Ten weeks after the season-opening Rallye Le Touquet Pas-de-Calais, the Clio Trophy France Asphalte service park gathered in Gérardmer. Before the start, Romain Fostier, Jérôme Janny, Pascal Bérard, and Maxence Girard each won a Michelin tyre in a prize draw organised by Ceerta, the official Michelin Motorsport distributor in the French Rally Championship.

Eager for revenge after watching victory slip away on home soil, Paul Dachicourt made a strong start under a return of sunshine. Setting the fastest time in Pays d’Ormont, he took the lead in a rally that quickly proved to be a gruelling ordeal. Following the neutralisation of SS2, Maxence Potard fought back in Corcieux, whilst Florent Fagnone made full use of his local knowledge to join the battle.

The rest of the leg offered little respite for the crews. Paul Dachicourt repeated his success in Pays d’Ormont, whilst overall leader Maxence Potard faltered, as did other contenders. Florent Fagnone, however, refused to give up and closed the gap to 5.2s by posting the fastest time in Moyenmoutier. The first turning point came during the second pass through Corcieux. Paul Dachicourt lost precious seconds due to a puncture whilst his rival secured a second consecutive stage win to take the lead.

However, there was still plenty to play for. On Sunday morning, Paul Dachicourt launched his attack on La Vologne, the rally’s longest special stage. The Fun Meca Sport driver put in a brilliant drive, taking more than twenty seconds off his rivals. Florent Fagnone fought back on Le Haut du Tôt, but his pursuer kept pushing on Les Trois Cols.

The duel reached its culmination in the final loop. Paul Dachicourt closed the gap to 0.6s before regaining the lead on the penultimate stage, and doing what had to be done to secure his first victory in Clio Trophy France Asphalte. Florent Fagnone finished second and claimed his first podium finish on his first appearance this season. Behind this duo, the treacherous Vosges stages continued to claim their victims. With a consistent performance, Clément Didier emerged in third place after a fine battle with Jérôme Janny. Tom Le Jossec completed a top-five, with everyone achieving their best result to date. Romain Fostier finished sixth, ahead of Yohan Roumieux, who set the final fastest stage time. Christophe Truchet, Pascal Bérard and Fabien Combe followed in that order.

Buoyed by this maiden win, Paul Dachicourt takes the lead in the general classification and the Juniors category from Maxence Potard. Florent Fagnone made a remarkable comeback, climbing straight to third place. The top three in the Jean Ragnotti Performer classification is the same whilst Groupe Bertrand now leads the Renault Network Challenge thanks to Florent Fagnone’s performance. Romain Fostier extended his lead in the Gentlemen class, whilst Belgian driver Clémentine Benoît is now the highest-placed woman in the classification.

Meanwhile, Clio Rally3 continued its run of success in the French Rally Championship with Jérôme Jacquot and Marielle Grandemange, leading a sweep of the top five in the Rally3 category.

Following this latest action-packed round, the Clio Trophy France Asphalte will continue its seventh season in the Clio Rally5 era at Rallye Rouergue Rodez Aveyron Occitanie from 9 to 11 July.

Paul Dachicourt : “This first victory is incredible. We only really got started in the Clio Trophy France Asphalte a year ago, so it’s brilliant to be competing at the sharp end today and taking our first win. We’ve known since the middle of the 2025 season that we have the pace to be among the frontrunners, but minor setbacks have consistently slowed our momentum. This time, everything fell into place, and the emotion at the final stop was quite unique. We didn’t really know where we’d be competing on this rally, which was completely new to us. We’d never even driven in the region before. The main target was to get through the first loops before pushing harder in the second ones. Despite that, we set the fastest time right from the start. We led throughout the first day, but a puncture on Corcieux 2 cost us dearly, dropping us back by more than 30 seconds. On Sunday, Adèle and I put in a superb first special stage, clean and executed to the millimetre. That allowed us to close the gap before two stages I wasn’t at all comfortable with. Again, we had to be smart, avoid the pitfalls and keep the championship in mind. We kept pushing hard in the afternoon as victory was within our reach, and it’s brilliant that we did it. We’re in a strong position for the rest of the season. We’re top of the general classification, with a small lead and our dropped score still available. The Rouergue and Mont-Blanc are rallies we know well and enjoy. We put in some great performances there last year, so we’re ready and looking forward to it.”

Clio Trophy France Asphalte – Rallye Vosges Grand Est
1. Paul Dachicourt – Adèle Dachicourt (J) 2h01m53.3s
2. Florent Fagnone – Benjamin Fagnone +6.0s
3. Clément Didier – Théo Jacquemet (J) +2m56.1s
4. Jérôme Janny – Helena Pecheur +3m05.2s
5. Tom Le Jossec – Christophe Leroy (J) +3m28.7s
6. Romain Fostier – Ophélie Abchiche (G) +3m42.4s
7. Yohan Roumieux – Bastien Fontaine +3m43.2s
8. Christophe Truchet – Barbara Truchet +4m14.3s
9. Pascal Bérard – Caroline Bérard (G) +5m38.4s
10. Fabien Combe – Fabien Chèze +6m39.1s
11. Néo Rivallant – Melvin Fraigne (J) +6m51.7s
12. Jacques Bourrat – Jean Bourrat (G) +7m51.5s
13. Ludovic Lamarche – Baptiste Gauthier +7m57.1s
14. Léo Véricel – Jade Gaston (J) +8m06.4s
15. Alexis Poso – Lou Cardot (J) +8m49.6s
16. Romain Brun – Aurélia Chevalier (J) +10m02.4s
17. Laurent Lambert – Yannick Le Moing (G) +10m11.1s
18. Maxence Girard – Ricardo Gil Mateus (J) +10m22.9s
19. Maxime Chagot – Bertrand Chagot +12m44.5s
20. Thomas Van Outryve – Johanna Della-Pina (J) +13m00.s
21. Clémentine Benoit – Éric De Bolle (J, F) +15m03.8s
22. Guillaume Delobel – Coralie Darras +18m11.4s
23. Louis Gass – Alison Girard (J) +31m39.1s
24. Oliver Sørensen – Frederik Glad (J) +34m59.5s
25. Alex Florenson – Charline Dichamp (J) +1h00m14.6s
26. Amaury Pages – Mattis Chalvidan (J) +1h08m36.5s
27. Louis Bottin – Titouan Andreux (J) +1h09m15.9s
DNF. Justin Veyrard – Corentin Landon (J)
DNF. Maxence Potard – Maxime Biegalke (J)
DNF. Alfred Sablonnière – Romain Depeux (J)
DNF. Thibault Hickel – Alexian Parmentier (J)
DNS. Franck Giraud – Christophe Dubien (G)
DNS. Thomas Santiago – Anne-Laurence Breton (J)