Pierre Ragues has claimed another emphatic outright rally victory following a commanding performance in Rallye National de Lisieux, part of the Coupe de France des Rallyes.

 

Driving a Skoda Fabia R5 with Julien Pesenti in the co-driver’s seat, Pierre beat the WRC Ford Fiesta of Eric Brunson by a comfortable 21 seconds on a weekend of mixed weather conditions. 

 

Saturday’s opening leg took in 62.9km over five stages, with Pierre taking wins on three timed stages in wet, tricky conditions. He built up a lead of 45 seconds at the end of the first day, which afforded him a nice buffer heading into the final leg. 

 

Sunday’s run of six stages was taken with caution to secure the win, as Pierre opted for slick tyres despite the muddy, slippery and damp areas on the stages. The Frenchman kept the pressure on his rivals while retaining a healthy margin at the top of the classification.

 

It marks Pierre’s third rally win of the 2017 season following last month’s Saint-Germain-la-Campagne and Rallye de Mézidon-Canon back in May. 

 

Pierre said: “I could not be happier with this weekend’s rally result, especially as it was far from a straight-forward event. We could tell from the first stages that we had the pace and confidence in our Skoda Fabia R5 to post fast times in the wet conditions – and in fact we claimed three stage wins on Saturday, which set us up strongly. Despite some tricky sections, we built up a very good lead, and could then use Sunday to manage the gap sensibly. We still pushed where we could, negotiating the damp patches to make the best use of our slick tyres, and we could take the win – our third of the year. The Skoda Fabia R5 once again performed exceptionally, allowing Julien and myself to focus on our job. To beat WRC machinery is a nice feeling and reinforces my positive feeling in rallying. Thanks to my partners GroupAuto, Top Garage, Sparco and Ellip6, as always. Let’s see what the next chapter of our motorsport adventure brings…”