Lefebvre eyes JWRC crown in France
Frenchman on verge of securing Junior honours
Tidemand chases second asphalt WRC 2 success
Following the heavyweight WRC 2 battle in Australia last month, the title contenders take a back seat at Rallye de France-Alsace (2 - 5 October) with just one of the top 10 in action.
Pontus Tidemand, winner of the FIA Junior WRC in 2013, has started just two WRC 2 rounds, but victory at ADAC Rallye Deutschland in August promoted him to seventh and the Swede will start as one of the favourites in a Ford Fiesta R5.
Chasing victory on home ground will be Sébastien Chardonnet, last year’s WRC 3 champion. He will drive a Citroen DS3 R5 and aim to end a bad run which has seen him out of the points at his last three outings.
“We were quick on Tarmac at Rallye Deutschland,” said Chardonnet, who is tackling the French event for the fourth time. “For our home rally we will be determined to do well. Thibault (de la Haye, co-driver) and I know that it’s going to be a close fight. If we get that little bit of luck you need, we should be there or thereabouts.”
Bernardo Sousa will be hunting a podium in a Fiesta RRC. The Portuguese driver has three solid scores to his name but drew a blank at his last outing in Germany.
Like Sousa, Quentin Gilbert will use Pirelli rubber on his first WRC 2 outing since Rallye Italia Sardegna in June. Gilbert will drive a Fiesta R5 and his asphalt experience gives the Frenchman high hopes on his home rally.
Also in Fiesta R5s are Marty McCormack, Jourdan Serderidis and Jaroslaw Koltun, who returns following a maiden appearance in Poland.
There are two starters in the Production Cup within WRC 2. Johan Heloise and Christoph Brugger are new to the series and will drive a Subaru Impreza WRX and Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X respectively.
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