Forty crews were in the Alpes-Maritimes for round two of the Clio Trophy France Asphalte, which marked Renault’s return to the challenging roads of the Rallye Antibes Côte d’Azur.

Tom Pieri set the pace in the shakedown in the sweltering heat on Friday, but Valentin Ascenzi was quickest in the event’s opening stage. He lost the lead to Tom Pieri after the first pass of Col de Bleine, but the native of Cagnes-sur-Mer replied in the third timed sector to head to the service park with a 3.7s ahead of Tom Pieri and 5.3s to the good from Thomas Chauffray. Continuing his momentum in the early afternoon, the local driver saw his hopes of victory disappear when he went off the road on the repeat run of Col de Bleine - Le Mas - Aiglun. Tom Pieri was the new leader, but Thomas Chauffray took the top spot in the category on the next stage to set up a duel that only intensified.

Back in the lead on Saturday evening after the short super-special in the streets of Antibes, Tom Pieri started the second leg with a 0.4s advantage on his rival. Styve Juif was third, ten seconds adrift of the leader. Behind them, Patrick Magnou, Louis Constant and Benjamin Stirling were still in contention.

Tom Pieri was the first to strike on Sunday, beating Thomas Chauffray by two tenths on SS8, but the latter responded immediately while Styve Juif made a mistake handing third place to Patrick Magnou. The latter continued his momentum, taking the maximum ten bonus points on the Jean Ragnotti Power Stage on the legendary roads of La Bollène - Col de Turini - Peïra-Cava, but a puncture put an end to his hopes on the following stage. Meanwhile, Tom Pieri took back first place for six seconds from Thomas Chauffray despite a brief scare on two wheels !

In a fierce final loop, Thomas Chauffray went back on the offensive. Thomas Chauffray won SS12 and SS13 but had to deal with Tom Pieri’s reply in the second pass of La Bollène - Col de Turini - Peïra-Cava. The two leaders headed to the final stage, separated by only one-tenth of a second. In spite of the pressure from his young adversary, Thomas Chauffray kept a cool head to set the fastest time and seal his victory by just 1.2s after more than 210 kilometres of breathtaking action.

Benjamin Stirling completed the podium, while Louis Constant went off the road in the last kilometres. This promoted Patrick Magnou to fourth ahead of newcomers Yannick Francisci and Benjamin Barnouin. Pierre Paul Baltolu took his best result in the trophy, seventh, ahead of Jérémy Sarhy, Louis Myr and Guillaume Bonnet.

The battle was just as splendid in the Women’s category. Early leader, Margot Dupuy answered the attack of Élodie Gines, who took the lead on SS5, to start the final leg with a six-tenths advantage over her rival and eight seconds over Marina Breuil. Yet again dislodged by her closest rival in the day’s opening stage, Margot Dupuy regained the lead in the next timed sector. She then widened the gap to win by 41.8s over Élodie Gines and 1:59.0s over Marina Breuil. Lastly, Eric Royère dominated the Gentlemen category from start to finish to score his second win of the year.

With his second victory in two rallies, Thomas Chauffray increases his lead to 16 points over Junior Tom Pieri in the general classification. Europe Location leads 3P Racing by BHR by five points in the team classification while Grands Moulins Auto widens the gap in the Renault Network Challenge. Patrick Magnou takes the lead in the Jean Ragnotti Power Stage Trophy by one point over Thomas Chauffray, thanks to his scratch time on SS10.

Round three of the Clio Trophy France Asphalte will be at the Rallye Aveyron Rouergue Occitanie (7-9 July) for an already crucial meeting in the title race !

Thomas Chauffray : "We always want to win, but I had convinced myself that it wasn’t possible in Antibes because of my lack of knowledge with the stages. Some rallies are easier to approach than others, and this one would be difficult. We came intending to make Antibes our joker, namely to try to get a good finish and score as many points as possible. But we were in the hunt, and the fight with Tom and Amandine was extremely tough. As soon as we took the lead, he answered instantly, even when we set two consecutive best times. We went into the last stage with a tenth of a second lead, but it could have gone either way. They are to be celebrated for their performance as we had the same pace throughout the weekend. I think the difference was made on Saturday on SS6 and Sunday in the two passages through Levens. It’s a solid result with the win and big points in the Power Stage, and we still have our joker. I’m confident for the future because Antibes was the only rally on the calendar that I hadn’t done before !"

