The Clio Trophy France Asphalte takes to the skies

With three wins in as many rallies, Thomas Chauffray heads to the Alps intending to seal the title on Saturday evening, ahead of the season finale at the Critérium des Cévennes (28-29 October). The leader in the general classification will even have the luxury of controlling his pace around Morzine, as his chasers need to finish ahead of him to keep their hopes alive.

Seventh last year in his first appearance in the rally as a driver, the Europe Location leader will have his fate in his own hands, or almost, as his partner Pauline will hand over her role as co-driver to Anthony Hamard this week. After narrowly losing out in Le Touquet and Antibes, Tom Pieri is determined to end his rival's fantastic streak. The 3P Racing by BHR driver, who went off the road 12 months ago, faces a dilemma: whether to aim for a maiden win at all costs or consolidate his advantage in the Junior class and secure an official Clio Rally4 programme in 2023.

Several of his rivals in the category are hoping for a slip-up, starting with Benjamin Stirling, who has no margin for error after burning his joker at the start of the season in Le Touquet. Jérémy Sarhy, Louis Myr, Pierre-Paul Baltolu and Guillaume Bonnet, who have all been more consistent, want to confirm their rise in form with a podium result to close the gap to the leader. 

Other competitors will be just as motivated to win. Third in the general classification, Patrick Magnou is a formidable contender for victory, as is Styve Juif, who came close to success in Morzine last year. Yoan Corberand and Sébastien Rambaud will try to consolidate their positions into the top ten against the quick Yannick Francisci, Benjamin Barnouin and Valentin Ascenzi, who has been more and more present at the front recently.

Even one point will be worth a lot as the home stretch nears. Nicolas Hebrard, Enzo Lucotte, Yann Clairay, Calvin Lucas and Arthur Roché will be ready to pounce and excel on some of the most beautiful roads in France. The competition is going to be tough, especially with the renewed attempts of Franck Giraud, Matthieu Suzzarini, Ugo Girardeau, Mathieu Bonche, Julien Anthérieu, Sylvain Janny and Jérôme Janny. Always spectacular, Romain Fostier will make his return and be among the long list of outsiders, as will Florian Picchioni. Maxence Passaquet and Enzo Beschet will also be in action to show the improvement they have all made, and the service park will welcome back Gabriel Conti as well.                                                                                                          

Women's category leader Élodie Gines will aim higher in the general classification and try to increase her lead over Margot Dupuy and Charlotte Olea, winners of the last two rounds. Three-time French Women's Rally Champion Allison Viano will also try to climb up the hierarchy.

Gentlemen category leader Eric Royère will use all his experience to distance himself from his pursuers. This will however be a tall order against Luxembourg's Mike Souvigné, winner on his debut in Rouergue. Dominique Patenotte is also looking for a good result, as are Jean-Pierre Lejeune and newcomers Sébastien Duriez and Patrick Favre.

The penultimate round of the calendar will see the return of Medhi Oddoux and Kévin Duc, already seen on this event last year. The latter will face his brother Alex, a newcomer to the trophy, while another pair of brothers will be at the start with the debut of Tristan Pieri. Tom Pieri's brother can count on co-driver Alizée Pottier, who is well known for racing Clio RX in the French Junior Rallycross Championship. Former Clio Trophy Swiss competitor Jérôme Bonnefoy is also entered as are Germany's Alexander Ernst, Julien Deslauriers, Nicolas Favre, Steve D'Angelo and Loïc Pautou, all of whom are Clio Trophy France novices.

The Rallye Mont-Blanc Morzine will offer fourteen stages totalling 183.70 timed kilometres on a total route of 468.54 km. Seven timed sectors await the competitors on Friday before repeating them in a different order on Saturday. SS12, Morzine - Montriond Le Lac will host the Jean Ragnotti Power Stage, which will reward the ten fastest crews bonus points.

Alongside the Clio Trophy France Asphalte, Ismaël Vuistiner will defend his position as leader of the Clio Trophy Swiss, while four Clio Rally4s will be on the starting grid. All in all, the 60 Clio Rally4s and Rally5s entered will make Renault the most represented brand on the rally.

Entry list

#62 Thomas Chauffray – Anthony Hamard
#63 Tom Pieri – Amandine Borderie (J)
#64 Patrick Magnou – Anthony Vilanova
#65 Benjamin Stirling – Antoine Paque (J)
#66 Jérémy Sarhy – Loïck Declerck (J)
#67 Styve Juif – Maxime Biegalke (J)
#68 Louis Myr – Camille Flajolet (J)
#69 Pierre Paul Baltolu – Gilles Cler (J)
#70 Guillaume Bonnet – Cédric Santini (J)
#71 Yoan Corberand – Emeline Faivre
#72 Sébastien Rambaud – Nicolas Febvre (J)
#73 Yannick Francisci – Loïc Boudaud (J)
#74 Romain Fostier – Ophélie Abchiche (J)
#75 Valentin Ascenzi – Corentin Silvestre (J)
#76 Benjamin Barnouin – Enzo Mahinc (J)
#77 Nicolas Hebrard – Bastien Dumas
#78 Éric Royère – Gilbert Dini (G)
#79 Enzo Lucotte – Manon Deliot (J)
#80 Yann Clairay – Quentin Trochu
#81 Tristan Pieri – Alizée Pottier (J)
#82 Julien Deslauriers – Amandine Brunel
#83 Calvin Lucas – Amandine Houry (J)
#84 Élodie Gines – Lisa Tornior (F)
#85 Arthur Roché – Quentin Proust (J)
#86 Franck Giraud – Sylvain Guillaume
#87 Mike Souvigné – Ann Felke (G)
#88 Margot Dupuy – Clio Chambelland (F)
#89 Matthieu Suzzarini – Sony Postel
#90 Charlotte Olea – Cécile Pages (J,F)
#91 Ugo Girardeau – Julien Bichon
#92 Dominique Patenotte – Romain Gandre (G)
#93 Mathieu Bonche – Florian Chardon (J)
#94 Julien Anthérieu – Eddy Jabeneau
#95 Sylvain Janny – Mireille Guy
#96 Florian Picchioni – Sarah Filipe
#97 Alex Duc – Yann Duc (J)
#98 Medhi Oddoux – Julien Giroux (J)
#99 Kévin Duc – Séverine Chamiot-Maitral (J)
#100 Jérôme Janny – Clément Gutierrez
#101 Allison Viano – Mallaury Sola (J,F)
#102 Maxence Passaquet – Michel Damian (J)
#103 Enzo Beschet – Pierrot Rousselet (J)
#104 Alexander Ernst – Jan-Eric Bemmann (J)
#105 Jean-Pierre Lejeune – Geneviève Arnavielhe (G)
#106 Gabriel Conti – Vanessa Robert (J)
#107 Jérôme Bonnefoy – Martial Liechty
#108 Loïc Pautou – Tom Benedetto
#109 Steve D’Angelo – Mathieu Coppa
#110 Nicolas Favre – Sébastien Garnier
#111 Sébastien Duriez – Sébastien Jeannin (G)
#112 Patrick Favre – Clément Certano (G)