Two months after the Rallye Rhône-Charbonnières, the Clio Trophy France Asphalte field encountered blazing conditions for the second round on the calendar. After recce, shakedown and scrutineering, Laurent Lambert, Laurent Zambon, Arnaud Boulangé, and Maxence Girard won an extra tyre in addition to their starting bonus via a draw organised by Ceerta, Michelin Motorsport’s official distributor in the French Rally Championship.

Once the action got underway, Julien Deslauriers Sablonnière picked up where he left off twelve months ago as the Autocantal Compétition driver won the first three special stages. After finishing second three times on iconic roads such as Campouriez and Le Nayrac, Jean-Claude Pietri fell out of contention after a mistake in SS4, where Lucas Zielinski, Enzo Beschet and Léo Véricel’s hopes were also dashed.

Florent Fagnone halted the leader’s streak, but Julien Deslauriers Sablonnière continued to pull away in the afternoon, sharing the best times with Yoan Corberand. Up to second place, Yoan Corberand was ahead of Romain Fostier, who led a group of eight crews covered by 23.7s at the end of day one.

The battle for the podium intensified on Saturday. Romain Fostier struck first in Laissac - Sévérac-l’Église before Yoan Corberand and Yohan Codaccionni countered. Tom Vauclare initially set the pace in the final loop, but Yoan Corberand dominated again in Lévézou before the the Moyrazès special stage lived up to its reputation as it caught out Marc Pompei and Yohan Codaccioni. Romain Fostier also lost time, picking up a puncture .

Julien Deslauriers Sablonnière eventually secured his victory with a 21.1s lead over Yoan Corberand, while the super special stage in the streets of Rodez decided the battle for third place. Despite being 0.7s down at the start of this final kilometre, Melvin Rabilloud snatched third place and Junior victory from Tom Vauclare by half a second. Paul Dachicourt finished fifth ahead of Yohan Roumieux, Anthony Diel and Alex Florenson. Local competitor Charlotte Olea won the Women’s category and finished ninth overall ahead of Florent Fagnone and Pascal Bérard, who took top honours in the Gentlemen category.

Now a three-time Clio Trophy France Asphalte winner, Julien Deslauriers Sablonnière moves up to second place in the general classification, just 13 points behind Yoan Corberand. Thanks to his performances and consistency, Yoan Corberand now tops the Performer Jean Ragnotti classification as well, and allowed David Auto Compétition to maintain its lead over Autocantal Compétition in the team standings. Lastly, Groupe Bertrand extends its lead in the Renault Network Challenge.

After this action-packed round, the Clio Trophy France Asphalte enters its summer break and will resume at Rallye Mont-Blanc Morzine (4-6 September).

Julien Deslauriers Sablonnière : "This victory is, above all, the result of a collective effort. Everyone gave their all. We worked hard on the car with the Autocantal Compétition team and the onboards, so we did the toughest part of the job before the start. My biggest challenge throughout the weekend was to stay focused from start to finish. When you are leading, you always have to mix strategy and attack. Finding the right balance is the most demanding part, but our work has paid off. We have ambitions, but we still need to confirm our presence at Mont-Blanc, even though it’s the rally I know best. Whatever happens, Amandine and I will go there with the same desire to compete as best we can."

Clio Trophy France Asphalte – Rallye Rouergue Rodez Aveyron Occitanie*
1. Julien Deslauriers Sablonnière – Amandine Brunel 2h01m54s
2. Yoan Corberand – Pauline Compozieux +21.1s
3. Melvin Rabilloud – Enzo Mahinc (J) +47.2s
4. Tom Vauclare – Frédéric Vauclare (J) +47.7s
5. Paul Dachicourt – Adèle Dachicourt (J) +1m29.8s
6. Yohan Roumieux – Bastien Fontaine +1m50.9s
7. Anthony Diel – Yannis Gosselin +2m20s
8. Alex Florenson – Charline Dichamp (J) +2m22.8s
9. Charlotte Olea – Cécile Pages (J, F) +4m31s
10. Florent Fagnone – Benjamin Fagnone +4m34.7s
11. Pascal Bérard – Caroline Bérard (G) +4m53.3s
12. Louis Gass – Alison Girard (J) +4m55.3s
13. Émilien Sanlaville – Amaury Sanlaville +4m57.3s
14. Romain Fostier – Ophélie Abchiche +5m13.1s
15. Johan Grès – Thomas Taillandier +5m14.2s
16. Lucas Zielinski – Ewen Leenhardt (J) +5m38.3s
17. Jacques Bourrat – Jean Bourrat (G) +5m43.3s
18. Jérôme Janny – Helena Pecheur +6m01.2s
19. Franck Giraud – Christophe Dubien (G) +7m12.1s
20. Damien Vincent – Frédéric Vincent (J) +7m55.5s
21. Nicolas Paviet-Roche – Tony Ponsot +8m00.9s
22. Jean-Claude Pietri – Jean-François Muselli (J) +8m02.4s
23. Alexandre Brossy – Justin Ladet +8m20.1s
24. Amaury Facchinetti – Emma Bonnemort (J) +8m27.6s
25. Arnaud Boulangé – Lilou Boulangé +9m25.7s
26. Laurent Lambert – Yannick Le Moing (G) +10m20.3s
27. Emma Chalvin – Charline Quartini (J, F) +11m21.2s
28. Mickaël Caumes – Romain Sagnes (G) +12m37.3s
29. Ludovic Boudou – Aymeric Camarans +13m40.9s
30. Pascal Donnadieu – Laurent Delmas (G) +13m44s
31. Laurent Zambon – Maëva Perrinaud +14m30.2s
32. Sylvain Lenne – Yoann Bouchet +15m00.2s
33. Hugo Ramillon – Baptiste Gauthier (J) +15m11.8s
34. Benoit Martin – Anne-Laurence Breton +17m56.8s
35. David Panteix – Morgan Lefebvre (J) +19m32.7s
36. Raphaël Monnier – Jean-François Hugon (G) +20m32.9s
37. Julien Pintus – Timothée Alquier +38m59.6s
38. Valentin Ascenzi – Melvine Pitois (J) +43m16.5s
39. Julien Arnaud – Marion Renchet (J) +55m58.2s
Ret. Yohan Codaccioni – Hugo Olivier (J)
Ret. Marc Pompei – Matthieu Belhacene (J)
Ret. Valentin Chazette – Francis Chazette (J)
Ret. Maxence Girard – Maxime Cotte-Colisson (J)
Ret. Loïc Scandola – Sonny Postel (J)
Ret. Ludovic Lamarche – Bastien Verjat
Ret. Benjamin Herail – Quentin Monteillet
Ret. Léo Vericel – Enzo Forissier (J)
Ret. Enzo Beschet – Emmanuel Guinchard (J)
Ret. Batiste Moisset – Rémi Mejane (J)
Ret. Julien Sabatier – Brandon Masson (J)
* subject to final technical scrutineering

Clio Trophy France Asphalte - Jean Ragnotti Performer standings - Teams classification - Renault Network Challenge