press releases
press releases

All to play for in Clio Trophy France Terre

Round three of the Clio Trophy France Terre saw Julien Pontal and his co-driver Loan Biagetti win the Rallye Terre de Langres Haute-Marne after many twists and turns. The 3P Racing by BHR junior became the fifth different leader during the rally as he avoided the many hazards of the route to win ahead of the Malagasy twin brothers Mika and Faniry Rasoamaromaka. With three victorious crews in as many rallies this season, the title race remains as close as ever ahead of round four in Lozère.

24 July 2022

General classification leader Florian Bouchonneau made a perfect start in his quest for a maiden win,  taking the early lead before Benjamin Boulenc replied in the next timed sector. However, the hierarchy was turned on its head in the Saturday morning's last stage. Avoiding the problems encountered by several crews, Jean-Paul Monnin became the third different leader in as many stages and headed back to the service park with a 2.6s lead over Mattéo Chatillon. Meanwhile, Julien Pontal was third, only 2.7s ahead of Spain's Marcel Abad and 17.7s ahead of Madagascar's Mika Rasoamaromaka.

In the afternoon, Jean-Paul Monnin and Mattéo Chatillon continued their duel while the rally claimed more victims, such as Marcel Abad on SS4. Jean-Paul Monnin set the time to beat in SS4, but his rival immediately retaliated by taking the lead by 1.7s before the cancellation of SS6. Julien Pontal was third, 36.7s further back and 27.5s ahead of Mika Rasoamaromaka while Maxime Lafon completed the top five.

There were more twists and turns for the competitors on Sunday. The Jean Ragnotti Power Stage opened the second leg, where Mattéo Chatillon and Jean-Paul Monnin suffered punctures. Benjamin Boulenc was the fastest and collected five bonus points, but it was Julien Pontal claiming the rally lead ahead of Mika Rasoamaromaka and Maxime Lafon, who retired two stages later.

Managing the tricky roads to perfection, Julien Pontal controlled his pace to seal his first victory in the Clio Trophy France Terre and the Junior category with a 35.1s margin of victory over Mika Rasoamaromaka. Despite a 30-second penalty for a late check-in, Faniry Rasoamaromaka joined his twin brother on the podium ahead of Bastien Bergounhe and Florian Bouchonneau, who was back up to speed after his troubles on SS3. Jean Lavigne, Baptiste Panissié and Alexandre Gransagne followed in this order, ahead of Lilian Vialle, victorious for the second time this season among the Gentlemen. Tenth-place finisher Sébastien Studer resisted the returns of Florian Condamines and Benjamin Boulenc, who set the best time in all the stages on Sunday.

While he retains the lead in the Clio Trophy France Terre and the Juniors category, Florian Bouchonneau's lead over Julien Pontal is now only five points whilst Faniry Rasoamaromaka, Florian Condamines, and Jean-Paul Monnin remain in contention. Sixth, Mika Rasoamaromaka becomes the new leader of the Jean Ragnotti Power Stage classification. Meanwhile, Fun Meca Sport still leads among the teams while Garage De Sousa extends its advantage in the Renault Network Challenge.

The Clio Trophy France Terre crews will reunite next month for the penultimate round of 2022, the Rallye Terre de Lozère (26-28 August), before the season-finale at the Rallye Terre des Cardabelles (7-9 October).

Julien Pontal:

"This first win is amazing! We came here for this after showing a good pace at the previous round. We were a bit unlucky with the punctures, but we finished fifth. This time we had the same pace but chose a slower pace in the more difficult areas to avoid the pitfalls. We had two punctures at the end of the stage, but this didn't penalise us too much, and we had a lot of fun on these ultra-fast stages where you can slide the car around. We are also doing well in the general classification, and I am now looking forward to the next round in Lozère, a rally that I enjoy a lot. We will try to do as well as we did this weekend!"

