Maxence Potard and Pierre Delorme win the 2022 Youth Rally detection

The grand national final of Rally Young people named their winners. Of the 55 drivers summoned on Tuesday to the Circuit de Lédenon (Gard), it was Haut-Saônois Maxence Potard, 19, who won the 26th edition of the detection organized by the FFSA. Pierre Delorme, 24 years old and originally from Villeurbanne (Rhône), became a winner among the co-drivers.

At the end of the 5 regional selections, having seen more than 3500 candidates pass through Chambley, Lyon, Dreux, Nîmes and Luc, and 3 days of intense finals organized on the Lédenon Circuit, the Monteils site and around Uzès, the two men won the prestigious detection of young rally talents, which saw Sébastien pass Loeb, Sébastien Ogier or even Adrien fourmaux.

https://twitter.com/RallyeJeunes/status/1600835441770786816

Potard and Delorme victorious after a careful selection

The last 7 finalists met at the Monteils site, the stronghold of Stéphane Sarrazin, for a second day of driving. Joined by the 7 co-pilots qualified at the end of the regional selections, the contenders were this time tested on their driving skills on land. After several lap times, carried out in driver/co-driver pairs at the wheel of the Peugeot 208 Rally4, day and night, 5 co-drivers and 5 pilots performed well. In the process, an orienteering race closed this second day of finals.

At the end of the last morning devoted to physical tests and interviews, Maxence Potard and Pierre Delorme were finally chosen by the final jury composed of Jacques Clément (Delegated President of the FFSA), Éric Candelier (President of Yacco), Didier Clément (Customer Competition Manager at Stellantis) and Nicolas Bernardi (Responsible for the Youth Rally operation) for the drivers, and Samuel Teissier (President of Ligue Occitanie Méditerranée), Julien Vial (Customer Competition Director at Michelin Motorsport) and Benoît Fulcrand ( 2019 French Rally Champion) for co-drivers.

A place acquired in the French Rally Championship

“I am very happy to have managed to put everything together because the disappointment of last year was very complicated to manage,” rejoiced Maxence Potard, finalist in 2021 for detection. Rallye Jeunes offers me an incredible opportunity and I will give everything to do things well. I had prepared well for the selections and I want to continue to be serious and work well for the upcoming deadlines with Pierre. I will approach next season with humility and my goal is to be at the end of all the challenges. You have to accumulate experience and not want to miss the stages because the level will be very high. »

“I'm super happy, especially since I was one of the least experienced in this final, declared Pierre Delorme, delighted with his success among the co-drivers. I would also like to thank Alexandre Laurent who allowed me to get into a seat last year. Since then, I prepared well for the final, particularly with work on the videos, and it paid off. I had a good feeling with Maxence in the seat and yesterday during the orienteering race. I think we are both satisfied with this choice so it promises for the future. »

The two young talents now have their eyes turned towards the 2023 season and the Stellantis Motorsport Rally Cup. Supervised by the FFSA, the two new friends will quickly set about preparing and building chemistry in the car. On the program, courses, test sessions, preparation rally before the first meeting in the French Rally Championship, in Le Touquet.

ALSO READ > Rallye France – The 2023 season calendar revealed