Swedish Rally — Where do the French drivers stand?

Contrary to Rally Monte Carlo, the number of French drivers is slightly lower at the Rally Sweden. This is understandable, firstly because the terrain is potentially not the most welcoming for Latin drivers, and secondly because the budgets required to participate are quite substantial. Naturally, all eyes are on... Adrien fourmaux and Alexandre Coria in the top category, but they aren't the only ones proudly representing France this weekend. We also note the presence of two all-French crews in WRC2: Mattéo Chatillon – Maxence Cornuau, and Eliott Delecour – Sabrina de Castelli. For the former, at the wheel of the #31 Škoda Fabia RS Rally2, things are going smoothly. They were already present last year in Renault Driving a Clio Rally3, the two young men gained valuable experience in Scandinavia and are continuing their steady progress. "It's even easier with the Rally2 than with the Rally3," the driver from Châtellerault (Vienne) told us this morning at the start of the stage. The duo will compete in six more rounds this season, having already participated in Monte Carlo, and currently sit 7th in the WRC2 standings this Saturday afternoon.

A great debut for Delecour despite a small mistake

For Eliott Delecour, this participation marks his first time competing on snow, excluding Monte Carlo. "I think, and Mattéo will surely agree with me on this, that we don't want to drive on any other terrain now!" declared the son of François and Priscille Delecour in the Parc Fermé this morning. Eliott Delecour began his career in Romania, before he turned 18, and is therefore finding himself in Sweden on terrain that can sometimes resemble it: long straights, very fast corners… Everything was going perfectly for Eliott Delecour and his experienced co-driver, Sabrina de Castelli. Unfortunately, in the 12th special stage, they made a very slight mistake. "The car was completely undamaged, we just came to a stop but couldn't get going again," he told us after the incident. A shame, because at the same time, Romet Jürgenson went off the road, and an 8th position was therefore within reach for the young French driver.

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In RC3, the French are present and accounted for.

Aside from the two young drivers, another French crew is competing in the Rally Sweden in WRC3. Winners of the category at Monte Carlo, Eric Royère and Alexis Grenier are experiencing a slightly more challenging weekend on this unique terrain. Nevertheless, they are still in contention and have avoided the pitfalls, something others haven't managed to do. The Chazel Technologie Course crew is therefore faring better than the other French crew competing in RC3, Tony Ribaudo and Cyrielle Delorme: they went off the road in the first stage of the rally and have since rejoined the rally via a Restart. Finally, let's commend Corentin Silvestre, the co-driver of Kerem Kazaz, competing in JWRC, who, after going off the road in the fifth stage of the rally, has restarted.