2022 Rallye Antibes Côte d’Azur
Clio Trophy France Asphalte
1. Thomas Chauffray – Pauline Chauffray 2h30:51.0s
2. Tom Pieri – Amandine Borderie (J) +1.2s
3. Benjamin Stirling – Florence Stirling (J) +2:14.2s
4. Patrick Magnou – Anthony Vilanova +3:53.7s
5. Yannick Francisci – Lisa Marie Vinciguerra (J) +4:45.1s
6. Benjamin Barnouin – Lionel Avon (J) +5:31.2s
7. Pierre Paul Baltolu – Lucas Bellotti (J) +5:45.9s
8. Jérémy Sarhy – Loïck Declerck (J) +6:03.1s
9. Louis Myr – Camille Flajolet (J) +6:25.1s
10. Guillaume Bonnet – Cédric Santini (J) +7:07.6s
11. Sébastien Rambaud – Alexis Maillefert (J) +7:38.9s
12. Éric Royère – Gilbert Dini (G) +8:13.9s
13. Yoan Corberand – Emeline Faivre +8:27.8s
14. Patrice Spitalier – Nicolas Spitalier (J) +8:55.3s
15. Margot Dupuy – Clio Chambelland (F) +10:04.8s
16. Élodie Gines – Lisa Tornior (F) +10:46.6s
17. Enzo Lucotte – Candice Desrayaud (J) +11:46.1s
18. Marina Breuil – Tomi Perret (J, F) +12:03.8s
19. Mathieu Bonche – Pierre Boiron (J) +12:11.4s
20. Matthieu Suzzarini – Sonny Postel +12:33.0s
21. Florian Picchioni – Mélodie Bellavarde +13:06.5s
22. Allison Viano – Serena Simonpieri (J, F) +14:19.2s
23. Arthur Roché – Julie Faure (J) +14:50.9s
24. Calvin Lucas – Amandine Houry (J) +15:19.2s
25. Franck Giraud – Sylvain Guillaume +15:32.8s
26. Théo Apchie – Aurélie Vedrine (J) +23:50.3s
27. Maxence Passaquet – Michel Damian (J) +41:39.3s
28. Sylvain Janny – Mireille Guy +58:51.0s
29. Elias Dehni – Rony Maroun (J) +1h09:54.1s
DNF. Louis Constant – Mathieu Coppa (J)
DNF. Paulin Valet – Fabien Barale (J)
DNF. Styve Juif – Maxime Biegalke (J)
DNF. Yann Clairay – Gilles De Turckheim
DNF. Sarah Lattion – Charlène Greppin (J, F)
DNF. Dominique Patenotte – Romain Gandre (G)
DNF. Valentin Ascenzi – Corentin Silvestre (J)
DNF. Arthur Pelamourgues – Bastien Pouget (J)
DNF. Nicolas Hebrard – Bastien Dumas
DNF. Jean-Pierre Lejeune – Geneviève Arnavielhe (G)
DNF. Romain Fostier – Ophelie Abchiche

Clio Trophy France Asphalte - Power Stage Jean Ragnotti - Teams standings - Renault Network Challenge

ABOUT THE CLIO TROPHY FRANCE ASPHALTE AND TERRE

After a successful launch, Clio Rally5 is now taking on all surfaces with the Clio Trophy France Asphalte and the Clio Trophy France Terre. With two calendars intentionally independent and complementary to maximise the opportunities for all, each trophy consists of five rounds of the FFSA French Taramc or Gravel Rally Championship. Junior, Gentlemen, Female and Teams categories allow all the contenders to be valorised while enjoying unrivalled technical support and a unique level of equity at this level of the pyramid. A real springboard for the most promising hopefuls, the best Juniors on each surface at the end of the year will be offered an official programme with Clio Rally4.

ABOUT RENAULT

Renault, a historic mobility brand and pioneer of electric vehicles in Europe, has always developed innovative vehicles. With the ‘Renaulution’ strategic plan, Renault has embarked on an ambitious, value-generating transformation moving towards a more competitive, balanced and electrified range. Its ambition is to embody modernity and innovation in technology, energy and mobility services in the automotive industry and beyond.