Rallye Terre d'Aléria – SS8: Martell and Gelsomino still in the lead, Rumeau and Amblard keep the pressure on

After regaining the overall lead in the first stage of the morning, Conner Martell and Alex Gelsomino (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) tackled the eighth stage of the Rally Terre d'Aléria, with a 1,8-second lead over their teammates Sarah Rumeau and Julie Amblard (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2). The route of this stage had already been covered on Thursday evening, as it served as the setting for a qualifying SS1 that determined the starting order for the following day. It is located opposite the rally's service park, on the outskirts of the town of Aléria: an ideal geographical position for returning to the team structures at midday before the final two stages of the rally this afternoon. Logically, the times on this second pass through the stage were significantly improved compared to those of Thursday afternoon.

By setting the fastest time on the special stage in 4:30.5, Sarah Rumeau and Julie Amblard gained four-tenths of a second on Conner Martell and Alex Gelsomino, who posted the second fastest time in 4:30.9. The gap between the two crews at the start of the final loop of the rally will therefore be just 1,4 seconds this afternoon, promising a thrilling spectacle between the two Auvergne-based Škoda Fabia RS Rally2s. Quentin Ribaud and Loan Biagetti (Hyundai The i20N Rally2 drivers provisionally maintain third position after their minor incident on SS7, holding a 7,6-second lead over Matthieu and Mathilde Margaillan (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2), who set the fourth fastest time on this eighth stage behind Henri-Marc Venturini and Dominique Corvi (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2). Jean-Philippe Quilichini and FX Buresi (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) are provisionally fifth overall, 6,1 seconds behind the Margaillan family.

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In SMRC4, Tom Pellerey and Kevin Bronner are giving it their all

Tom Pellerey and Kévin Bronner once again set the fastest time in the SMRC4 category on SS8, their third fastest time of the morning. Thanks to their performance, they have further reduced the gap in the overall standings between themselves and the leaders, still held by Alexandre Villiod and Maëlle Casays, to just 15,6 seconds. As a reminder, a dramatic turn of events occurred on SS6 at the start of the day when Mattéo Codaccioni and Marine Lacruz, who were in 3rd place, went off the road without serious injury. As a result, Loïc Costes and Christelle Perrin have since reclaimed that position and maintain a 21,6-second lead over Arthur Roché and Quentin Proust, the winners at Le Touquet, with two stages remaining. This top three also represents the standings for this round of the French 2-Wheel Drive Gravel Rally Championship. This SS8 proved disastrous for Jean-Claude Pietri and Jean-François Muselli in the SMRC4 group, who went off the road but escaped uninjured. It's also worth noting that Guy Bekaert and Josh Reichenecker (Subaru Impreza STi N15), the only remaining contenders in the Yacco National Gravel 4WD Trophy, are still in contention, while the 2WD competitors are having a strange weekend. Marius Anglade and Manon Perrin (Ford Fiesta R2T), who were leading the overall standings, finished SS8 more than 9 minutes behind Sarah Rumeau and Julie Amblard and were ultimately forced to retire.

CFRT – Aléria Land Rally
The provisional classification of SS8

The provisional overall standings after SS8

The provisional overall standings for SMRC4 after SS8