Eric Camilli had a steady 2016 Dayinsure Wales Rally GB, as he continues to learn the stages ahead of a return next year.
The M-Sport driver’s objective before the rally was to safely navigate the treacherous Welsh forests, understand the event and if the opportunity rose, challenge for a good result.
As it turned out, a costly double puncture on Day 1, meant the young Frenchman had little to fight for so he opted for a mature approach to get through to the end.
He secured tenth place from leading WRC2 competitor Esapekka Lappi at the start of Day 2 and firmly secured himself in that position.
Throughout the event, the Frenchman was able to match the pace the more experienced Citroën’s Kris Meeke and Hyundai’s Dani Sordo, as well as team-mate Mads Østberg.
Even so he finished nearly four minutes down on his team-mate, who finished in eighth, and a minute off Stéphane Lefebvre in ninth.
However, Camilli feels he fulfilled his objective: to be as prepared as possible when he returns next year.
“The aim was to gain experience ahead of next year and we have done that – adjusting the pacenotes and learning where it is possible to gain time on these tricky stages.
“It was a shame about the time loss on the first day, but I think we have to be happy with this weekend.
“When we felt comfortable, we pushed harder and it was good to see that we could match the times of Mads, Dani and Kris – especially when you remember how much experience those guys have.
“Experience counts for so much at this level, so our target will remain the same in Australia where we’ll focus on learning another new rally and being as prepared as possible for next year.”
