The title races are in high gear in Clio Trophy France Asphalte, with three winners from as many rallies. Winner at the 2024 opening round in Le Touquet, Arthur Pelamourgues heads to Morzine with a seven-point lead over Vosges victor Yoan Corberand. However, the provisional leaderboard offers a very different picture. The drop of the worst points score currently favours Julien Deslauriers, who scored his maiden win just before the summer break in Rouergue.

The tension promises to escalate in a round where the slightest slip-up could carry serious consequences. As leader in the Junior category, Arthur Pelamourgues will also do his utmost to extend his margin over the chasing pack. Among them, Lucas Zielinski and Samuel Lay will look to build on their podium finishes in Aveyron and chase a first win. Benjamin Barnouin, who finished third last year in Morzine, is also likely to be at the sharp end of the field, although the Vaucluse native already used his joker in Le Touquet. Among the Juniors still in contention, Jean-Claude Pietri, Tom Vauclare, Enzo Beschet and Amaury Facchinetti will all aim to reposition themselves for the final stretch run.

Several Juniors will take a far more aggressive approach to speed up their learning curve to confirm their pace. Maxence Potard, Paul Dachicourt and Néo Rivallant, who all have stage wins to their credit, have the top spots in their sights. Thomas Santiago, Robin Mercier, and Teddy Turco also hope to step up their game while Charlotte Olea wants to build on her best overall result and take a step towards the Women’s title.

With his consistency, Franck Giraud leads the Gentleman category at the start of the back half of the season. He is targeting a first win this season, but Willy Mathey is aiming for a return to the podium’s top step, and Pascal Bérard is chasing a third consecutive success after setting the pace in the Vosges and Rouergue. Opposite this trio, Jacques Bourrat, Frédéric Misiek and Jean-Pierre Lejeune will try to avoid the Mont-Blanc pitfalls and do well before the season finale in the Cévennes.

Sixth and thirteenth overall, Jérôme Janny and Anthony Diel have lofty ambitions in a field where several familiar faces return, such as Romain Fostier, second last year on these roads. Antoine Massé, Kévin Duc and Nicolas Vanderweerde will also make their comebacks, aiming for a top-ten finish, as will Marc Pompei, Rémy Narbon, David Jeanne, Baptiste Voillaume and Nicolas Paviet-Roche. Lastly, the Clio Trophy France Asphalte welcomes newcomers Clément Didier, Enzo Mavounzy and Benjamin Herail.

Title holder and last year’s winner on the Alpine roads with Clio Rally5, Benjamin Stirling will be behind the wheel of the official Clio Rally3 in the Castrol colours. With Florence Stirling to his right, he seeks a third consecutive win and a fourth consecutive podium in his category. Four other Clio Rally3s, five Clio Rally4s and seven non-trophy Clio Rally5s will also be in action.

The Rallye Mont-Blanc Morzine, which takes place on Friday and Saturday, comprises 14 special stages totalling 198.98 timed kilometres on a total route of 506.83km. SS12 La Côte d’Arbroz - Sommand (28.06km) will host the Jean Ragnotti Power Stage, with bonus points awarded to the ten fastest crews.

Entry list
#64 Arthur Pelamourgues – Bastien Pouget (J)
#65 Yoan Corberand – Pauline Compozieux
#66 Lucas Zielinski – Alexia Desnoyer (J)
#67 Samuel Lay – Thomas Walbrecq (J)
#68 Julien Deslauriers – Amandine Brunel
#69 Jérôme Janny – Aurélien Beaudouin
#70 Enzo Beschet – Emmanuel Guinchard (J)
#71 Benjamin Barnouin – Romain Garel (J)
#72 Jean-Claude Pietri – Jean-François Muselli (J)
#73 Amaury Facchinetti – Corentin Degut (J)
#74 Tom Vauclare – Frédéric Vauclare (J)
#75 Maxence Potard – Albin Goutry-André (J)
#76 Romain Fostier – Ophélie Abchiche
#77 Antoine Massé – Melvine Pitois
#78 Thomas Santiago – Guillaume François (J)
#79 Anthony Diel – Yannis Gosselin
#80 Paul Dachicourt – Adèle Dachicourt (J)
#81 Kévin Duc – Séverine Chamiot-Maitral (J)
#82 Franck Giraud – Sylvain Guillaume (G)
#83 Néo Rivallant – Nicolas Blanc (J)
#84 Nicolas Vanderweerde – Therry Closter
#85 Pascal Bérard – Caroline Bérard (G)
#86 Willy Mathey – Cédric Causse (G)
#87 Robin Mercier – Laurent Mercier (J)
#88 Clément Didier – Rémy Germain (J)
#89 Charlotte Olea – Cécile Pages (J, F)
#90 Teddy Turco – Aurélie Védrine (J)
#91 Marc Pompei – Yoann Raffaelli (J)
#92 Remy Narbon – Emeline Vo Dinh (J)
#93 Jacques Bourrat – Jean Bourrat (G)
#94 David Jeanne – Stéphanie Rivallant
#95 Nicolas Paviet-Roche – Tony Ponsot
#96 Enzo Mavounzy – Romain Gavoye (J)
#97 Benjamin Herail – Emma Bonnemort
#98 Baptiste Voillaume – Jean-Marc Mulot
#99 Frédéric Misiek – Valérie Misiek (G)
#100 Jean-Pierre Lejeune – Geneviève Arnavielhe (G)