Prime Yalta Rally leader Bryan Bouffier has described the “crazy” moment when he caught and passed the ‘0’ and ‘00’ cars during Friday’s third stage.
Driving a Peugeot France 207 Super 2000, the Rallye Monte-Carlo winner said that his team would be viewing onboard camera footage to determine how much time he lost.
“We were three or four kilometres from the end of the stage,” said Bouffier. “I overtaken one but the second one didn’t see me so I stayed a few times behind him. I think it’s a little bit crazy but what can be done?
“My split times were not so good and I lost time at the beginning but the end was incredible when I overtook the two cars and had some small traffic. I don’t know how much time I lost but we will check on the camera and not think about it. I have to stay concentrated.”
Bouffier’s mechanics changed the gearbox and clutch during midday service in Yalta: “At the end of the stage five I saw my clutch was not working. It’s worse at the start of the stage but we have a lot of slow corners and it’s good to use it. Fortunately all is fixed and my team has changed the gearbox. All is working well.”
The Frenchman’s lead is 1.0s over Juho Hänninen. Stage six is due to get underway at 13:13hrs local time.