Benjamin Boulenc and Chloé Barozzi-Gauze join Toyota Gazoo Racing Italy

As the French Rally Championship prepares to begin this weekend on the Rally Le Touquet – Pas-de-Calais, France will also be very well represented on the other side of the Alps. Winners of the GR Yaris Rally Cup last year in the Italian Asphalt Rally Championship, Benjamin Boulenc and Chloé Barozzi-Gauze have just been confirmed within the Toyota Gazoo Racing Italy will be the official crew for the season, driving a Toyota GR Yaris Rally2, as previously confirmed by the team. Their championship kicks off this weekend with the Rally Il Ciocco e Valle del Serchio and will consist of seven events this season, including some legendary names like the Sanremo Rally and the Rally di Roma Capitale, which will be a support event for the [event name missing].ERC as well as the Targa Florio.

First Rally2 laps for Benjamin Boulenc – Chloé Barozzi-Gauze

The Catalan crew will benefit from an exceptional allocation this season. Winners of the Clio Trophy France Gravel in 2024, Benjamin Boulenc and Chloé Barozzi-Gauze made the surprising choice to compete in Italy last year. Indeed, deemed "too old" to be eligible for factory drives through French one-make series, the 33-year-old driver's intuition proved correct, as last year, alongside his partner, he won the GR Yaris Rally Cup, where the conditions for obtaining an official Toyota drive are less restrictive, in terms of maximum driver age, than in France. Thanks to this allocation, Boulenc and Barozzi-Gauze have ticked another box on their roadmap and will now compete in a Rally2 class car, aiming, in the long term, to continue this momentum and make a name for themselves. While there are many French initiatives enabling young pilots to emerge at a higher level, the approach of Benjamin Boulenc and Chloé Barozzi-Gauze is certainly worth noting.

ALSO READ > Louis Constant is headed to Italy this season