French driver Pierre Ragues has made a strong return to rallying this weekend with a positive performance in the 41st Rallye Aveyron Rouergue Midi-Pyrenees. 

 

Ragues, driving for the Deslandes Sport team in a Skoda Fabia S2000 car, and co-driven once again by his father Marcel, finished in a highly commendable 13th place overall, with a second place in the S2000 category.

 

The class podium has demonstrated Pierre’s natural aptitude to the competitive world of rally, particularly considering the 10-stage event was his first rally outing since Lyon-Charbonnières back in April.

 

The French Rally Championship event remained primarily dry for both days as drivers navigated ten tough stages over a total stage distance of 219.8km. Ragues set two top ten stage times on Friday in both passes of the Laissac-Séverac l’Eglise stage to end the opening day in 14th overall. The French ace encountered no problems but a harder tyre choice for the afternoon’s long stage made life tricky in the closing kilometres.

 

Saturday got underway under cloudy skies and the ever present threat of rain. Thankfully all stages remained dry and Pierre could continue to pick up valuable experience in the rally. However, the uncertain conditions meant that everyone remained on alert for rain, which ultimately didn’t fall significantly during the stages themselves. 

 

The rally was tough with some of the longest individual stages that Pierre has had to tackle, so the result of second place in S2000 and 13th overall was rewarding and very pleasing for the Frenchman, who had the additional backing of Sparco; Pierre benefitted from wearing Sparco’s state-of-the-art EXTREMA RS-10 overalls in this rally.

 

Ragues said: “That was a very tough rally over two long days but I am very pleased with the end result. I haven’t competed in a rally since April so this event was all about regaining my confidence in the car and adapting back to rally conditions. I had great support as always from the Deslandes Sport team and my father Marcel as co-driver in our Skoda Fabia S2000. We had a continuous threat of rain over the two days which meant we had to be prepared for anything. It was a very valuable experience, over some stages in excess of 30km which was the first time for me. It was hard but very beneficial. I am happy to finish second in the S2000 category, and 13th overall, setting some top ten stage times along the way. I am still in my infancy in rally, learning all the time, so I take a lot of satisfaction from this result. Thanks, as always, to my partners Group Auto for their support of me at this enjoyable event. I am also grateful to my partners at Sparco, whose excellent EXTREMA RS-10 overalls I have worn in this rally.”