Victorious in Le Touquet, Damien Defert and Florent Diottin also made a fast start by winning the first two specials. Full of confidence at the wheel of his Twingo Renaultsport R1, Defert nevertheless came in for a shock on SS3 when he lost control on a gravel section and crashed out.

That left Florian Bernardi and Xavier Castex as race leaders, though not for long, as Johan Notargiacomo and Marine Delon were rewarded for their consistency with the race lead on SS4, the first time Notargiacomo has been in front in the category. After scoring two fastest times, the pair would stay in charge through to the end of day one, with Axel Garcia, Florian Bernardi and Simon Lebiez waiting to pounce behind them.

The leading duo would soon find themselves out of contention on Saturday, however. Struggling with a lack of grip in the morning’s specials as a result of a poor choice of tyre, the Savoy driver lost time after going off in one stage and suffered a puncture in the next, causing him to plummet down the standings and finish out of the points.

With three specials left, new frontrunner Axel Garcia lead Florian Bernardi by just 4.3 seconds, with Gabriel Lieffroy/Laurine Ehrhardt, Olivier Floret/Vincent Groulier and Raphael Astier/Valentin Suchet all locked in a tight battle for third.

Florian Bernardi’s hopes disappeared when he punctured on SS11 and Gabriel Lieffroy went off after trying to avoid a stricken rival, leaving the way clear for Axel Garcia to claim his maiden Twingo R1 France Trophy win, with Olivier Floret holding off Raphael Astier to take second place.

Axel Garcia: “I am very happy with this win, my first after only six rallies. I haven’t driven since Le Touquet and it was hard to get back into a rhythm. Tyre choices also made it a difficult race. I’m delighted to finish not just on the podium but on top of it. It’s also been a good weekend for us in terms of the championship because the drivers who did well in Le Touquet have scored little or no points here.”

Twingo R1 Trophy, Limousin: Final standings
1. GARCIA Axel – POMARES Fabien 2:16:33.6
2. FLORET Olivier – GROULIER Vincent +53.3
3. ASTIER Raphaël – SUCHET Valentin +57.4
4. SIRMAIN Alexis – GAFFARD Benjamin +59.5
5. LIEFFROY Gabriel – EHRHARDT Laurine +1:21.9
6. PELLIER Laurent – DEWAELE Alexandre +3:15.0
7. BERNARDI Florian – CASTEX Xavier +3:22.7
8. JOUINES Jean – GUIEU Christopher +3:25.2
9. COHEN Valentin – CORNEBISE Jérôme +6:28.2
10. FOLB Terry – POUJOL Sebastien +6:45.7
11. NOTARGIACOMO Johan – DELON Marine +7:35.6
12. DHAISNE Antoine – FLAJOLET Marine +7:59.5
13. MARAR Taymoor – GOBE Arno +14:56.1
14. GOETZ Maxime – JANSSENS Fabien +54:21.0

Twingo R1 France Trophy: Overall standings
1. GARCIA Axel – POMARES Fabien 43 points
2. DEFERT Damien – DIOTTIN Florent 25 pts
3. LIEFFROY Gabriel – EHRHARDT Laurine 22 pts
4. ASTIER Raphael – SUCHET Valentin 21 pts
4. BERNARDI Florian – CASTEX Xavier 21 pts
6. FLORET Olivier – GROULIER Vincent 18 pts …