Battle royal in the Causses

The Rallye Terre des Causses will host the Clio Trophy France Terre season-opener for the second year running as part of the French Gravel Rally Championship. In Capdenac, the race to succeed Quentin Ribaud and Florian Bouchonneau already promises to be breathtaking as the trophy will feature the largest service park in its history. 

As on tarmac a fortnight ago, the field will mix quantity and quality, with five drivers who have already experienced the thrill of victory. 2022 Clio Trophy France Terre runner-up Julien Pontal is the favourite among many observers. Now with AMD Motorsport, the Puyricard native will aim for the win to strike hard from the start, but he will have to deal with the hopes of two-time winners Florian Condamines and Jean Paul Monnin, third and fourth last year. Fun Meca Sport driver Jean Paul Monnin could be all the more formidable since he won in the snowy Causses 12 months ago. Julien Pontal will also have to beware of Bastien Bergounhe and Mattéo Chatillon, two other victorious competitors who will make life difficult for him in the fight for the position of best Junior synonymous with the 2024 official programme. 

Several Juniors will be keen to demonstrate their progress after promising performances last year. Malagasy drivers Faniry and Mika Rasoamaromaka will look to take a step forward, as will Baptiste Panissié, Jean Lavigne, Thomas Mouysset and Inès Tamisier. Meanwhile, many young drivers will try to create a surprise, like Maxime Lafon, class winner in this event last year; Loic de la Taste, Axel Rakotomalala and Anthony Rovina.

Seventh in the 2022 Clio Trophy France Terre, Laurent Reuche will set his sights higher while defending his honorary Gentlemen category title, where he will face Lilian Vialle and Christophe Rocard. Emmanuel Guinchard, who joins the category this year, hopes to do well, as do experienced Jean-Laurent Chivaydel, Marc Reboa and Nicolas Ressegaire. 

Jean-Sébastien Vigion is another of the many contenders and can not be underestimated. Following his contribution to the Clio Rally3 development, the 2008 French Rally Cup winner with Clio Maxi returns to one-make cups. Respectively third in 2021 and ninth in 2022, John Laroche and Benjamin Boulenc are also back with higher ambitions, as are Alexandre Gransagne, Ludovic Casciani, Vincent Favre-Miville, Ludovic de Luca, Sylvain Tamisier and Loïc Pautou, who has also experience on the tarmac. 

Patrick Magnou and Julien Deslauriers, who, like Mattéo Chatillon, were at Le Touquet for the Clio Trophy France Asphalte, will also be at the start after finishing third and fourth at the Cardabelles in their gravel trophy debuts at the end of 2022. 2016 Swiss Junior Champion Aurélien Devanthery and the versatile Belgian driver Davy Vanneste are also among the newcomers to keep an eye on. Lastly, Charles Thonnelier, Christophe Truchet and Johan Gres will try to use their experience to create a surprise, as will Tom Pieri, best Junior of the Clio Trophy France Asphalte 2022, on a surface where his style could work wonders. 

Tom Pieri will not be the only official driver present in Capdenac. Crowned last year, Florian Bouchonneau will begin his Clio Rally4 programme in the colours of long-standing Renault partner Castrol to race for the win in the two-wheel drive category. Meanwhile, Quentin Ribaud, the first-ever winner of the Clio Trophy France Terre, will be behind the wheel of Clio Rally3 for the model's first appearance on French stages as part of the organisation's safety crew.

The French Gravel Rally Championship opening round, the 26th Rallye Terre des Causses, begins at midday on Saturday with a three-stage loop, including the longest timed sector on the route, which in the afternoon will be repeated. On Sunday, competitors will tackle two more stages, which will be run twice, including the Jean Ragnotti Power Stage, with bonus points awarded before the final service. The ten stages will total 162.72 kilometres of action.

Entry list
#31 Julien Pontal – Loan Biagetti (J)
#32 Florian Condamines – Damien Jole
#33 Jean Paul Monnin – Franck Gilliot
#34 Patrick Magnou – Anthony Vilanova
#35 Tom Pieri – Alexis Maillefert (J)
#36 Bastien Bergounhe – Mathieu Descharne (J)
#37 Faniry Rasoamaromaka – Baptiste Langlois (J)
#38 Mattéo Chatillon – Maxence Cornuau (J)
#39 Julien Deslauriers – Amandine Brunel
#40 Laurent Reuche – Patrick Spart (G)
#41 Mika Rasoamaromaka – Bastien Pouget (J)
#42 Jean-Sébastien Vigion – Amandine Borderie
#43 Baptiste Panissie – Gaëml Lavernhe (J)
#44 Benjamin Boulenc – Chloé Barozzi-Gauze 
#45 John Laroche – Manon Deliot 
#46 Jean-Laurent Chivaydel – Gabin Chivaydel (G)
#47 Aurélien Devanthery – Gaël Delasoie 
#48 Maxime Lafon – Thomas Delmas (J)
#49 Ludovic Casciani – Céline Cavallaro
#50 Davy Vanneste – Kris d’Alleine
#51 Jean Lavigne – Arnaud Cubizolles (J)
#52 Sylvain Tamisier – Mathieu Tamisier
#53 Alexandre Gransagne – Loïc Maurel
#54 Charles Thonnelier – Aurélien Jacquot
#55 Emmanuel Guinchard – Kilian Guinchard (G)
#56 Lilian Vialle – Manuel Ghirardello (G)
#57 Marc Reboa – René Padovani (G)
#58 Vincent Favre-Miville – Cédric Causse
#59 Christophe Rocard – Florian Chardon (G)
#60 Christophe Truchet – Barbara Truchet 
#61 Thomas Mouysset – Lucas Gineste (J)
#62 Loic de la Taste – Patrick Chiappe (J)
#63 Ludovic de Luca – José Boyer 
#64 Loïc Pautou – Sonny Postel
#65 Nicolas Ressegaire – Philippe Marchetto (G)
#66 Axel Rakotomalala – Jérémy Pacaud (J)
#67 Anthony Rovina – Kylian Sarmezan (J)
#68 Johan Gres – Julien Auguy
#69 Inès Tamisier – Laurent Tamisier (J, F)