After a promising shakedown and an opening ceremony that was high on colour, Team Renault Sport Technologies’ two crews began the Barum Czech Rally with a night-time special through the streets of Zlin on Friday evening. Robert Consani and Nicolas Klinger moved into second place in the Production standings, and stayed there before going off in SS4 the following day. Taking a cautious approach in the super special, Germain Bonnefis and Olivier Fournier made the most of dry conditions on the Saturday to climb up through the field, ending the day second in the race for Production Cup points. Sadly for them, they did not fare quite so well on Sunday’s wet roads, losing time and slipping down to fourth place, which is where they would stay despite a superb final stage. Finishing in the points again, however, they maintained the consistent form they have been showing all season.

Germain Bonnefis: “Once again the Megane R.S. N4 was just perfect. It was reliable from start to finish and gave us the chance to compete on equal terms with some talented drivers and took us up to seventh in Saturday evening’s overall standings. On Sunday morning the roads were wet in places, very greasy and muddy, which made it impossible for us to compete against the 4WDs. As a result we slipped down two places in the Production standings. We posted some good times again in the afternoon but weren’t able to close the gap. We kept going till the end though and we picked up a lot of experience on these bumpy types of roads. And the Megane was problem-free yet again. We’re full of confidence going into the next round in Croatia.”

Robert Consani: “We had a good shakedown and then made a good start to the rally. We got the balance just right and I was full of confidence. The super special went well and things went perfectly for us in Saturday’s first two specials. We kicked off with the same pace in SS4 but I got out of shape in a compression in a right-hander. The car was airborne for a bit and we came off the road a little further on. It’s a shame because we were on the way to moving to the top of the Production standings in that stage. The car was too damaged to carry on, but we’ll be working hard to get back on the attack in Croatia.”

The next asphalt round of the European Rally Championship will take place in Croatia on 26-28 September.