This week, the Rallye Mont-Blanc Morzine (2-4 September) will be the setting for the return of the Clio Trophy France Asphalte. It promises to be an intense weekend in the Alps with more than thirty Clio Rally5s, but also ten crews entered in the Clio Trophy Swiss as well as the Philippe Bugalski Challenge competitors and the resumption of Anthony Fotia’s programme with Clio Rally4 !
The Clio Trophy France Asphalte is as competitive as it gets with three different winners in as many rallies, and it is about to resume on the special stages of Rallye Mont-Blanc Morzine.
Romain Di Fante has been a podium finisher in every round this season and will be one of the favourites after winning last year in the Alps, where Clio Rally5 debuted in the Clio Trophy France. However, the points leader will have his work cut out for him against this year’s other winners : Thomas Chauffray and Guillaume Canivenq. While Thomas Chauffray will aim to show his ability to adapt on stages that he will be driving on for the first time, Guillaume Canivenq will look to keep the momentum going after his win before the summer break !
Runners-up to Romain Di Fante twelve months ago, Romain Fostier and Rémi Jouines will also be among the primary contenders, as will Antoine Massé and Florian Bernardi, who could take his seventh consecutive win in the feeder series on these roads.
The Junior category will be equally competitive with Romain Di Fante facing Tom Pieri and Styve Juif, currently third in the Clio Trophy France Asphalte and winner of this round within the Clio R3T Trophy Alps in 2019. Benjamin Stirling and Maxime Braesch will also rely on their experience to close the gap to the leaders, a goal shared by Jérémy Sarhy, who has already shown good pace.
After two consecutive retirements following his top-five finish in the Touquet, François Fraymouth aims to bounce back while Julien Baziret and Louis Durand are eager to score their first points of the season. Meanwhile, Sébastien Rambaud, Bertrand Blondel la Rougery, Jérôme Janny, Julien Anthérieu and Julien Pontal all want to confirm the progress they’ve made by creating a surprise to climb back up the general classification.
Several competitors will make their 2021 debut. Xavier Quinsac and Gentleman Franck Durand return to the rally while Charley Trevilly, Kévin Duc, Mathias Dubouloz, Medhi Oddoux, Florian Picchioni and Joan Sabater will try to excel in their first participation in one of French rallying’s most iconic events.
Gentlemen drivers Dominique Patenotte and Richard Paget and Female driver Margot Dupuy complete the entry list. In parallel, ten teams entered in Clio Trophy Swiss will have the opportunity to battle the protagonists of the Clio Trophy France Asphalte in what is round three of their season. Two Clio S1600s will also participate in the Philippe Bugalski Challenge, where Michel Giraldo and Patrice Bonnefond will compete. Lastly, Anthony Fotia will contest the third round of his official programme with a Clio Rally4 run by Europe Location.
Rallye Mont-Blanc Morzine will feature 14 special stages totaling 187.88 timed kilometres over a rally route of 573.26km. Seven stages await the competitors on Friday. They will be repeated, but in a different order on Saturday. A shortened version of SS1, SS13 entitled Morzine – Montriond Le Lac “Portes du Soleil” will host the Jean Ragnotti Power Stage, which will reward the ten fastest crews on the longest stage of the second leg (17.9km).
Entry list
78 Romain Di Fante – Patrick Chiappe (J)
79 Thomas Chauffray – Anthony Hamard
80 Styve Juif – Maxime Biegalke (J)
81 Antoine Masse – Marc Haddad
82 Tom Pieri – Arnaud Dunand (J)
83 Romain Fostier – Ophelie Abchiche
84 Guillaume Canivenq – Bastien Dumas
85 Benjamin Stirling – Florence Wehrey (J)
86 Maxime Braesch – Loick Andre (J)
87 Florian Bernardi – Florian Barral
88 Jeremy Sarhy – Alexis Maillefert (J)
89 Rémi Jouines – Sylvain Kukulka
90 Francois Fraymouth – Romain Felicelli
91 Julien Baziret – Maxime Auguste
92 Louis Durand – Tomi Perret
93 Xavier Quinsac – Jean-François de Montredon
94 Sébastien Rambaud – Nicolas Febvre (J)
95 Bertrand Blondel La Rougery – Yoann Raffaelli (J)
96 Richard Paget – Sebastien Poujol (G)
97 Jérôme Janny – Clément Gutierrez
98 Julien Pontal – Loan Biagetti (J)
99 Charley Trevilly – Corentin Dodard
100 Julien Anthérieu – Valérie Anthérieu (J)
101 Joan Sabater – Guifré Pujol
102 Kévin Duc – Anne Lise Michelier
103 Mathias Dubouloz – Dimitri Tograrelli
104 Dominique Patenotte – Romain Gandre (G)
105 Medhi Oddoux – Hugues d’Ozenay
106 Florian Picchioni – Laurie Galera
107 Franck Durand – Linda Bochaton (G)
108 Margot Dupuy – Clio Chambelland (F)
(J) : Juniors
(G) : Gentlemen
(F) : Females