 1000 CBR sidecar of the Raphael Galvani / Pierre Rouge crew) delays the course of the race following the intervention of the ambulance of the special.

As long as a new ambulance is not in place, the starts of the special cannot be given: the organizers therefore decide not to restart the race until the problem is resolved. A smart choice, which avoids having to wait at the foot of the special and leave with cold tires for a stopwatch !

The race is finally only 35 minutes late and here we are again for a big lap.

During the second passage to Murles, the winning trifecta was Luc Deiana, best time on his Honda 450 CRF HM in 1 ‘44.50, Yohann Vigilenti on Husaberg 570 FS second in 1’ 47.03, and third time for the Yamaha 450 YZF by Benoit Nimis in 1 ‘49.61.

Nice blow for the side Choda 1100 Kawasaki of Amblard, Alain and Olivier, who obtained the ninth time, three tenth ahead of the Yamaha MT-09 of Julien Toniutti tenth! A little exit from the road Julien? A miss? No, probably just a little restraint … Between prudence and time management Julien knows how to do it, we can trust him !

Then we are back in Murviel les Montpellier. It’s not raining anymore, the road starts to dry up and Luc Deiana takes the lead, once again! 1 ‘09.78 for the pilot of the Honda 450 CRF HM n ° 80. He is followed by Jeremy Demange on Aprilia Tuono, a non-championship driver who takes second time (1’11.94): this situation is unusual !

The third fastest time went to a certain Mickael Augras on KTM 690 SMC who posted 1’12.17. Our top rider of the Journal Moto du Net Julien Toniutti obtains here the fourth time, four tenths behind Mickael.

Bad pick this time for the crew of the Choda 1100 Kawasaki sidecar who started very hard in this slippery special and drove off the road in the first big left in a spectacular way, the side rolling in the outer lower side and its occupants ejected !

The two thieves, Alain and Olivier Amblard, came out unscathed but the side was too damaged to continue the race. The 2013 French side-car champion team will not leave this evening.

The return to Laverune is peaceful and this time, we are allocated 1h30 of assistance! What to relax a little after these first 200 kilometers. We were also informed that the small loop to pass through Murviel les Montpellier for the third time was canceled: decision of the race management to make up for the 35 minutes delay at the start of the second loop..

All that remains is for us to do this southern loop, on the seaside, and end the day with the special "special spectators" of Laverune..

It’s not raining at all now, the road is drying well: everything is almost perfect! But we are quickly disillusioned because, barely left for this last loop on a completely dry road, a good temporary downpour comes to play the spoilsport !

We will therefore not take particular pleasure in driving by the sea with this rotten weather, also a little anxious by what awaits us in Laverune: the special will be extremely slippery given the uninviting bitumen with which it is coated … actually: it slips !

Paradoxically (though), the more tricky and slippery the road, the fewer falls! The special went almost without a hitch and the driver of the Husaberg 570 FS n ° 81, Yohann Vigilenti, took the best time (1 ‘11.39), Luc Deiana and his Honda 450 CRF HM the second (1′ 12.58), and Romain Jacquemard the third on Honda 450 CRF (1 ‘14.40).

Then it is the arrival of the day stage, the last time control being held in Laverune. An hour and a half of assistance is again allocated to prepare the motorcycles for the night.

We then do the accounts and we are interested in the provisional classification of the rally. And it is the loose one for Luc Deiana who is awarded three penalty minutes for missing a CP (Passage Control)! Without this mishap, he won this day stage hands down.

"I had an electrical problem with my road book unwinder, so I unrolled it by hand and I was too focused on the boxes not to take the wrong direction", he will explain to us with his pronounced Moorish accent …." I walked past the CP flags, but I didn’t even see them. To tell you !"

Following Luc Deiana’s penalties, Yohann Vigilenti found himself at the head of the provisional, 6 ’67 ahead of Benoit Nimis and 7′ 53 in front of Julien Toniutti. A new customer, certainly !

Luc Deiana’s electrical problem is so serious that he does not leave for the night stage, due to lack of lighting on his Honda 450 CRF HM! Yohann no longer has to fear that the "owl" Julien Toniutti…

Marcus HIMSELF

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