Clio Trophy France Terre set to put on a show

Like its tarmac counterpart, the Clio Trophy France Terre has become a fixture on the French rallying scene, with packed service parks at every event. This year, the competition welcomes a promising new crop of young hopefuls, experienced drivers and ambitious amateurs, all ready to battle on the finest dirt tracks in the French Gravel Rally Championship.

A quality field

The Clio Trophy France Terre service park will mix quality and quantity, with some 30 crews vying to succeed Quentin Ribaud, Florian Bouchonneau and Jean-Sébastien Vigion. 

Former event winners Jean-Paul Monnin and Bastien Bergounhe will be among the favourites, but this duo will by no means be the only contenders for victory. With two seasons of experience under their belts in France, Madagascar twins Mika and Faniry Rasoamaromaka hope to capitalise on their undeniable speed to establish themselves at the sharp end of the order, as will Benjamin Boulenc, who finished on the podium twice last year.

Many competitors have reaffirmed their confidence in the trophy as an ideal platform to show their mettle and are eager to establish themselves as pretenders. They include Baptiste Panissié and Jean Lavigne, who are keen to confirm their upward trajectory. Alexandre Gransagne, Christophe Truchet, Ludovic De Luca, Anthony Rovina and Switzerland's Aurélien Devanthery are also contenders to watch while Vincent Favre-Miville, Déborrah Marie and Gentleman category driver Lilian Vialle hope to show how much they have progressed with Clio Rally5.

The addition of several crews attracted to gravel will significantly enhance the line-up. Clio Trophy France Asphalte regular and title-contender this winter in the Clio Ice Trophy, Corsica’s Yannick Francisci will make the switch from tarmac to gravel this season. He will be reunited with some of his former rivals, such as Tristan Pieri and Tom Pellerey, who will fully focus on gravel, as well as two tarmac experts in Arthur Pelamourgues and Benjamin Stirling!

Experienced on gravel, Thomas Eustaquio and Gaël Bertrand will make their Clio Trophy France Terre debut, as will driver-preparer Dimitri Felices, Xavier Pruvot, but also Marius Anglade, coming from karting, and Marc Bernardi, crowned in historic last year. Finally, Clément Gegout will make his return to a service park completed by two Spanish competitors: Joan Font and Zosimo Hernández, who both left their mark on the national scene and the brand cups in Spain in the early 2000s!

Changes with continuity

Retaining the fundamentals of a tried-and-tested format, the Clio Trophy France Terre offers an unchanged calendar, starting with the Rallye Terre des Causses. In May, competitors will move on to the Rallye Terre de Castine and the Rallye Terre d'Aléria before a summer break lasting until the Rallye Terre de Lozère in late August. The Rallye Terre des Cardabelles will close out the campaign in early October. 

However, there will be a few new features this year. The first is aesthetic, with the adoption of the increasingly assertive and elegant styling of the fifth-generation Clio, as spectators discovered last weekend at Le Touquet. There is also a new points scale, with 55 points for the winner now while up to five "Performer Jean Ragnotti" points will now be awarded to the top five drivers on each special stage to reward performance consistency. As always, at the end of the season, only the four best results will count in the overall general classification.

An official programme on the line

In a fortnight, the competitors will meet at the Rallye Terre des Causses to launch a season where they will benefit from strict fairness guaranteed by Alpine Racing, with technical support, a bonus system and services unrivalled at this level of the pyramid. Thanks to the support of valued partners Castrol, Michelin and Sabelt, Renault continues its commitment to the most promising young drivers. After Quentin Ribaud (2022), Florian Bouchonneau (2023), and soon Matteo Chatillon, the best Junior at the end of the season, will be offered an official programme for 2025, managed by the winning structure in the team classification.

For more information about the 2024 Clio Trophy France Terre, click here. 

2024 Clio Trophy France Terre calendar
5-7 April: Rallye Terre des Causses
3-5 May: Rallye Terre de Castine
23-25 May: Rallye Terre d’Aléria
30 August - 1 September: Rallye Terre de Lozère 
4-6 October: Rallye Terre des Cardabelles