195 crews entered in the Vosges Grand Est Rally, fourth round of the 2026 CFR

Behind Sébastien Loeb and Laurène Godey, the leading contenders in the French Rally Championship are ready for their fourth round of the season. A very strong entry list was presented this Friday, June 5th, one week before the first runs at the Corcieux Shakedown.

The least one can say is that the Rally The Vosges Grand Est rally, scheduled for next week near Gerardmer, will be in full swing. As is often the case, the event will bring together a large number of crews: the entry list, which has just been released, contains a total of 195 competitors across all categories, including 155 in the Modern Rally, 26 in the e-Rally, and 14 in the VHC and VHRS rounds. Regarding the first category mentioned, all eyes will obviously be on car number 9 next weekend, as it will be the Ford Fiesta. WRC 2017 by Sébastien Loeb and Laurène Godey. This will be the first time in the history of the French Rally Championship (CFR) that such a car will be entered privately, as only factory teams could do so until now. An exception has therefore been granted to the nine-time World Rally Champion, to Armando Pereira who is providing him with this car – Pereira is also participating in the rally with a Lancia Ypsilon Rally2 HF Integrale – and to the GL Automobiles team which will host Loeb and Godey under its structure.

Vosges Grand Est Rally: The CFR favorites will be present

As for the regular contenders in the French Rally Championship, Raphaël Astier and Denis Giraudet, the provisional leaders in the standings, will obviously be there with their Porsche The 992 GT+ now sports the number 1. Their runners-up Hugo Margaillan and Mathieu Coppa will also be there (Hyundai i20N Rally2) as well as Yoann Bonato – Benjamin Boulloud (Lancia Ypsilon Rally2 HF Integrale), who made a mistake on the last stage of the Rallye Antibes Côte d'Azur. Competing on home soil, Benjamin and Florence Stirling (Citroën C3 Rally2) will surely be eager to shine and take the win in a battle that could pit them against, for example, Lucas Darmezin and Charlyne Quartini (Hyundai i20N Rally2). Réhane Gany and Franck Le Floch, meanwhile, are absent again after missing the Rallye Antibes Côte d'Azur. But limiting the entry list to just these few crews would be unfair.

Prestigious guests at the Vosges Grand Est Rally

On the one hand, in Rally2, Eric Brunson and Cédric Mondon (Citroën C3 Rally2) are also entered in the event: the 2015 French Rally Champions (2nd Division) haven't returned to this sector since the 2008 edition, where they finished second behind Patrick Henry and Magali Lombard. That day, another Eric took third place, and he will indeed be competing in the 2026 Vosges Grand Est Rally: this is, of course, Eric Mauffrey, co-driven for the occasion by Kévin Bronner, in a Citroën C3 Rally2. On the other hand, the GT+ class will be particularly strong with the four Porsche 992 GT+ cars of Côme Ledogar – Méryl Giraldo, Quentin Gilbert – Christopher Guieu, Ghislain Barbier – Yoann Bouchet, and Thomas Anacleto – Marie Stirling, who were outstanding at Le Touquet. To these outsiders, we must also add the top local drivers such as Jean-Renaud Marchal, Matthieu Hocquaux, and Maxime Mourey.

The list of entrants for the Modern event is available to view. here.

A new milestone reached for electric rallies in the Vosges Grand Est region

The 2026 Vosges Grand Est Rally will also make history as the first to simultaneously host two 100% electric competitions on a single route. Indeed, the Opel Mokka GSEs of the ADAC Opel GSE Rally Cup, as well as the Alpine The A290 Rallye of the eponymous trophy will jointly develop to bring the overall field of the e-Rallye Vosges Grand Est to 26 crews. AlpineThe provisional championship leaders, Melvin Rabilloud and Enzo Mahinc, will need to keep a close eye on Samuel Hoarau and Laurent Descamps, the only ones to have challenged them at Le Touquet. As for Stellantis Motorsport, the Junior champion ERC Calle Carlberg, co-driven by his father Torbjörn, accepted the manufacturer's invitation and will be among the favorites. Also worth watching are the 2026 Rally Jeunes winner Tom Dufour and his co-driver Alex Dubois, who finished second in the first round of the season in Luxembourg.

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