Aurelien Lafont and Aurelien Verdenet have been in impressive form in the R1 class in the last few weeks. Victorious at the Rallye National du Gard and third in the Rallye National de Bretagne, they continued in the same vein with another fine getaway at the Rallye Bourgogne. Points leaders Antoine Margely and Lea Pustelnik made the fastest start of all, however, in their Renault Twingo R.S. R1. Winners twice this season and second in their other appearance of the campaign, they built up a comfortable lead in the first three specials before going off the road in SS4 and having to retire, leaving Aurelien Lafont in the lead.

Dorian Delagne and Romain Garel then went off, while Maxime Goetz and Marine Jeannot managed to make it to the service park despite twisting their rear axle in SS3, the pair rejoining the race in sixth place. Up front, Aurelien Lafont and Aurelien Verdenet stretched their lead over the rest of the field, with Nicolas Renchet and Marion Renchet nosing ahead of Theo Chalal and Sarah Mancini in the battle for second.

Aurelien Lafont went on to score win number two of the season and slip into second place in the standings, while Nicolas Renchet finished runner-up and now lies third in the points, well in touch with the leader Antoine Margely. Theo Chalal collected valuable points in third and is now fourth overall, with the leaders firmly in his sights, and Emilien Sanlaville and Maxime Goetz finished in the points again in fifth and sixth respectively.

In the R2 class Jeremi Campos and Kevin Parent got off to a fine start, ending day one in second, with Jordan Mottard and Leo Occhipinti running seventh. Jeremi Campos kept the pace up on day two but missed out on the chance to score some big points when he ran off in SS8. Jordan Mottard kept it together, meanwhile, to finish sixth.

Mickael Reydellet and Thomas Chauffray were quick out of the blocks in the R3/N4 class, moving in the lead in SS3 and lying sixth overall. Running in sixth behind a clutch of impressive non-Challenge Clio R.S. R3s was Laurent Lacomy and Sebastien Mattei, who climbed into fifth before the end of day one, with Reydellet holding on to his lead.

A poor tyre choice at the start of day two led to Reydellet losing time, however, and dropping down to third place in the R3/N4 standings. Heading in the opposite direction was Lacomy, though his race came to a sudden end on SS11 when he went off the road, allowing Damien Stempfle/Aurelien Barthelemy and Philippe Baffoun/Laurence Vinel to move up to sixth and seventh respectively. Mickael Reydellet and Thomas Chauffray held on to claim third and their second podium finish of the campaign, a result that took them into third place in the Renault Sport Challenge R3/N4 points standings. Laurent Lacomy retains the class lead despite his retirement.

The next round of the Renault Sport Challenge will take place at the Rallye de la Montagne Noire, held in Mazamet on 25-27 July.

Renault Sport Challenge standings after the Rallye Bourgogne – Côte Chalonnaise
R3/N4 class
1. Laurent Lacomy, 69 points (8, 25, 18, ret., 18, ret.)
2. Pascal Berard, 57 (15, 15, DNC, 12, 15, DNC)
3. Mickael Reydellet, 42 (12, DNC, DNC, 15, ret., 15)
4. Jerome Chavanne, 36 (18, 18, ret., DNC, DNC, DNC)
5. Boris Carminati, 25 (25, DNC, DNC, ret., DNC, DNC)
5. Anthony Cosson, 25 (DNC, DNC, 25, DNC, ret., DNC)

R2 class
1. Georges Gonon, 68 points (18, 25, DNC, 25, ret., DNC)
2. William Pitot, 63 (15, 18, 15, 15, DNC, ret.)
3. Jordan Mottard, 41 (ret., 15, ret., 18, ret., 8)
4. Marvin Sorin, 37 (DNC, 12, 25, DNC, ret., ret.)

R1 class
1. Antoine Margely, 68 points (DNC, DNC, 25, 18, 25, ret.)
2. Aurelien Lafont, 65 (ret., disq., ret., 25, 15 ,25)
3. Nicolas Renchet, 61 (18, 25, DNC, ret., DNC, 18)
4. Theo Chalal, 55 (12, 10, 18, DNC, ret., 15)
5. Romain Auvert, 45 (25, 0, 12, DNC, 8, DNC)
6. Emilien Sanlaville, 39 (15, DNC, DNC, 12, DNC, 12)