The Clio Trophy France Asphalte once again boasts the largest field in the event with 44 Clio Rally5s in its service park and it heads to the Rallye Aveyron Rouergue Occitanie for a new confrontation that could shape the various title races.

Benjamin Stirling is the only driver to have finished on the podium in every round in 2023 and will arrive in Aveyron at the top of the leaderboard. Fourth last year in Rodez, the Sébastien Loeb Racing team leader will target his maiden win in the trophy to increase his lead, but he will have to be wary of the fightback from the first two winners of the year. Le Touquet winner Valentin Ascenzi will be out for revenge following his disappointment at Antibes while Benjamin Barnouin will be keen to confirm his potential after winning on the Côte d’Azur.

However, the gaps are so close that 14 contenders could take the lead before the summer break. Yoan Corberand and Arthur Pelamourgues will be gunning for another podium finish to jump to the top while Romain Fostier, Tom Vauclare, Nicolas Hebrard, Pierre-Paul Baltolu and Julien Deslauriers will look to pop the champagne for the first time this season. At the same time, Jean-Claude Pietri, Tobias Laurence, Jordan D’Agostino and Romain Perrin, who have all made promising starts to the season, are also aiming to take a step closer to the sharp end and remain in contention ahead of the back half of the campaign.

Although he has already used a joker, Matteo Chatillon remains a formidable contender and will be out to prove it this weekend. Two more protagonists to keep an eye on are Yannick Francisci and Tom Pellerey while Enzo Beschet, Arthur Roche and Belgian rider Samuel Lay will be eager to improve their performances. Lastly, Jérôme Janny, Matthieu Fassio, Christophe Gouville, Julien Anthérieu, Théo Apchie, Nicolas Paviet-Roche, Quentin Roger and Julien Charnay are all determined to make an impression before the summer break.

Gentlemen category leader Franck Giraud will target his first class win of the year to extend his margin over his pursuers, but Pascal Bérard and Mike Souvigné are determined to regain the upper hand before the break. Pascal Donnadieu, José Da Cunha and Dominique Patenotte hope to join them in what promises to be a fascinating battle, with Jean-Pierre Lejeune and Patrick Favre also chasing after their first points. Also in this class, Philippe Bausset will debut in the trophy, as will two well-known figures in the world of French rallying : Philippe Janvier and Patrick Vernet.

Last year’s winner in the Women’s category, Charlotte Olea will return to the Clio Trophy France Asphalte and try to make the most on the absence of Manon Massarotto and Carla Gaffayoli to take command of the category. Four drivers will also make their first appearance of the season, including Clio Trophy France Terre winner Florian Condamines, Johan Gres, another transfer from gravel, Kévin Cichosz and Thomas Santiago.

Alongside the trophy dedicated to Clio Rally5, two Clio Rally3s will be at the start line, one entrusted to Clio Trophy France Asphalte title-holder Thomas Chauffray and the other to local driver Gaël Alquier. Two Clio Rally4s will also be starting, with Tom Pieri and Styve Juif.

The finest line-up in French rallying will meet again on Thursday for the traditional scrutineering. On Friday, the crews will tackle an initial loop of three stages, two of which will be repeated in the afternoon before the first leg concludes in Laissac. The same test will open Saturday’s hostilities before Lévézou and Luc - Moyrazès, which will host the Jean Ragnotti Power Stage with bonus points up for grabs for the ten fastest competitors. These two timed sectors will be run a second time before the final super-special at Rodez to complete the 205.60 timed kilometres out of 647.17 km.

Entry list*
#41 Benjamin Stirling – Florence Stirling (J)
#43 Benjamin Barnouin – Enzo Mahinc (J)
#44 Yoan Corberand – Amélie Pierron
#45 Romain Fostier – Ophélie Abchiche
#46 Tom Vauclare – Frédéric Vauclare (J)
#47 Valentin Ascenzi – Marine Lacruz (J)
#48 Jean-Claude Pietri – Kylian Sarmezan (J)
#49 Nicolas Hebrard – Amandine Houry
#50 Arthur Pelamourgues – Bastien Pouget (J)
#51 Tobias Laurence – Florian Duthu (J)
#52 Jordan D’Agostino – Florian Chardon (J)
#53 Mattéo Chatillon – Maxence Cornuau (J)
#54 Pierre Paul Baltolu – Anthony Pes (J)
#55 Julien Deslauriers – Amandine Brunel
#56 Florian Condamines – Cédric Santini
#57 Romain Perrin – Albin Goutry-André (J)
#58 Enzo Beschet – Manon Perrin (J)
#59 Yannick Francisci – François-Marie Ghelardini (J)
#60 Arthur Roche – Samuel Passetemps (J)
#61 Tom Pellerey – Hervé Faucher (J)
#62 Samuel Lay – Geoffrey Brion (J)
#63 Franck Giraud – Sylvain Guillaume (G)
#64 Jérôme Janny – Aurélien Beaudouin
#65 Julien Charnay – Maxime Gomez
#66 Mike Souvigné – Jan-Eric Bemmann (G)
#67 Pascal Bérard – Caroline Berard (G)
#68 Matthieu Fassio – Hugo Olivier
#69 Johan Gres – Aurelia Pailloux-Mazars
#70 Julien Anthérieu – Faustin Frutoso (J)
#71 Christophe Gouville – François Heer
#72 Théo Apchie – Aurélie Vedrine (J)
#73 Philippe Janvier – Benjamin Mondiere (G)
#74 Nicolas Paviet-Roche – Severine Chamiot-Maitral
#75 Patrick Vernet – Xavier Barrau (G)
#76 Pascal Donnadieu – Laurent Delmas (G)
#77 Kévin Cichosz – Adèle Cichosz
#78 Philippe Bausset – Frédéric Preteseille (G)
#79 Charlotte Olea – Cécile Pages (J,F)
#80 José Da Cunha – Magalie Da Cunha (G)
#81 Quentin Roger – Alysée Poillon (J)
#82 Thomas Santiago – Ludovic Boudou (J)
#83 Dominique Patenotte – Vincent Deloustau (G)
#84 Jean-Pierre Lejeune – Geneviève Arnavielhe (G)
#85 Patrick Favre – Clément Certano (G)
*#42 has been withdrawn in Craig Breen’s memory