Vosges Grand Est Rally: Sébastien Loeb wins, Yoann Bonato takes first place points

Sébastien Loeb and Laurène Godey left no room for their rivals this weekend, dominating the Vosges Grand Est Rally. Yoann Bonato and Benjamin Boulloud made a significant gain in the championship standings, being the highest-placed CFR crew.

Twelve special stages, twelve fastest times: Sébastien delivered an absolutely undeniable assessment. Loeb and Laurène Godey on this Rally Vosges Grand Est, which they won authoritatively aboard a Ford Fiesta WRC 2017, which had been made available to them by Armando Pereira. It was the first time that the nine-time World Rally Champion and his partner had entered this rally together, which they therefore won on their first attempt.

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Sébastien Loeb and Laurène Godey were invisible in the championship standings at this event. As a result, Yoann Bonato and Benjamin Boulloud, finishing second, made the most of the weekend in the championship by securing the victory points. This is good news for the crew of the Trajectus Motorsport team's Lancia Ypsilon Rally2 HF Integrale after their late-race blunder in Antibes. Hugo Margaillan and Mathieu Coppa (Hyundai The i20N Rally2 drivers certainly delivered one of their best performances in the CFR and fought to the very end for the CFR round victory. They ultimately finished 3rd in the race, 6,6 seconds behind their former teammates.

The other winner of the weekend was also Raphaël Astier. Having gone off the road during the Shakedown on Friday morning, the Ardèche driver, who arrived as the championship leader, had considerably damaged his car. His co-driver, Denis Giraudet, was injured in the accident. Suffice it to say, seeing Raphaël Astier at the start of the rally on Saturday morning was already quite an achievement: behind the wheel of a Porsche The 992 GT+ was urgently delivered by Lionel Hansen from Belgium, and Marie-Noëlle Ratier stepped in at the last minute to replace Denis Giraudet. The winner of the Rhône-Charbonnières and Antibes rallies finished 3rd in the CFR round and left Gerardmer with the same championship lead. The overall standings were completed by Quentin Gilbert and Christopher Guieu (Porsche 992 GT+), making their CFR debut with this car, Lucas Darmezin and Charlyne Quartini (Hyundai i20N Rally2), Benjamin and Florence Stirling (Citroën C3 Rally2), Jean-Renaud Marchal and Corentin Silvestre (Citroën C3 Rally2), Emile Breittmayer and Stéphane Prévot (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2), and Kenneth Madsen and Mads Dalsager (Citroën C3 Rally2).

Lively supplementary rankings in the Vosges Grand Est region

The battle for victory in the Clio Trophy France was sublime. After a fierce fight, Paul and Adèle Dachicourt secured their first career win in the Coupe de Marque, finishing six seconds ahead of Florent and Benjamin Fagnone. A completely unprecedented podium finish in Gerardmer for this competition saw Clément Didier and Théo Jacquemet take third place. In the Michelin Amateur Trophy, Florent Pueyo and Timothée Dinet (Peugeot 208 Rally4) won for the second time this season after Le Touquet ahead of Allan Grandclaude – Alexis Jeudy (Peugeot 208 Rally4) and Ludovic Jeudy and Marlène Thiriot (Peugeot 208 Rally4), who came back from nowhere after rolling this morning in the first special stage of the leg.

CFR – Vosges Grand Est Rally
The classification of SS12

The provisional final general classification

The provisional final general classification (Clio Trophy France)

The provisional final general classification (Michelin Amateur Trophy)