Gilbert leads WRC 2 in France
Frenchman heads support category after opening day in France
Gilbert holds edge in French WRC 2 fight
Quentin Gilbert led WRC 2 after Saturday’s second leg of Rallye de France-Alsace after losing and then regaining the initiative from Bernardo Sousa.
The Frenchman suffered steering problems in his Ford Fiesta R5 this morning and could only watch as Sousa ate into his overnight advantage before moving into the lead in SS9.
The two drivers were neck-and-neck over the next two stages, in which the Portuguese pilot edged 1.8sec clear in his Fiesta RRC, despite a spin. But Gilbert regained top spot in SS12 and finished the day with a 5.7sec lead.
Third was Sébastien Chardonnet, the Frenchman a further 1min 57.2sec behind in a Citroen DS3 R5 after winning two stages.
Pontus Tidemand restarted under Rally 2 rules after rolling his Fiesta R5 yesterday and he, too, took two victories but was almost 13min behind Chardonnet.
Johan Heloise rolled his Subaru Impreza WRX and held fifth, just ahead of Jaroslaw Koltun, who went off the road and into a vineyard in SS13. Jourdan Serderidis completed the field in seventh.
