Touquet Rally – SS4: Porsches in control in the first loop

The 2026 French Rally Championship opened this Friday morning, March 27th, on the Rally Le Touquet – Pas-de-Calais already has a few surprises in store. On a dry pitch, and although rain is expected later today, the first piece of news comes from the... Porsche This afternoon, Raphaël Astier and Denis Giraudet (Porsche 992 GT+), who set three fastest times out of four, lead the overall standings with a 7,8-second advantage over their closest rivals, the surprising Thomas Anacleto and Marie Stirling (Porsche 992 GT+), who overtook Stéphane Lefebvre and Andy Malfoy, leaders of the Rally2 class, in the final stage of the tour, which was interrupted due to the positioning of some spectators. Toyota GR Yaris Rally2. The reigning French Champions Yoann Bonato – Benjamin Boulloud currently occupy fourth place overall ahead of Hugo Margailan – Mathieu Coppa (Hyundai i20N Rally2).

There have already been some notable retirements at the Le Touquet – Pas-de-Calais Rally

This first loop of the rally has already taken its toll. The first to pay the price were Patrick Rouillard and Guilhem Zazurca (Porsche 991 GT+), who suffered a mechanical failure on the very first stage. Later, Réhane Gany and Franck Le Floch (Hyundai i20N Rally2) also encountered technical problems and were forced to retire. On the final stage of the loop, Ghislain Barbier and Yoann Bouchet, then running fifth in their Porsche 991 GT+, also had to retire due to a mechanical issue. A promising start for Michelin Amateur Trophy winner Julien Casale, co-driven by Pierre Delorme in a Škoda Fabia RS Rally2: they are currently in seventh position, sandwiched between the Porsche of Côme Ledogar and Méryl Giraldo and the other Škoda of Quentin Gilbert and Christopher Guieu. Pierre Ragues – Julien Pesenti (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) and Ludovic Godard – Franck Gilliot (Alpine A110 GT+) complete, in that order, the Top 10.

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A second loop that looks set to be tough

This afternoon, or rather this evening, the crews will tackle the same four special stages they ran this morning. Identical to those used last year on the first day of the rally, they will form a loop marked by nightfall, as the first car is scheduled to start the fifth special stage of the day at 6:29 PM. Rain is also expected and could completely reshuffle the deck: while the terrain was favorable to the two-wheel-drive cars this morning, and especially to the Porsches, the situation should become slightly more challenging towards the end of the day, requiring great caution to avoid the many typical hazards of this rally. Furthermore, all the competitors will have already run through the special stages, which may therefore be contaminated by this first loop.

CFR – Le Touquet Rally – Pas-de-Calais
The Top 10 of SS4:

CFR – Le Touquet Rally – Pas-de-Calais
The provisional overall standings after the first loop: