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The 2014 African champion and co-driver Romain Comas de Miranda competing in a Mitsubishi Evolution X, took victory after posting a time of 2:12:11.6.
Gary Chaynes taking selected drives in the 2023 African Rally Championship (ARC) kicked off his part-time campaign with a record seventh victory at the Bandama Rally in Yamoussoukro, Côte D’Ivoire.
The 2014 African champion and co-driver Romain Comas de Miranda competing in a Mitsubishi Evolution X, took victory after posting a time of 2:12:11.6.
"The Bandama rally is always a challenging event,” said Chaynes, adding; “I am delighted to have come out on top once again.”
“It is a great start to the season, and we're looking forward to the next round in Kenya.”
The rally saw some early challenges for some of the competitors, with Frederic Nobou and Daniel Coulibaly facing fuel pump problems and later engine failure on day one.
This left Maxime Abondio and Chaynes to battle it out for the top spot, with Cyril Bottari also in the mix.
“The fuel pump affected our performance right from the qualifying stage, and next on day two it was the engine failing to respond and our rally ended,” Nobou.
However, Abondio's Mitsubishi Mirage Proto dropped out of the race due to engine failure on day two, leaving Chaynes to comfortably cruise to victory.
“We started off well and we were having a good rally on day one, but it’s sad our engine gave up here on the final day, it’s sad that’s Bandama we live to fight another day,” Abondio told Rallyganda.
Bottari and co-driver Hyjazi Abudallah finished in second position, driving a Subaru Impreza N12B and registering their best finish in Rallye Bandama with a time of 2:37:10.3.
"It was a tough rally, but we gave it our all and we're happy with our performance. Congratulations to Gary on the win," said Bottari.
Meanwhile, the once three-time winner of Bandama, Patrice Servant, co-driven by Paul Servant, occupied the third podium driving a Toyota Corolla and posting a time of 2:50:16.6.
The Bandama Rally has a long history, having first taken place in 1969, and it is considered one of the oldest and most prestigious motorsport events in Africa.
The second round of the 2023 African Rally Championship is scheduled to be held in Kenya from 17-19 March in the Voi region near Mombasa.
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