At the 54th national rally of Lozère, Jordan Berfa and Chloë Thomas, in the lead without contest

Jordan Berfa et sa copilote Chloë Thomas (Hyundai I20) ont dominé la course ALAIN LAURET

Le 54e rallye national de Lozère qui compte pour le championnat de France de 2e division voit sa première journée de spéciales se terminer par la domination de Jordan Berfa et Chloë Thomas.

Former French gravel rally champion, Jordan Berfa and his co-driver Chloë Thomas (Hyundai I20) dominated the first stage of the Lozère rally head and shoulders during the first stage yesterday. They took the lead with a 34-second lead over Yannick Vivens (DS3). 3rd, Norman Eddie Lemaitre (Skoda Rally2), reigning French champion, is already 2 minutes and 32 seconds behind! The weather is always an essential parameter in Lozère, especially when the south wind brings a squadron of clouds to the Cevennes foothills. And this Saturday, it rained intermittently, with some stages being totally wet, others partially dry.

Primordial, here, read the weather forecast

In this coin toss game for tire choices, Berfa was effective. Gone in "rain" Saturday morning, on the Bondons side, he immediately took the scratch ahead of Vivens (DS3 Rally2) and Constanty (C3 Rally20). One is 1 second per kilometer, the other is 2! And the Mazamétain drives the point home, irremediably taking off. « I discovered rallying. I didn't think I would be in front of Vivens. I started on wet tires, then I mixed it with rain and soft tires and then I just did the E.S on soft tires. says Jordan. He raced the Monte Carlo at the start of the season and quickly assimilated this type of operation.

The Pompidou, the Vivens grounds

Behind, Vivens admits to having made the mistake of staying in "rain", particularly in SS4. « It’was dry! At the end the tires were very hot, the car moved more » specifies the Suménois who will catch up in the final ES of the day, along chrono of the Pompidou where he excels. « It’was sometimes wet, sometimes dry but it was copiously slippery. Some say there was gasoline on the road… »He achieves the scratch here, but only takes two seconds. However, he is the only one who could benefit from the slightest mistake from the leader. Kévin Constanty, who had chosen to run on wet tires, remained on the 3rd step of the podium for 4 stages but suffered a puncture in Le Pompidou, losing 2 minutes in the process! Which suited Lemaître's business, as he doubts winning a rally he loves, making the long journey from Normandy every year. Delayed by a red water temperature sensor (SS1 then 2), Dorian Nicolas (C3 Rally2) pulled himself together at the end of the stage.

Jérémie Sérieys, first of the 2-wheel drive

In the Lozérien clan, Jérémie Sérieys (Clio), native of Pont-de-Montvert, for a moment 5th, finds himself 8th, first of the 2-wheel drive but less effective against Rally2, when the road slows down ;rsquo;is dried up. On his home turf, Jonathan Gout (Clio R3), momentarily 6th, came out for the count in Le Pompidou. As for Gérard André and Cédric Valentin, after a slump, they moved up to 9th place overall. Sunday will be another day!

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