Home hero Dufas eager to repeat Estering success at Essay

With a previous best finish of 13th to his name, it is fair to say Dufas was not amongst the obvious favourites at Germany’s Estering last summer. If his eventual triumph owed a little to good fortune – with on-the-road winner Jens Hvaal finding himself disqualified from the results – it was nonetheless thoroughly deserved following a superb performance behind the wheel of a car that while good, was palpably not the quickest in the field.

The Frenchman is aiming to repeat that giant-killing feat after revealing he will rejoin the fray for the forthcoming curtain-raising contest at Normandy’s Circuit des Ducs – a track at which he boasts a strong previous record on the national scene.

Dufas will head into battle with the same Renault Clio V RX he piloted to victory at Buxtehude eight months ago, now run by his own Team Dufas.

“After winning in Germany last year, the aim is to do the same again – but this time on home soil!” asserted the 27-year-old Caen native. “That has to be the objective. It will clearly be tough as the level in the European Championship is always extremely high, but that is the goal and what we are working hard to achieve.

“Essay is a circuit I know well. It was the scene of my first victory in rallycross back in 2019 on my way to winning the French Junior Championship that year. I also scored my first podium there at Super1600 level (equivalent to RX3) in a SET Promotion Twingo in 2020, so it’s a track that I have a lot of affection for and I can’t wait to go back to perform in front of my family and friends.

“For now, we’re just committing to race at Essay, but depending on how the weekend goes, we will see afterwards if there is the possibility to enter any more events in Euro RX3 this year.”