This first day of the 36th Trèfle AMV in the direction of the Gorges du Tarn had a little surprise in store for us, with not 4 specials as announced on the roadbook, but 5 times on the program, with a first secret SP at Laubies / Les Bonbons. At the end of the day in the heat and dust, Josep Garcia took the overall lead with an 8.9 second lead over Andrea Verona.
The Garcia / Verona duo at the forefront
The sun appeared in the middle of the day to shine on the route of the Gorges du Tarn which offers splendid views and many very technical passages such as the descent of the Vines. In the first special of the day, a well-kept secret of the organization, it was the KTM Dafy rider Till De Clercq who was the fastest by discovering the first timed kilometers of the day under his wheels. This exercise of improvisation conditions him in a very good rhythm since he points to the third at the end of this Friday evening and first tricolor. For the record, he is the only driver to have stolen a special from the big winner of the day, Josep Garcia. Cautious on the hidden SP (6th), the E2 World Champion did not leave the slightest crumb to his opponents for the rest of the day by winning the 4 remaining stages. In the vacuum behind the official KTM pilot, we find an excellent Andrea Verona, very regular systematically at less than 2 seconds (except in the SP4 where he concedes 3 seconds to Garcia), the Italian pilot holds the Spaniard under pressure, at the slightest misstep, Gas Gas number 10 can arise! Behind the leading duo, it’s ultra tight with no less than 5 drivers in just 10 seconds. At their head, we find Till De Clercq, followed by the experienced Julien Gauthier, the local Killian Lunier, the young Antoine Alix and the ghost Loic Larrieu. Info at the end of the evening, after the jury meeting, Jérémy Miroir sees the one-minute penalty lifted and returns to the outsider group. Among the bad news this Friday is the injury of Théo Espinasse between SP2 and SP3, hit again in the shoulder (collarbone?), we wish an excellent recovery to the Beta Oxmoto pilot.
We continue by the Margeride
A few meters away, we find the same profile for the day with 203 kilometers on the clock. To decide between times, 5 banded specials. On the legendary lands of Margeride, the 650 pilots will evolve on the high plateaus with granite balls and genets. The specials will be a little grassier than this Friday with the first around SP1 around 9:00 at Grandrieu La Grange.
Josep Garcia – KTM:
“Here, the first day is over here at Trèfle Lozérien and I am happy to win this first day. I feel very good on the bike. This morning it was surprising with this secret special, it was the first time in my life, I finished 6th. The rest of the day went really well and I’m happy to be the leader with an 8.9 second gap. Obviously it’s a race here, 2 more days of racing but it’s very good to start like this. Now I’m focused on tomorrow with new stages, beautiful grassy stages.”
Note that all penalties applied to CH3, CH4 and CH5 have been removed. The general classification has been updated.
SATURDAY, JUNE 4: Circuit de la Margeride
Departure Mende Foirail 8H00
SP1 La Grange Grandrieu (cross test) 9:00 a.m.
CH1 Grandrieu 9:50 a.m.
SP2 Le Monteil (cross test)) 10.50 a.m.
CH2 Grandrieu 12:20 p.m.
SP3 Le Viala (cross test) 12:30 p.m.
SP4 Combettes Planes (cross test)) 1:10 p.m.
CH3 Laubert 2:20 p.m.
CH4 Mende La Vabre 3:10 p.m.
SP5 Mende la Vabre Michelin Lauze Drinks (cross test)) 3:00 p.m.