Pierre Ragues finished the weekend’s 59th running of the Rallye d’Automne in a brilliant fourth position after being involved in a big fight for the podium over the event’s ten competitive stages. 

 

Pierre was on strong form and ultimately finished just five seconds off the overall podium and class victory after a tantalisingly close rally. The Frenchman, who is managing an endurance and rally campaign this season, showed no signs of fatigue as he clinched a terrific second in the R5 class, fighting right to the end.

 

In his first event with the new Skoda Fabia R5 – and alongside co-driver Julien Pesenti – Pierre was impressive as he claimed a stage win on the final stage in foggy conditions. 

 

The result helped Pierre to finish the rally on the verge of an overall podium with the support of his partners GroupAuto, Sparco and Ellip6.

 

Pierre commented: “I am really pleased with the performance in La Rochelle and my first rally discovering the new Skoda Fabia R5. It’s never straightforward coming into a rally from a WEC race but I felt immediately at ease with the car and alongside my co-driver Julien. We had a good rhythm and were pushing all the way for an overall podium and even in contention for the R5 victory. In the end, we had to settle for fourth overall and second in class, but we had a fantastic final run, winning the last stage and making sure we were on the limit right to the end. I am grateful to Julien for his expert help and to my partners GroupAuto, Sparco and Ellip6 for another great weekend. It was a lot of fun and we came away with a positive outcome. I am now fully focused on the final of the WEC season in Bahrain in a couple of weeks’ time.”