The Corsican special stages have long played host to the French round of the World Rally Championship, but now they’re back on the national scene with an event based in Aléria. While those accustomed to historic rallies are familiar with the tarmac roads of Aléria, for the vast majority of competitors, the gravel tracks will be a new experience. They will therefore have to start from scratch before analysing the videos provided by the organisers and honing their notebooks during the recce runs.

Winner of this season’s first two rounds, Jean-Sébastien Vigion will rely on his experience to outrun his rivals. The Clio Trophy France Terre leader might even be one of the contenders hoping that the weather holds a few surprises to prove again his mastery in all conditions as he did in the two previous rounds. However, his opponents hope to regain the upper hand on this event. Tom Pieri and Laurent Reuche, who have both visited the podium this year, are among them, as Mika Rasoamaromaka, determined to continue his comeback to keep his title hopes alive.

The Jean Ragnotti Power Stage standings points leader, Matteo Chatillon is keen to continue his excellent form throughout the event to take his maiden victory this season and surpass Tom Pieri in the Junior category. He isn’t the only driver aiming for the top spot as Florian Condamines, Julien Deslauriers, Jean-Paul Monnin and Baptiste Panissié are all determined to pick up the pace after their double top-ten finishes. Opposing them, Patrick Magnou, Faniry Rasoamaromaka, Benjamin Boulenc, John Laroche and Julien Pontal will attempt to make up ground after having been poorly rewarded for their efforts or already used a joker this season.

In this first-ever round, the island drivers hope to spring a surprise on home soil. Among them, Anthony Rovina and Loïc de la Taste will try to continue their solid starts to the trophy with a convincing result. Jean-Claude Pietri and Yannick Francisci, two driving forces in Clio Trophy France Asphalte, are eager to excel on another surface to confirm their potential. Newcomers Ludovic Pomponi and Igor Giusti will also put their experience to good use to shake up the hierarchy and defend the Corsican colors.

Meanwhile, Lilian Vialle, Nicolas Ressegaire and Christophe Rocard want to end Laurent Reuche’s winning streak in the Gentlemen category. The Corsican special stages will also see Christophe Truchet, Jean Lavigne, Vincent Favre-Miville, Ludovic De Luca, Charles Thonnelier, Ludovic Casciani and Loïc Pautou aim for big points to climb the classification despite the return of Aurélien Devanthery, Sylvain Tamisier, Inès Tamisier and Sébastien Studer, fifth in the trophy in 2021. The 36-crew service park will be completed by Dimitri Felices and Belgian Samuel Lay, following on from his Clio Trophy France Asphalte debut in Antibes.

Meanwhile, three privateer Clio Rally3s will battle in the trusty hands of Quentin Ribaud, Corsican Henri-Marc Venturini and 2021 FIA R-GT Cup winner Pierre Ragues. Clio Trophy France Terre title holder Florian Bouchonneau will also aim for his second victory behind in the official Castrol’s Clio Rally4.

Based in Aléria, the first edition of this rally will begin on Friday morning with the traditional recce of the day’s three-special stage loop, which they will run twice, interspersed with a seaside service. On Saturday, the competitors will tackle two more timed sectors twice, the first of which will be 19.01km long, with bonus points up for grabs in the Jean Ragnotti Power Stage. The ten special stages will total 123.92 kilometres of action on a course totalling 256.30 km.

Entry list
#47 Jean-Sébastien Vigion – Amandine Borderie
#48 Tom Pieri – Alexis Maillefert (J)
#49 Laurent Reuche – Patrick Spart (G)
#50 Mattéo Chatillon – Maxence Cornuau (J)
#51 Julien Deslauriers – Amandine Brunel
#52 Florian Condamines – Damien Jole
#53 Jean Paul Monnin – Franck Gilliot
#54 Mika Rasoamaromaka – Bastien Pouget (J)
#55 Baptiste Panissie – Gaël Lavernhe (J)
#56 Patrick Magnou – Anthony Vilanova
#57 Faniry Rasoamaromaka – Baptiste Langlois (J)
#58 Benjamin Boulenc – Chloé Barozzi-Gauze
#59 John Laroche – Manon Deliot
#60 Julien Pontal – Loan Biagetti (J)
#61 Anthony Rovina – Kylian Sarmezan (J)
#62 Aurélien Devanthery – Gaël Delasoie
#63 Jean-Claude Pietri – Jean-François Muselli (J)
#64 Lilian Vialle – Manuel Ghirardello (G)
#65 Christophe Truchet – Barbara Truchet
#66 Jean Lavigne – Arnaud Cubizolles (J)
#67 Loïc de la Taste – Benjamin Mondière (J)
#68 Ludovic Casciani – Clément Gorda
#69 Yannick Francisci – Lisa-Maria Vinciguerra (J)
#70 Dimitri Felices – Séverine Chariot
#71 Samuel Lay – Geoffrey Brion (J)
#72 Igor Giusti – Franck Pasqualini
#73 Vincent Favre-Miville – Cédric Causse
#74 Loïc Pautou – Sonny Postel
#75 Sébastien Studer – Maude Studer
#76 Ludovic De Luca – José Boyer
#77 Charles Thonnelier – Julien Saint-Dizier
#78 Sylvain Tamisier – Mathieu Tamisier
#79 Christophe Rocard – Florian Chardon (G)
#80 Ludovic Pomponi – Nicolas Ferracci
#81 Nicolas Ressegaire – Amandine Houry (G)
#82 Inès Tamisier – Laurent Tamisier (J,F)