For the first time in the Clio Rally5 era, the ‘Charbo’ welcomed the Clio Trophy France Asphalte and its record field for an opening round. After Thursday’s shakedown, Enzo Beschet, Killian Marry, Johan Grès and Julien Arnaud each won a Michelin tyre to add to their starting allocation, thanks to the draw organised by Ceerta, Michelin Motorsport’s official distributor in the French Rally Championship.
Third in his first campaign last year, Lucas Zielinski set the pace on Friday morning in the Monts du Lyonnais region. However, Julien Deslauriers Sablonnière took the lead in the second special stage and extended his lead when his rival made a mistake in the morning’s final timed sector. In the afternoon, Yoan Corberand became the fourth competitor to win a stage before he doubled up to close the gap to 2.0s. However, Julien Deslauriers Sablonnière responded at the end of the day to finish the leg with a 2.4s lead over the David Auto Compétition driver. Further back, Anthony Diel was in third place in his home rally, followed by Valentin Ascenzi and Tom Vauclare.
Julien Deslauriers Sablonnière struck first on Saturday morning, but Yoan Corberand fought back to take the lead. Rather than give up, the fallen leader immediately regained his position, while Valentin Ascenzi went on the attack and won two special stages to get back into contention. Jean-Claude Pietri moved up to fourth place with the fastest time in SS7 and a puncture for Anthony Diel in SS9.
The intensity grew as the event neared its finish. The gaps continued to narrow in Val d’Oingt-Chambost, and then Yoan Corberand reclaimed the lead by 0.3s in the penultimate stage. The eventual outcome came down to the final timed sector, where Yoan Corberand showed his composure over the last 21.02 km to seal his second victory in the Clio Trophy France Asphalte after his win in the 2024 Rallye Vosges Grand-Est.
After more than 200 kilometres of action, Yoan Corberand won by 1.5s ahead of Julien Deslauriers Sablonnière. Best Junior and fastest over the last five stages, Valentin Ascenzi finished just 0.9s further back to complete the closest podium in the trophy history. Jean-Claude Pietri finished fourth ahead of Tom Vauclare and Paul Dachicourt, who inherited sixth place after Marc Pompei suffered a puncture. Florent Fagnone, Enzo Beschet, Christophe Truchet and Yohan Codaccioni rounded off an incredibly close top ten. Leaders from start to finish in their respective classes, Pascal Bérard and Charlotte Olea respectively won the Gentlemen and Woman categories at the end of a rally in which an impressive 45 crews reached the finish.
On the strength of his success, Yoan Corberand enjoys a 14-point lead over Valentin Ascenzi, whose 39 Performer Jean Ragnotti points put him ahead of Julien Deslauriers Sablonnière in the standings. Yoan Corberand’s victory and Enzo Beschet’s performance put David Auto Compétition in the lead in the team classification. The season’s first winner also lifts Groupe Bertrand to the top of the Renault Network Challenge with the support of Florent Fagnone.
Clio Rally3 and Clio Rally4 also impressed in round two of the French Rally Championship. Thomas Battaglia and Lisa Tornior led an all-Clio Rally3 podium in its class while Quentin Ribaud and Loan Biagetti led Clio Rally4 to the podium top step in the Michelin Amateurs Trophy and Rally4.
The Rallye Aveyron Rouergue Occitanie (3-5 July) will host the next Clio Trophy France Asphalte round. In the meantime, Clio Trophy France Terre will be back in action in Corsica at Rallye Terre d’Aléria (29-31 May).
Yoan Corberand : "It feels great to win a rally that I had never done before, and with our new team, David Auto Compétition. The battle promised to be intense against some tough competition, but I didn’t expect such a finish ! There wasn’t a plan : we just had to try to gain – or not lose – every tenth of a second at every corner. We had to be consistent, fast and keep our cool throughout the weekend. Florence brought a lot to the table for our first rally together. We worked together perfectly as if we had always raced together. I’m looking forward to Rouergue, which I think is the best event on the calendar. We already have a good foundation for this round, and we’ll be a little more confident thanks to our success here !"
