Forty-four crews were gathered in Rodez with Clio Rally5 to mark the halfway point in the Clio Trophy France Asphalte season. After the recce and shakedown, Romain Fostier, Jordan D’Agostino, Pierre Paul Baltolu and Julien Charnay each won a tyre in the draw organised by Ceerta, the official Michelin Motorsport distributor of the French Rally Championship. This prize is in addition to the two-tyre starting bonus for all competitors in the trophy.

Under sunny skies on Friday, Valentin Ascenzi dominated the early stages of the rally. Victorious at Le Touquet and in the lead at Antibes before retiring, the 3P Racing by GMC Compétition driver continued his impressive form by winning the first two stages. Meanwhile, the event caught out Antibes winner Benjamin Barnouin, who went off the road in the opening timed sector.

With the neutralisation of the morning’s final stage, Valentin Ascenzi returned to the service park with a 3.3s lead, but Arthur Pelamourgues went on the offensive in the afternoon. After taking second place 0.7s behind the leader, the Fun Meca Sport driver saw his efforts undone by a wheel change due to a puncture in Campouriez - Le Nayrac, one of the rally’s first litmus tests. Valentin Ascenzi took advantage to increase his lead and finished the first leg with a 33.2s advantage over the group formed by Benjamin Stirling, Romain Fostier and Yoan Corberand, all covered by 7.2s.

True to its reputation, the Rouergue had more twists and turns in store. Third Friday evening, Romain Fostier retired due to a mechanical issue. A few hours later, Valentin Ascenzi crashed out on SS8. Benjamin Stirling inherited the lead ahead of Yoan Corberand and Arthur Pelamourgues, who made an impressive comeback by monopolising the fastest times in the morning, including the Luc - Moyrazès stage to secure maximum bonus points on the Jean Ragnotti Power Stage.

Benjamin Stirling started the decisive loop with a 19.7s lead over Yoan Corberand and a 31.6s advantage from Arthur Pelamourgues, who continued his push in Lévézou and Luc - Moyrazès to pull back to within 10.7s of the leader. However, Benjamin Stirling didn’t waver, winning the final timed stage in the streets of Rodez to seal his first Clio Trophy France Asphalte victory. He was joined on the podium by Arthur Pelamourgues and Yoan Corberand.

Initially fourth, Nicolas Hebrard was penalised ten seconds after the finish, relegating him behind Belgian Samuel Lay, who completed the Junior podium in only his second start in the trophy. Nicolas Hebrard nevertheless put a third Sébastien Loeb Racing Clio Rally5 in the top five ahead of Mattéo Chatillon and Corsicans Jean-Claude Pietri, who confirmed his fine debut with another top-seven finish, and Yannick Francisci. Arthur Roché posted his best result, finishing ninth ahead of Tom Vauclare and Patrick Vernet, the third different Gentlemen category winner of the season. Charlotte Olea, who won the Women’s category on her comeback, also took a superb second place in the French Women’s Rally Championship.

While Benjamin Stirling becomes the third different winner this season, he extends his lead to 18 points over his team-mate and closest rival in the general classification, Yoan Corberand. Meanwhile, his Junior lead grows to 38 points over Arthur Pelamourgues in the race for an official 2024 programme. Lastly, his success sees Sébastien Loeb Racing increase its lead in the team’s classification, as does Groupe Bertrand in the Renault Network Challenge.

In parallel with the Clio Trophy France Asphalte, Clio Rally3 and Clio Rally4 won their respective classes. On home soil, Gaël Alquier led Clio Rally3 to victory by more than two minutes, while Styve Juif triumphed in Rally4 and the Michelin Trophy after a serious and committed effort. Alpine Racing’s competition racing department also wishes the official Clio Rally4 crew of Tom Pieri and co-driver Fabien Cortes a speedy recovery following their big accident.

The Clio Trophy France Asphalte service park is now preparing to enjoy the summer break before the return to action at Rallye Mont-Blanc Morzine (August 31-September 2), the venue for the penultimate round of the calendar.

Clio Trophy France Asphalte - Rallye Aveyron Rouergue Occitanie
1. Benjamin Stirling – Florence Stirling (J) 2:04.08s
2. Arthur Pelamourgues – Bastien Pouget (J) +11.6s
3. Yoan Corberand – Amélie Pierron +17.7s
4. Samuel Lay – Geoffrey Brion (J) +1:37.0s
5. Nicolas Hebrard – Amandine Houry +1:37.3s
6. Mattéo Chatillon – Maxence Cornuau (J) +1 :46.8s
7. Jean-Claude Pietri – Kylian Sarmezan (J) +2:04.5s
8. Yannick Francisci – François-Marie Ghelardini (J) +2:15.5s
9. Arthur Roché – Samuel Passetemps (J) +2:54.4s
10. Tom Vauclare – Frédéric Vauclare (J) +3:08.8s
11. Patrick Vernet – Xavier Barrau (G) +3:22.4s
12. Tobias Laurence – Florian Duthu (J) +3:25.1s
13. Enzo Beschet – Manon Perrin (J) +4:39.0s
14. Mike Souvigné – Jan-Eric Bemmann (G) +5:01.0s
15. Julien Charnay – Maxime Gomez +5:17.0s
16. Jérôme Janny – Aurélien Beaudouin +5:26.6s
17. Tom Pellerey – Hervé Faucher (J) +5:36.5s
18. Nicolas Paviet-Roche – Severine Chamiot-Maitral +6:59.1s
19. Thomas Santiago – Ludovic Boudou (J) +7:01.7s
20. Pascal Bérard – Caroline Berard (G) +7:24.9s
21. Pascal Donnadieu – Laurent Delmas (G) +7:41.1s
22. Dominique Patenotte – Vincent Deloustau (G) +7:46.7s
23. Johan Gres – Aurelia Pailloux-Mazars +7:58.4s
24. Franck Giraud – Sylvain Guillaume (G) +9:33.2s
25. Philippe Janvier – Benjamin Mondiere (G) +11:26.7s
26. Charlotte Olea – Cécile Pages (J,F) +11:45.3s
27. José Da Cunha – Magalie Da Cunha (G) +14:09.4s
28. Patrick Favre – Clément Certano (G) +14:26.0s
29. Théo Apchie – Aurélie Vedrine (J) +15:08.2s
30. Jordan D’Agostino – Florian Chardon (J) +15:21.8s
31. Kévin Cichosz – Adèle Cichosz +15:59.2s
32. Philippe Bausset – Frédéric Preteseille (G) +24:47.9s
33. Jean-Pierre Lejeune – Geneviève Arnavielhe (G) +30:33.8s
Ret. Christophe Gouville – François Heer
Ret. Quentin Roger – Alysée Poillon (J)
Ret. Valentin Ascenzi – Marine Lacruz (J)
Ret. Matthieu Fassio – Hugo Olivier
Ret. Julien Anthérieu – Faustin Frutoso (J)
Ret. Romain Fostier – Ophélie Abchiche
Ret. Pierre Paul Baltolu – Anthony Pes (J)
Ret. Florian Condamines – Cédric Santini
Ret. Romain Perrin – Albin Goutry-André (J)
Ret. Julien Deslauriers – Amandine Brunel
Ret. Benjamin Barnouin – Enzo Mahinc (J)

Drivers standings - Teams standings - Jean Ragnotti Power Stage standings - Renault Network Challenge