An historic maiden win for Mika Rasoamaromaka

Nearly a month after the Rallye Terre des Causses, the Renault Clio Rally5s of the Clio Trophy France Terre made their way to Brétenoux with a host of competitors determined to confirm or reverse the initial hierarchy that emerged at the start of the season. Greeted by rain, the crews spent Friday in the shakedown before Baptiste Panissié, Arthur Pelamourgues, Ludovic De Luca and Jérôme Moulene each won a Michelin LTX Force T XL92 tyre in addition to their starting prize in a draw organised by Ceerta, the official Michelin Motorsport distributor for the French Rally Championship. 

Already a treacherous route, it proved even more formidable after overnight showers. Mika Rasoamaromaka was the first to strike in the extremely muddy conditions, beating Tom Pellerey by 8.7s. His twin Faniry retaliated to win the next timed sector by 11.4s, but the sibling duel continued in the morning's final stage, where Mika regained the upper hand to return to the service area with a 17.1s advantage. Behind them, Alexandre Gransagne was third, closely followed by Tom Pellerey and Benjamin Boulenc. 

In the afternoon, Mika Rasoamaromaka made a powerful impression. The Madagascan again set the fastest time in Bétaille before repeating the feat in Néandertal, which claimed several victims. The leader completed his grand slam in Le Vignon-en-Quercy to round off a near-perfect day with a 52.3s lead over his closest rival. With five best times, his performance even put him ahead of the Rally4s among the two-wheel drive cars. Third-placed Tom Pellerey remained in contention ahead of Benjamin Boulenc and Arthur Pelamourgues after Alexandre Gransagne's problems on SS6.

On roads still slippery despite the sun's return on Sunday, Mika Rasoamaromaka received an extra boost to control his pace when Faniry Rasoamaromaka was penalised ten seconds for a late check-in. The battle then centred on the duel for second place between Tom Pellerey and Faniry Rasoamaromaka, with the two monopolising the fastest times in the two passages through Miers, Reilhac and Saint-Laurent-les-Tours, a new special stage, but shortened due to the conditions.  

Always in control, Mika Rasoamaromaka sealed his first success in the Clio Trophy France Terre, becoming the first non-French driver to win in this competition dedicated to Renault Clio Rally5. The 21-year-old Malagasy also won the Junior category, 23.4s ahead of Tom Pellerey, who kept Faniry Rasoamaromaka at six seconds despite the latter's attacks. Benjamin Boulenc finished a lonely fourth, followed by Arthur Pelamourgues, who drove cleanly in only his second gravel rally. Jean Lavigne and Yannick Francisci finished in sixth and seventh place. Alexandre Gransagne, Ludovic De Luca and Benjamin Stirling completed the top ten after Bastien Bergounhe's double puncture in the final stage. 2022 Clio Trophy Belgium winner Benoît Verlinde was eleventh ahead of Lilian Vialle, first among the Gentlemen. 

Tom Pellerey remains on top of the general classification thanks to his second place and even extends his lead with the 27 Jean Ragnotti Performer points earned over the weekend. The Vaucluse native now leads Faniry Rasoamaromaka and Benjamin Boulenc. Mika Rasoamaromaka's victory sees him move up to fourth place and keeps Fun Meca Sport by Meccanocar in the lead. The performance of the Madagascan twins also propelled Bandelier Automobiles to the top of the Renault Network Challenge at the expense of Agence De Luca.

Alongside the trophy, round two of the French Gravel Rally Championship was the scene of another success for Clio Rally3. While Michaël Lobry and Julien Pontal made a strong impression by battling with the best four-wheel drive cars with several overall top ten times, the former finally won in RC3 ahead of Jérôme Jacquot and Guillaume Tardy while finishing tenth in the event with his co-driver Gaëtan Parade. The rally also saw Quentin Ribaud validate future evolutions in real conditions with the Clio Rally3 development car present as the zero car. 

The Clio Trophy France Terre competitors will meet again in less than three weeks for the third of the five rounds on their calendar at the Rallye Terre d'Aleria (23-25 May), where the title race could already be in the balance heading into the summer break. 

Mika Rasoamaromaka: “It was a perfect weekend, and we’re pleased with our performance. We dominated the opening leg, and our lead allowed us to control Sunday. It’s a fantastic result for the title race, especially as we came up short on the Causses. We were able to put things right, and we’re proud to have achieved something here. Thank you to all the Malagasy fans for supporting us all the way to the French Rally Championship, and we will do our best to make you even prouder!”

Clio Trophy France Terre – Rallye Castine Terre d’Occitanie*
1. Mika Rasoamaromaka – Bastien Pouget (J) 1h41m40.4s
2. Tom Pellerey – Hervé Faucher (J) +23.4s
3. Faniry Rasoamaromaka – François Heer (J) +29.4s
4. Benjamin Boulenc – Chloé Barozzi-Gauze +1m33.2s
5. Arthur Pelamourgues – Emmanuel Brissiaud (J) +2m30.7s
6. Jean Lavigne – Arnaud Cubizolles (J) +3m18.2s
7. Yannick Francisci – Manon Perrin +3m50.9s
8. Alexandre Gransagne – Loïc Maurel +6m41.1s
9. Ludovic De Luca – José Boyer +6m51.2s
10. Benjamin Stirling – Maxime Biegalke (J) +7m08.1s
11. Benoit Verlinde – Anton Dupan (J) +8m44.3s
12. Lilian Vialle – Manuel Ghirardello (G) +9m01.8s
13. Vincent Favre-Miville – Maelle Casays (G) +9m09.6s
14. Joan Font – Enrique Velasco (G) +26m52.0s
15. Emiliano Retama – Eduard Ferran (J) +39m13.2s
16. Xavier Pruvot – Nathalie Pruvot (G) +41m23.4s
17. Thomas Eustaquio – Pauline Compozieux (J) +42m43.8s
18. Anthony Rovina – Jean-Baptiste Bacchiolelli (J) +1h01m12.7s
Ret. Bastien Bergounhe – Mathieu Descharne (J)
Ret. Aurélien Devanthery – Michaël Volluz 
Ret. Jérôme Moulene – Louis Delbarry (G)
Ret. Jean Paul Monnin – Franck Gilliot
Ret. Baptiste Panissié – Gaël Lavernhe (J)
DNS. Gaël Bertrand – Fabien Adenot 
DNS. Julien Labonde (J)
DNS. Déborrah Marie – Amandine Houry (F)
*pending official results after final scrutineering

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