Jérémie Sérieys and Justine Quillet arrived in Antibes still on a high from their World Rally Championship debut with the France FFSA Rallye team at the Rallye de France – Alsace. “We had some magical moments in Alsace and we couldn’t be more ready,” said Jeremie at the press conference that marked the start of round seven of the French Rally Championship.

Making liberal use of the mountainous roads of the Alpes-Maritimes region, the race route took last year’s French Junior Rally winners through some legendary stages, not least the section between the Col de Bleine and the Col de Turini. Negotiating the twists and turns impeccably, Jeremie Serieys made a watchful start in his Renault Sport Technologies-prepared Renault Twingo R.S. R2 Evo. Gradually picking up the pace, he displayed a growing sense of ease in Saturday’s afternoon’s second loop, attacking hard at the end of the day to lie sixth in the R2 Class and 13th overall.

Maintaining their pace on Sunday, Jérémie Sérieys and Justine Quillet battled away on roads that were new to them but not to the posse of experienced local drivers. Though the retirements started to come thick and fast, the Montpellier driver stayed out of trouble while keeping his foot down, even moving into the top three in the R2 Class after four of the day’s six specials, moving past two of his nearest championship rivals. Second-fastest in his class on Sunday, he eventually came in fourth in the R2 standings, less than three seconds off a podium finish, and seventh in the GC.

Not surprisingly, Jérémie Sérieys was all smiles following a superb second leg on roads that feature in the Rallye Monte-Carlo: “I’m pretty stoked with how this round went and I finished the rally strongly,” he said afterwards. “I managed my race well, picking the pace up when I felt good and easing off when I needed to stay out of trouble. I’ve just done two rallies on successive weekends on totally different terrain, without having competed in either of them before. I managed to be competitive in both of them though. Despite not having much time to work on the car between events, Renault Sport have done a very good job. The car was perfect this weekend.”

Next up for the duo is the Critérium des Cévennes at the end of the month. Held on roads he knows well, it is an event close to Jérémie Sérieys’ heart. Facing him there will be the Twingo R2 France Trophy field in the first of two rounds in what promises to be a suspenseful end to their season.