Simon Jean-Joseph and Jack Boyère profited from the opening day of the inauguralRally Russia to put their Citroën C2-R2 on top of the provisional Group A leaderboard. The French pair successfully shrugged off challenges from competitors in morepowerful machines – in many cases with four-wheel drive – to emerge in an excellent10thplace overall.
The Russian event’s inclusion in the 2007 Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC)calendar was a motor sport landmark that Citroën did not want to miss and SimonJean-Joseph was particularly enthralled with the prospect of contesting this rally. Thewarm welcome given by the local spectators during recce and in the service park onlyserved to confirm the Frenchman’s positive first impressions. “This is my first time onthis event and also in this country, ” he commented. “Having this rally included in aninternational competition was important for Russia. There is huge interest from themedia and the spectators that come to see us are really excited. “
The organisers were unfortunately forced to cancel Thursday evening’s scheduledsuper-special in Saint Petersburg after failing to obtain all the necessaryauthorisations. Even so, competitors were able to visit this legendary city for the officialstart ceremony before returning to Vyborg which saw the fourth round of the IRC getunder way this morning. The opening leg’s programme featured a total of seven stagesfor slightly more than 102km of against-the-clock action.
The average speed of the fastest crew over the day’s first test (almost 136kph! ) gavean immediate idea of the gravel stages’ profile. “They’re extremely fast, ” commentedSimon at the end of the morning’s loop. “They’re like Finland but with fewer jumps andthey are more cut-up. There are even some very rough and rocky parts in places, andthat isn’t ideal territory for our C2-R2. I took my time to find my marks to begin withbecause it’s been two events since I last drove this car and there some notabledifferences between the C2-R2 and the C2 Super 1600 I usually drive.
After a fewtweaks to the set-up, I felt increasingly more comfortable with the car and tried to profitfrom its potential and reliability to post some decent times. ” Indeed, Simon set aneloquent string of second quickest Group A times and progressively moved up theleaderboard throughout the day. After the lunchtime break, it was raining as action resumed but that didn’t prevent theCitroën from gaining further places. “Along with the guys from PH Sport, we profitedfrom the service halt to further fine-tune the set-up. ” The improvements clearly paid offsince Simon went on to post two fastest times to take over at the top in Group A whenthe early leader hit trouble. “We are currently 10thoverall, ” observed the Martinique-based driver this evening. “The terrain isn’t easy but we’ve managed to be consistentand quick. I said before the start that I was convinced the C2-R2 could spring asurprise. We’ve still got one leg to go to defend our position and, why not, perhapseven move up the order… ”
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