Young stars savour maiden stage victories

Two rising stars underlined their huge potential when the Intercontinental Rally Challenge visited San Marino last week as Germain Bonnefis and Sepp Wiegand claimed their maiden stage wins in the series.

Bonnefis, who was making his IRC debut, outpaced his rivals on the eighth stage of the gravel event, while Wiegand set the pace on the rally’s first stage.

“It was splendid for us to do this time because the level was very good against Mikkelsen, Basso and Scandola and this was only our fifth time in our Peugeot 207 Super 2000 and our first time in the IRC,” said Bonnefis.

Wiegand, who drives for ŠKODA Auto Deutschland, said: “It was really nice to go at the same speed as the big guys then afterwards you have a really good feeling because you trust yourself more.”

IRC Manager Jean-Pierre Nicolas added: “The IRC has a reputation for allowing promising young drivers to show their talents and Bonnefis was particularly impressive on his IRC debut. From speaking to Bruno Famin of Peugeot Sport they were satisfied with his performance in San Marino and look to him to confirm that potential in the future.”