Thirty-four Clio Rally5s gathered in Rodez to mark the halfway point of the 2024 Clio Trophy France Asphalte season. On Thursday, Enzo Beschet, Jérôme Janny, Teddy Turco and Franck Barry each won a tyre in a draw organised by Ceerta, the official Michelin Motorsport distributor in the French Rally Championship. Awarded at each round, this prize is in addition to the two-tyre start bonus for all trophy competitors.

After a rainy shakedown, the crews battled in bright sunshine on Friday. Winners of the first two events on the calendar, Arthur Pelamourgues and Yoan Corberand were beaten by Julien Deslauriers Sablonnière and Samuel Lay in the first special stage. Arthur Pelamourgues responded quickly, but Julien Deslauriers Sablonnière then extended his advantage to more than ten seconds before the gaps were closed again on the iconic Campouriez - Le Nayrac test. Julien Deslauriers Sablonnière returned to the service park with a lead reduced to 2.6s over Arthur Pelamourgues, followed closely by Yoan Corberand and a group formed by Lucas Zielinski, Benjamin Barnouin and Samuel Lay.

In the repeat loop, Julien Deslauriers Sablonnière and Arthur Pelamourgues continued to trade blows. The Fun Meca Sport driver even briefly took the lead by a tenth of a second after SS6, but Julien Deslauriers Sablonnière hit back immediately. The second pass through Campouriez - Le Nayrac changed the complexion of the rally, however, as Julien Deslauriers Sablonnière claimed his fifth fastest stage of the day. At the same time, Arthur Pelamourgues had to stop to change a wheel after a minor incident. The Clio Trophy France Asphalte leader before the start, Yoan Corberand, also lost time with a puncture in the same timed sector.

Julien Deslauriers Sablonnière started the second leg 20.3s ahead of Lucas Zielinski and 32.8s clear of Samuel Lay. The native of Beaumont extended his lead even further in cloudy conditions on Séverac-l’Eglise - Laissac before setting the fastest time in the rain at Lévézou and beating his main pursuers at Luc-la-Primaube - Moyrazès. With an advantage of 34.3s, Julien Deslauriers Sablonnière controlled his pace on the decisive loop, paced by the intensifying duel between Lucas Zielinski and Samuel Lay.

At the end of the Rodez super-stage, Julien Deslauriers Sablonnière sealed his first success in the Clio Trophy France Asphalte, becoming the third different winner in as many rallies contested this season. Samuel Lay, who set the best times on SS13 and SS14, took second place and victory in the Junior category from Lucas Zielinski by just four-tenths of a second, despite Zielinski fighting back in the final kilometres. The fastest driver on Saturday, Arthur Pelamourgues, finished fourth ahead of Benjamin Barnouin and Yoan Corberand, who recovered well from their respective punctures. Jérôme Janny was a consistent seventh, ahead of Tom Vauclare, Thomas Santiago and Paul Dachicourt. Fifteenth-placed Charlotte Olea won the Women’s category and achieved her best overall result. She was ahead of Pascal Bérard, who led from start to finish in the Gentlemen category.

Despite his unexpected stop on Friday evening, Arthur Pelamourgues retakes the Clio Trophy France Asphalte lead with a seven-point advantage over Yoan Corberand. Winner of the Jean Ragnotti Power Stage, the Rodez native stays on top of the Junior category, where an official programme is at stake for 2025. Behind Lucas Zielinski and Samuel Lay, Julien Deslauriers Sablonnière returns to the top five of the general classification thanks to his success. The performances of Samuel Lay and Jérôme Janny see the David Automobiles structure move ahead of Sébastien Loeb Racing in the teams’ classification and Groupe Bertrand in the Renault Network Challenge.

Clio Rally3 and Clio Rally4 also impressed in Aveyron. Benjamin and Florence Stirling claimed their second consecutive win and third podium in as many appearances with the official Castrol Clio Rally3. The Sébastien Loeb Racing crew completed a grand slam to finish just outside the overall top ten and lead a one-two for Clio Rally3 in its class. Meanwhile, Clio Rally4 completed a hat-trick of wins for the three rallying versions of the Renault Clio, with the Fun Meca Sport duo of Quentin Ribaud and Loan Biagetti claiming victory in their class and the Michelin Amateur Trophy despite tricky conditions and an unfavourable starting position on Friday.