2022 Rallye Terre de Langres Haute-Marne Clio Trophy France Terre

1. Julien Pontal – Loan Biagetti (J) 1h14:38.4s
2. Mika Rasoamaromaka – Bastien Pouget (J) +35.1s
3. Faniry Rasoamaromaka – Judi Rakatomalala (J) +1:17.2s
4. Bastien Bergounhe – Mathieu Descharne (J) +2:08.0s
5. Florian Bouchonneau – Jeanne Rey (J) +2:33.7s
6. Jean Lavigne – Arnaud Cubizolles (J) +3:45.7s
7. Baptiste Panissié – Gaël Lavernhe (J) +4:31.4s
8. Alexandre Gransagne – Loïc Maurel +4:46.6s
9. Lilian Vialle – Manuel Ghirardello (G) +4:49.0s
10. Sébastien Studer – Amanda Rossetti +5:08.9s
11. Florian Condamines – Damien Jole +5:14.5s
12. Benjamin Boulenc – Chloé Barozzi-Gauze +5:29.5s
13. Ludovic Godard – Matthieu Bole-Richard +6:29.2s
14. Aurélien Richard – Corentin Silvestre (J) +6:51.5s
15. Claudie Tanghe – Jean-Christian d’Ennetières (G) +6:53.4s
16. Ludovic Casciani – Céline Cavallaro +7:24.2s
17. Vincent Favre-Miville – Cédric Causse +8:43.5s
18. Lander Dhaene – François Geerlandt (J) +9:56.2s
19. Inès Tamisier – Laurent Tamisier (J, F) +11:11.5s
20. Maxime Salin – David Salin +11:43.7s
21. Clément Gegout – Jessika Lepretre (J) +13:01.0s
22. Emmanuel Guinchard – Kilian Guinchard +13:31.5s
23. Éric Royère – Gilbert Dini (G) +15:25.7s
24. Marcel Abad – Pere Requena (J) +20:35.9s
Dnf. Laurent Reuche – Jean Dériaz (G)
Dnf. Christophe Rocard – Corinne Murcia (G)
Dnf. Thomas Mouysset – Lucas Gineste (J)
Dnf. Maxime Lafon – Thomas Delmas (J)
Dnf. Grégory Perrard – César Delbecque (G)
Dnf. Mattéo Chatillon – Maxence Cornuau (J)
Dnf. David Gerard – Manon Deliot
Dnf. Jean Paul Monnin – Franck Gilliot
Dnf. Sam Taveneau – Pauline Boyer (J)

Clio Trophy France Terre - Teams standings - Jean Ragnotti Power Stage standings - Renault Network Challenge

Guillaume Renard

Press officer Renault Customer Racing

guillaume@zonerouge.fr

After a successful launch, Clio Rally5 is now taking on all surfaces with the Clio Trophy France Asphalte and the Clio Trophy France Terre. With two calendars intentionally independent and complementary to maximise the opportunities for all, each trophy consists of five rounds of the FFSA French Taramc or Gravel Rally Championship. Junior, Gentlemen, Female and Teams categories allow all the contenders to be valorised while enjoying unrivalled technical support and a unique level of equity at this level of the pyramid. A real springboard for the most promising hopefuls, the best Juniors on each surface at the end of the year will be offered an official programme with Clio Rally4.

Renault, a historic mobility brand and pioneer of electric vehicles in Europe, has always developed innovative vehicles. With the ‘Renaulution’ strategic plan, Renault has embarked on an ambitious, value-generating transformation moving towards a more competitive, balanced and electrified range. Its ambition is to embody modernity and innovation in technology, energy and mobility services in the automotive industry and beyond.

Document

All to play for in Clio Trophy France Terre
All to play for in Clio Trophy France Terre

After a successful launch, Clio Rally5 is now taking on all surfaces with the Clio Trophy France Asphalte and the Clio Trophy France Terre. With two calendars intentionally independent and complementary to maximise the opportunities for all, each trophy consists of five rounds of the FFSA French Taramc or Gravel Rally Championship. Junior, Gentlemen, Female and Teams categories allow all the contenders to be valorised while enjoying unrivalled technical support and a unique level of equity at this level of the pyramid. A real springboard for the most promising hopefuls, the best Juniors on each surface at the end of the year will be offered an official programme with Clio Rally4.

Renault, a historic mobility brand and pioneer of electric vehicles in Europe, has always developed innovative vehicles. With the ‘Renaulution’ strategic plan, Renault has embarked on an ambitious, value-generating transformation moving towards a more competitive, balanced and electrified range. Its ambition is to embody modernity and innovation in technology, energy and mobility services in the automotive industry and beyond.