Bouffier to start first on Saturday’s stages

Bryan Bouffier will start leg one of Canon Mecsek Rallye first on the road in his Peugeot France 207 S2000, a testing 144km loop of eight competitive stages.

The Rallye Monte-Carlo winner, who lies fourth in the drivers’ standings, was sixth quickest in Thursday’s shakedown and does not underestimate the task ahead.

“For sure my championship up to now is not so good,” he said, “but it could be worse! I need to score a lot of points and I’m hoping to take a lot of them at this rally. It’s hard to make any predictions at this stage of the weekend, but we have a good car. The pace of the car has been good on a lot of events so I need to push.”

There are obstacles in the forests which may catch out drivers unfamiliar with the route. Logs can be pulled into the road by the passage of other cars, and tyre chicanes have been installed on several sections to keep top speeds in check. Even so, this is a fast rally.

“For sure, it’s strange to find chicanes in the forest, but the roads are so quick that they must use them. A lot of the corners are flat out.”