The Clio Trophy France Asphalte competitors now head into their summer break before returning to the tarmac at Rallye Mont-Blanc Morzine (5-7 September), the penultimate round of 2024.

Julien Deslauriers Sablonnière : "We’re extremely pleased to score our first Clio Trophy France Asphalte victory. Amandine and I have chased after this for just over two years now. Since changing teams, we’ve been progressing step by step, without missing a beat, to propel ourselves to the front. As with all rallies, we prepared ourselves with a lot of analysis of the onboard cameras and videos, particularly with a lot of work beforehand, as we suspected the weather conditions would be somewhat tricky. It was the case, and our efforts with Autocantal Compétition helped us find a good compromise based on our driving style. We devised something efficient so we didn’t have to drive at 120%. Given the times we set this weekend, we should be happy with our new set-up. There are two rounds left, one of which we know very well. We will get back to work with the ambition of staying in contention with all the rivals we’re battling with and securing podium results at each event. We want to carry the momentum, more motivated than ever !"

Clio Trophy France Asphalte – Rallye Aveyron Rouergue Occitanie*
1. Julien Deslauriers Sablonnière – Amandine Brunel 2h14m29.7s
2. Samuel Lay – Thomas Walbrecq (J) +20.2s
3. Lucas Zielinski – Clémence Favy (J) +20.6s
4. Arthur Pelamourgues – Bastien Pouget (J) +1m02.5s
5. Benjamin Barnouin – Romain Garel (J) +2m03.6s
6. Yoan Corberand – Pauline Compozieux +3m44.3s
7. Jérôme Janny – Aurélien Beaudouin +3m59.1s
8. Tom Vauclare – Frédéric Vauclare (J) +4m41.7s
9. Thomas Santiago – Guillaume François (J) +6m23.5s
10. Paul Dachicourt – Adèle Dachicourt (J) +6m44.3s
11. Enzo Beschet – Emmanuel Guinchard (J) +7m11.3s
12. Johan Gres – Aurélia Pailloux-Mazars +7m37.9s
13. Jean-Claude Pietri – Jean-François Muselli (J) +7m39.5s
14. Amaury Facchinetti – Léo Lhomme (J) +7m40.3s
15. Charlotte Olea – Cécile Pages (J, F) +8m22.2s
16. Pascal Bérard – Caroline Bérard (G) +10m20.6s
17. Robin Mercier – Enzo Mahinc (J) +10m23.0s
18. Gabin Chivaydel – Jeanne Rey (J) +11m03.1s
19. Franck Giraud – Sylvain Guillaume (G) +12m31.2s
20. Jacques Bourrat – Jean Bourrat (G) +13m47.2s
21. Kevin Cichosz – Adele Cichosz +14m10.6s
22. Batiste Moisset - Rémi Mejane (J) +17m05.2s
23. Simon Salaun - Romain Ansel (J) +17m14.0s
24. Teddy Turco – Alexandra Fontana (J) +17m17.9s
25. Calvin Lucas – Manon Perrin (J) +22m07.9s
26. Willy Mathey – Maëlle Casays (G) +25m03.5s
27. Franck Barry – Frédéric Maury (G) +29m00.8s
28. Romain Misiek – Thibaut Misiek (J) +32m40.9s
29. Maxence Da Cunha – Lea Guioz (J) +46m25.5s
Ret. Néo Rivallant – Julien Loiseau (J)
Ret. Nicolas Hebrard – Amandine Houry
Ret. Anthony Diel – Yannis Gosselin
Ret. Frédéric Misiek – Valérie Misiek (G)
Ret. Maxence Potard – Albin Goutry-André (J)
*subject to confirmation of results after final scrutineering

Clio Trophy France Asphalte - Teams standings - Jean Ragnotti Power Stage - Renault Network Challenge