Rallye d'Antibes Cote d'Azur (France) - 15-17 Oct 10

Posted: October 21, 2010 2:37 PM - 4885 Hits

Round 10 - 2010 European Rally Championship (ERC)

McCormack closes gap on French Championship

Posted: October 21, 2010 2:37 PM

Marty McCormack upped his pace on this weekend's three day European Championship Rallye Antibes Cote d'Azur to close the gap on French Citroen Trophy leader Jean Renaud Marchal. Going into the final two rounds Marchal's lead has been cut to 6 points leaving the championship wide open.

'I learnt a lot about this event through competing here last year and I came here determined to win. After suffering driveshaft problems in Cork we were delighted to find out Citroen had a solution to the problems and they have been really helpful and supportive in many, many ways. All thanks to them!' said McCormack before the event.

Friday's opening stages saw McCormack make a cautious start finishing the evening in 14th overall and second Citroen, 25 seconds behind leader Florentin Bosch.

The first loop of stages on Saturday saw an unusual error with a bad call on tyre choice, opting for the softer compound BF Goodrich, which left the car struggling for grip and a consequent drop of a further 7 seconds. However a switch to the harder compound at service led to a string of fastest times and closing the day 12th overall and leading the second placed Citroen of Sebastien Chardonnet by 15 seconds with Florentin Bosch a further 19 seconds behind.

Sunday's stages started as Saturday's had finished with another fastest time and Marty edging to the top ten. However a puncture on stage eleven cost the flying McCormack over a minute. A fightback on the last loop of stages was made difficult by the onset of rain in places making grip inconsistent 'I was gutted' explained McCormack 'I have no idea what caused the tyre to deflate - I didn't hit anything or put a wheel off so it's a bit of a mystery to me. I know it hurts though! I wanted that win!'

Rallye Antibes Cote d'Azur is based in Antibes and held over 260kms of mountain stages. It is a round of the European Rally Championship, attracting maximum entry from all over Europe.

Final R2 positions:
1. Sebastien Chardonnet/T de la Haye (Citroen C2R2Max); 3:16:33.8 - 11th overall
2. Marty McCormack/Liam Moynihan (Citroen C2R2Max); 3:16:58.5 - 13th overall
3. Florentin Bosch/ Laurent Brunetti (Citroen C2R2Max); 3:21:42.3 - 16th overall