Clio Trophy France Asphalte – Rallye Rhône-Charbonnières
1. Yoan Corberand – Florence Stirling 1h50m04.1s
2. Julien Deslauriers-Sablonnière – Amandine Brunel+1.5s
3. Valentin Ascenzi – Melvine Pitois (J) +2.4s
4. Jean-Claude Pietri – Jean-François Muselli (J) +1m13.3s
5. Tom Vauclare – Frédéric Vauclare (J) +1m22.2s
6. Paul Dachicourt – Adèle Dachicourt (J) +1m35.8s
7. Florent Fagnone – Benjamin Fagnone+2m39.9s
8. Enzo Beschet – Emmanuel Guinchard (J) +2m45.2s
9. Christophe Truchet – Barbara Truchet+3m05s
10. Yohan Codaccioni – Florian Chardon (J) +3m05.8s
11. Clément Didier – Rémy Germain (J) +3m13.3s
12. Anthony Diel – Yannis Gosselin+3m13.4s
13. Alex Florenson – Charline Dichamp (J) +3m27.8s
14. Marc Pompei – Matthieu Belhacene (J) +3m36.8s
15. Yohan Roumieux – Bastien Fontaine+3m53.7s
16. Nicolas Paviet-Roche – Tony Ponsot+3m53.7s
17. Lucas Valliccioni – Charline Mollier (J) +3m56.5s
18. Pascal Bérard – Caroline Bérard (G) +4m55.8s
19. Dorian Baptiste – Grégory Poitevin (J) +5m03.1s
20. Sylvain Lenne – Jérémy Pacaud+5m13.7s
21. Jérôme Janny – Helena Pecheur+5m20.2s
22. Charlotte Olea – Cécile Pages (J, F) +5m55.4s
23. Johan Grès – Caroline Puel+6m01.7s
24. Louis Gass – Kévin Gass (J) +6m25.3s
25. Jacques Bourrat – Jean Bourrat (G) +7m23.3s
26. Raphaël Monnier – Jean-François Hugon (G) +7m33s
27. Franck Giraud – Christophe Dubien (G) +8m56s
28. Pascal Donnadieu – Laurent Delmas (G) +9m07.5s
29. Loïc Scandola – Sonny Postel (J) +9m09.3s
30. Laurent Lambert – Yannick Le Moing (G)+9m25.8s
31. Ludovic Lamarche – Julien Hufschmidt +9m58.9s
32. Julien Arnaud – Marion Renchet (J) +9m59.3s
33. Émilien Sanlaville – Amaury Sanlaville+12m53.7s
34. Enzo Mavounzy – Julien Loiseau (J) +13m16.6s
35. Emma Chalvin – Charline Quartini (J, F) +14m21.1s
36. Arnaud Boulangé – Lilou Boulangé+14m44.7s
37. Philippe Janvier – Julie Derory (G) +16m07.6s
39. Mathieu Duclos – Valentine Donat-Magnin+16m25.2s
39. Killian Marry – Adam Thouez (J) +16m32s
40. Aurélien Dumont – Fabien Hanquez (J) +17m12.8s
41. Maxence Girard – Maxime Cotte-Colisson (J) +21m21.1s
42. Hugo Ramillon – Baptiste Gauthier (J) +26m21.9s
43. Lucas Zielinski – Clémence Favy (J) +40m15.2s
44. David Panteix – Morgan Lefebvre (J) +49m00s
45. Amaury Facchinetti – Emma Bonnemort (J) +1h23m05.5s
Ret. Kévin Duc – Séverine Chamiot-Maitral (J)
Ret. Romain Fostier – Ophélie Abchiche
Ret. Léo Vericel – Enzo Forissier (J)
Ret. Julien Sabatier – Brandon Masson (J)
Ret. Rémy Narbon – Jade Gaston (J)
Clio Trophy France Asphalte - Jean Ragnotti Performers - Teams standings - Renault Network Challenge