This week, the Clio Trophy France Asphalte and its 34 Renault Clio Rally5-strong service park heads to the Aveyron for a confrontation that could change the races for the titles.

Respectively winners at Le Touquet and Les Vosges, Arthur Pelamourgues and Yoan Corberand are the pre-event favourites. Thanks to his victory on home soil, Yoan Corberand arrives in Rodez with a one-point lead over his rival, but the latter has now the opportunity to shine on his local roads to regain the advantage. The duel between the leaders of the Fun Meca Sport and Sébastien Loeb Racing teams promises to be all the more intense given that the two drivers battled for second place in Rouergue last year, with Arthur Pelamourgues beating Yoan Corberand by 6.1s.

Their pursuers, however, are counting on taking advantage of any miscues on their part. Jean-Claude Pietri and Julien Deslauriers, who have already finished on the podium this year, aim to make up ground and put themselves back in contention for the title. Lucas Zielinski, who has made a promising start in the trophy, hopes to break new ground and pop the champagne for the first time this year, as does Maxence Potard and Samuel Lay, who finished fourth last year.

Several competitors are keen to rebound from a slow start to the season. Local driver Nicolas Hebrard looks to bounce back while Benjamin Barnouin and Tom Vauclare will do their utmost to move up in the hierarchy, and the race for the official programme promised to the best Junior. Their ambitions could be thwarted by Enzo Beschet, Jérôme Janny, Amaury Facchinetti and Anthony Diel, all determined to consolidate their places in the top ten overall. Néo Rivallant, Robin Mercier, Thomas Santiago, Teddy Turco, Romain Misiek and Charlotte Olea, who scored her best result in the Vosges trophy, will also look to step up a gear.

Gentlemen category winner at Le Touquet, Willy Mathey will have to overcome his lack of experience at Rouergue to extend his lead over Franck Giraud and Pascal Bérard, who won in this class at Vosges. Opposite them, Frédéric Misiek and Jacques Bourrat target a big points haul to stay in the hunt, while Franck Barry returns to the Clio Trophy France Asphalte two years after his first appearance on this same event in 2022.

Paul Dachicourt, who clocked two fastest times at Le Touquet, will be closely watched on his return to a service park which will also welcome back Calvin Lucas, as well as Johan Gres and Kevin Cichosz, both of whom were present on this round last year. Simon Salaun, Gabin Chivaydel, Batiste Moisset and Maxence Da Cunha, four newcomers to Clio Trophy France Asphalte, complete the entry list.

Benjamin Stirling, the title holder and last year’s winner in Clio Rally5, will make his third start in the official Clio Rally3 in the Castrol livery, a long-standing partner of Renault’s customer-racing activities. The Sébastien Loeb Racing driver and co-driver Florence Stirling will target a third consecutive podium finish after their first four-wheel drive win on home soil in the Vosges. Another Clio Rally3 will be in action with Jean-Baptiste Daune as well as three Clio Rally4s for Quentin Ribaud, Florian Picchioni and Julien Bregeon.

The field will meet on Thursday for the traditional scrutineering. On Friday, the crews will tackle two identical loops of four special stages. On Saturday, the competitors will take on three new timed sectors, including the Jean Ragnotti Power Stage on Luc-la-Primaube -Moyrazès with bonus points awarded to the ten fastest drivers. These three stages will then be run a second time before a super-stage in Rodez, completing a 210.64 km route out of a total of 664.59 km.

Entry list
#51 Yoan Corberand – Pauline Compozieux
#52 Arthur Pelamourgues – Bastien Pouget (J)
#53 Lucas Zielinski – Clémence Favy (J)
#54 Samuel Lay – Thomas Walbrecq (J)
#55 Julien Deslauriers – Amandine Brunel
#56 Jean-Claude Pietri – Jean-François Muselli (J)
#57 Maxence Potard – Albin Goutry-André (J)
#58 Benjamin Barnouin – Romain Garel (J)
#59 Nicolas Hebrard – Amandine Houry
#60 Enzo Beschet – Emmanuel Guinchard (J)
#61 Jérôme Janny – Aurélien Beaudouin
#62 Amaury Facchinetti – Léo Lhomme (J)
#63 Anthony Diel – Yannis Gosselin
#64 Tom Vauclare – Frédéric Vauclare (J)
#65 Néo Rivallant – Julien Loiseau (J)
#66 Robin Mercier – Enzo Mahinc (J)
#67 Willy Mathey – Maëlle Casays (G)
#68 Franck Giraud – Sylvain Guillaume (G)
#69 Pascal Bérard – Caroline Bérard (G)
#70 Thomas Santiago – Guillaume François (J)
#71 Teddy Turco – Alexandra Fontana (J)
#72 Paul Dachicourt – Adèle Dachicourt (J)
#73 Calvin Lucas – Manon Perrin (J)
#74 Simon Salaun - Romain Ansel (J)
#75 Johan Gres – Aurélia Pailloux-Mazars
#76 Jacques Bourrat – Jean Bourrat (G)
#77 Charlotte Olea – Cécile Pages (J, F)
#78 Gabin Chivaydel – Jeanne Rey (J)
#79 Batiste Moisset - Rémi Mejane (J)
#80 Frédéric Misiek – Valérie Misiek (G)
#81 Maxime Krasnobaev – Romain Gavoye (J)
#82 Kevin Cichosz – Adele Cichosz
#83 Maxence Da Cunha – Lea Guioz (J)
#84 Franck Barry – Frédéric Maury (G)
#85 Romain Misiek – Thibaut Misiek (J)