French race ace Pierre Ragues was forced to retire from this weekend’s Rally Lyon-Charbonnières in the penultimate stage of the rally after a cruel technical failure while he was running in a fantastic podium position. 

 

The Frenchman, alongside his co-driver and father Marcel Ragues with the Deslandes Sport team, was holding ninth overall and second in class in his Skoda Fabia S2000 when he was forced to stop mid-stage with an engine-related issue. 

 

Despite the obvious disappointment of retiring so close to taking a sensational class podium, Ragues remains buoyed by his eye-catching performance in an FFSA-affiliated rally, part of the French Rally Championship.

 

Pierre ended the first leg yesterday with the fastest S2000 time in the opening special stage as well as the fifth stage. It wasn’t a completely trouble free morning for the rally rookie as he lost 15 seconds in the second stage with a spin but generally it was a trouble-free and inspired performance.

 

He ended the day in a terrific third in class and just 14 seconds from the lead. Heading into the final day, the Ragues duo continued with promising pace in the first of the two four-stage loops. Pierre advanced to second place in S2000 as the afternoon progressed as the engine problem hit in the 12th stage of 13. The position would have secured Pierre an incredible second place in S2000 and second in the Michelin trophy. 

 

Pierre, together with his partners Group Auto, will now look forward to the next French Rally Championship round, Rallye Limousin in May, where he will hope to continue his seamless adaptation to life as a rally driver.

 

Pierre said: "I am obviously very disappointed to have had to retire from the Lyon-Charbonnières rally today just one stage away from an S2000 podium result. We had a great time in the rally and showed a great pace with the Skoda Fabia S2000. Overall, it has been an amazing and valuable experience for me and I have learned a lot in my first French Rally Championship event. To have been able to set the fastest time in class in several stages and to have a generally strong event gives me a real boost for the next event at Rally Limousin. The car felt competitive and I’m sure without the engine issue we would have been able to fight for the S2000 victory and possibly even finish in the top eight overall. There are lots of positives to take from this event. I’d like to say thanks to the excellent work of the Deslandes Sport team, the guys at Michelin and Sparco, and my partners at Group Auto, who have been fantastic support this week. I would also like to praise the organisers of the Rally Lyon-Charbonnières event who have worked so hard to put on such a great event. I leave here feeling like I’ve made a big step forward in my new rally career.”