Chauffray dominates again at Rouergue

The Clio Trophy France Asphalte attracted a season record of 44 crews taking part in round three of its calendar.

Clio Trophy France Asphalte leader Thomas Chauffray immediately took command on Friday. In the sweltering heat, the Europe Location driver set the best times on the Campouriez - Le Nayrac timed sector, the longest special stage of the day with 33,12 km, then on Laissac - Sévérac-l'Eglise to finish the first loop with a 16.0s advantage. Twice second, Patrick Magnou was his closest pursuer, whilst Tom Pieri, Jérémy Sarhy and Styve Juif were separated by 1.7s at midday service in their three-way battle for third place and the lead in the Junior Category.

Thomas Chauffray showed no signs of letting up in the afternoon. With six scratch times in as many stages during the first leg, he returned to the service park with a 22.8s  lead over Patrick Magnou. The latter also increased the gap on his rivals, where the battle turned in favour of Styve Juif, who moved up to third place with a 9.2s advantage over Jérémy Sarhy and  17.8s over Tom Pieri, now followed by Benjamin Stirling and Valentin Ascenzi.

On Saturday morning, Thomas Chauffray continued his domination with three new best times while the fight for the other two podium places was decisive. Jérémy Sarhy was the first to lose outwhen he rolled on SS7, while Styve Juif retired on SS9. Patrick Magnou finished the morning 39.5s behind the leader, but 45.6s ahead of Tom Pieri.

With the partial neutralisation of SS9, the second running of Lévézou hosted the Jean Ragnotti Power Stage. Once again, Thomas Chauffray proved to be the fastest driver to score maximum bonus points before Benjamin Stirling deprived him of a clean sheet by only 1.3s on the closing stage of the rally.

Despite this single hiccup, Thomas Chauffray sealed his third consecutive victory by 47.7s from Patrick Magnou. Third-placed Tom Pieri also claimed his third straight victory in the Junior category, fending off Benjamin Stirling and Valentin Ascenzi, who scored his best result in the Clio Trophy France Asphalte, as did Nicolas Hebrard. Louis Myr finished seventh ahead of Yannick Francisci and Enzo Lucotte. Pierre-Paul Baltolu scored his first top ten finish. The leader from the beginning in the Gentlemen category, Mike Souvigné from Luxembourg, won his first rally in the trophy, as did Charlotte Olea in the Women Category.

Thomas Chauffray extends his lead in the Clio Trophy France Asphalte, but Junior Tom Pieri remains in contention while Patrick Magnou is now the best of the rest. Thomas Chauffray also leads in the Jean Ragnotti Power Stage classification. In the teams' standings, 3P Racing by BHR takes first place from Europe Location. Grands Moulins Auto still leads the Renault Network Challenge.

The Clio Trophy France Asphalte now takes a summer break before the last two rounds of the season: Rallye Mont-Blanc Morzine (8-10 September) and the Critérium des Cévennes (27-29 October).

2022 Rallye Aveyron Rouergue Occitanie*

Clio Trophy France Asphalte

1. Thomas Chauffray – Pauline Chauffray 1h58:07.7s
2. Patrick Magnou – Anthony Vilanova +47.7s
3. Tom Pieri – Amandine Borderie (J) +1:48.3s
4. Benjamin Stirling – Florence Wehrey (J) +2:00.9s
5. Valentin Ascenzi – Corentin Silvestre (J) +2:21.6s
6. Nicolas Hebrard – Bastien Dumas +5:07.0s
7. Louis Myr – Camille Flajolet (J) +5:19.5s
8. Yannick Francisci – Loïc Boudaud (J) +5:25.5s
9. Enzo Lucotte – Manon Deliot (J) +6:03.0s
10. Pierre Paul Baltolu – Gilles Cler (J) +6:52.9s
11. Benjamin Barnouin – Enzo Mahinc (J) +7:59.2s
12. Guillaume Bonnet – Cédric Santini (J) +8:27.6s
13. Jérémy Sarhy – Loïc Declerck (J) +9:00.1s
14. Mike Souvigné – Ann Felke (G) +9:25.5s
15. Joël do Rego – Justin Ladet +9:34.4s
16. Éric Royère – Gilbert Dini (G) +10:01.4s
17. Sébastien Rambaud – Alexis Maillefert (J) +10:07.6s
18. Dominique Patenotte – Killian Girou (G) +11:29.0s
19. Julien Anthérieu – Eddy Jabeneau +12:01.2s
20. Charlotte Olea – Cécile Pages (J, W) +12:21.9s
21. Enzo Beschet – Pierrot Rousselet (J) +12:25.5s
22. Élodie Gines – Lisa Tornior (W) +12:28.9s
23. Maxime Lafon – Thomas Delmas (J) +12:36.9s
24. Yoan Corberand – Emeline Faivre +13:47.9s
25. Calvin Lucas – Amandine Houry (J) +13:49.0s
26. Jérôme Janny – Clément Gutierrez +13:53.6s
27. Matthieu Suzzarini – Sony Postel +13:56.3s
28. Franck Giraud – Sylvain Guillaume +14:06.4s
29. Christophe Fontaine – Bastien Fontaine (G) +15:25.1s
30. Gérard Puel – Caroline Puel (G) +16:01.0s
31. Ugo Girardeau – Julien Bichon +16:39.5s
32. Thomas Gaume – Daniel Mahier (G) +18:19.5s
33. Jean-Pierre Lejeune – Geneviève Arnavielhe (G) +18:59.0s
34. Maxence Passaquet – Michel Damian (J) +20:51.0s
35. Théo Apchie – Aurélie Vedrine (J) +21:39.7s
36. Franck Barry – Lionel Chatufaud (G) +28:08.5s

DNF. Margot Dupuy – Clio Chambelland (W)
DNF. Arthur Roché – Quentin Proust (J)
DNF. Styve Juif – Maxime Biegalke (J)
DNF. Louis Constant – Mathieu Coppa (J)
DNF. Yann Clairay – Mathieu Favreau
DNF. Arthur Pelamourgues – Bastien Pouget (J)
DNF. Sylvain Janny – Mireille Guy
DNF. Mathieu Bonche – Florian Chardon (J)
* subject to technical scrutineering

Clio Trophy France Asphalte - Teams standings - Jean Ragnotti Power Stage standings - Challenge Réseau Renault