 [18-04-2015]
DISAPPOINTMENT FOR PIERRE RAGUES AFTER DETERMINED FIGHT IN RALLYE LYON-CHARBONNIÈRES
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 [14-04-2015]
PIERRE RAGUES AIMS TO EXTEND PODIUM RUN AT RALLYE LYON-CHARBONNIÈRES
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[08-04-2015]
PIERRE RAGUES TO MISS SEASON OPENER AS TEAM SARD MORAND ANNOUNCES WITHDRAWAL FROM 6 HOURS OF SILVERSTONE
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 [07-04-2015]
PIERRE RAGUES EXCITED TO GET DOWN TO BUSINESS AS SILVERSTONE HOSTS 2015 WEC SEASON OPENER
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 [28-03-2015]
PIERRE RAGUES ENJOYS COMPETITIVE PROLOGUE WITH TEAM SARD MORAND
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[18-04-2015]
DISAPPOINTMENT FOR PIERRE RAGUES AFTER DETERMINED FIGHT IN RALLYE LYON-CHARBONNIÈRES
 Rally ace Pierre Ragues was forced to retire early from this weekend’s 67th running of Rallye Lyon-Charbonnières after suffering rear right suspension damage after an incident in Saturday morning’s SS7.
It was a disappointing end to Pierre’s third rally outing of the year as the Frenchman hoped to extend his run of podium results so far in 2015. He showed strong pace on Friday’s opening stages as he finished in fifth in class, fighting closely with the leading cars overall.
At the helm of his Michelin-equipped Citroën DS3 R5 car, Pierre and his co-driver Tibo Gorczyca, started off confidently in the wet conditions despite a number of issues in the opening stages. An accident for one of the participants on the opening stage led to a time forfeit for Pierre which dropped him down the order at the end of the day. A small spin in SS2 lost him 10 seconds and in SS3, he encountered a slower car in front of him which lost him a further 15 seconds.
Nonetheless, Pierre was comfortably running in the top eight and was nudged down to 11th as a result of the SS1 time penalty. Just 27 seconds separated him from seventh place at the end of Friday and he was pleased with the car despite a few power steering gremlins. The Racing Service team worked wonders to fix the car and enable Pierre to resume with confidence on Saturday morning.
In Saturday morning’s SS7, Pierre ran wide just 1km after the start as a result of the tricky conditions, and suffered irreparable damage to his rear right suspension. He was forced to retire before commencing a fight back towards the podium. In spite of the issues faced, Pierre once again shown competitive pace at French Rally Championship level and proved why he is one to watch on the tough rally stage.
Pierre said: “Obviously, retiring from SS7 this morning was not the way I wanted to end this rally, particularly as it was represented one year since my competitive rally debut at the same event last year. I started this rally in confident style and was certain I would be able to continue my recent strong run of form. From the first stage, we encountered difficulties which put us on the back foot. An accident from one of the other competitors meant we lost the ability to secure a competitive time ourselves. Then, in SS2, I had a small spin which lost me 10 seconds and following that in SS3, I caught a slower car in front and could not get past, so we lost another 15 seconds. In the afternoon, I also had some power steering gremlins. Thankfully, the excellent work of the Racing Service team meant the car was fixed in time for Saturday morning. This morning, I was pumped up and ready to push hard – considering we were so close to catching the guys in front. Unfortunately, with the tricky conditions after yesterday’s rain, there was some mud on the stage and I ran wide in SS7 and the car picked up some rear right suspension damage that was ultimately irreparable. I have had a very good rally season so far and this is another useful, but frustrating, learning process. The car was good, I felt comfortable and able to fight with the front runners. It wasn’t meant to be on this occasion, but with the support of my partners Group Auto, Sparco, Top Garage and Ellip6, I look forward to my next rally!”
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