Harman Patil (Editor)

2015 Rallye du Var

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Host country
  
France

Dates run
  
27 – 29 November 2015

Stage surface
  
Asphalt

Rally base
  
Var

Stages
  
14

Overall distance
  
217.72 km (135.28 mi)

The 2015 Rallye du Var was the 61st running of the annual Rallye du Var.

Last year's winner Sébastien Loeb didn't return, as he had left Citroën in 2015 and was busy preparing for his Dakar Rally debut in 2016, so David Salanon, the man who was runner up behind the nine times World Rally Champion last year, took this as an advantage and won Rallye du Var for the first time having led throughout. He defeated Quentin Gilbert and Pierre Roche, with Gilbert having not long ago clinched the titles in WRC3 and JWRC. On the entry list was 178 cars, including three Porsche RGT entries; the 996 of Raphaël Astier and the Caymans of Olivier Ponthieu and Alain Fraissard. On the first day, the Frenchman David Salanon made a giant killing act and won the first two stages, as well as seven in a row later on to create a lead that was not to be surpassed. He never put a foot wrong as his Fiesta RS finished every stage in the top six. When Pierre Roché won two stages he seemed a likely contender for the win but could never catch Salanon and was eventually third. Salanon brought Ford back to winning ways as a result, thus continuing their tradition of winning Rallye du Var in odd-numbered years. As for Quentin Gilbert, the newly crowned WRC3 and JWRC champion just about made it into second by winning the last stage.

References

2015 Rallye du Var Wikipedia