Taking place right after the summer break and in a magnificent setting, the Rallye Mont-Blanc Morzine is an event in which both bold driving and a sturdy set-up are of the essence.

Twingo R1 France Trophy: Garcia and Bernardi lead the pack

At this moment in time Axel Garcia is the favourite to take the Twingo R1 France Trophy. A winner at Limoges and second at Le Touquet and Rodez, the man from Herault has been consistency personified this season and has 61 points to his name. Though in pole position, he holds only a slight lead over his closest challenger, Florian Bernardi, who bounced back from luckless weekends in the Pas-de-Calais and Limousin to win round three of the year and move to within 15 points of the championship leader. Now in his third season in the Trophy, the Vaucluse driver is intent on grabbing top spot.

Behind them are a clutch of drivers fighting it out for third place. The current occupant is Damien Defert, the winner of the season’s first event, who is a doubtful starter this weekend. Bunched right behind him are Laurent Pellier, Gabriel Lieffroy, Raphael Astier, Alexis Sirmain, Johan Notargiacomo and Simon Lebiez, who are separated by a mere three points. Lying slightly further down the standings is Terry Folb, the Group R winner at the Rallye du Pays Basque, an event in which he finished 14th overall. With so little to choose between the drivers, the battle is sure to be fierce in the Twingo R1 France Trophy, which also comprises the French Junior Rally Championship.

Twingo R2 France Trophy: Clairay and Romiguière out to close gap on Guigou

Having won the last two rounds in the competition, championship leader Manu Guigou heads into the Rallye Mont-Blanc Morzine as the man to beat. After taking the points lead at the Rallye du Rouergue, he now has the task of holding off Yann Clairay, a victor at Le Touquet, and Nicolas Romiguiere, who has two podium finishes to his name. With the ever-competitive Mathieu Sentis, Jonathan Fra and the UK’s Chris Ingram also lining up, there is every promise of an exciting tussle for maximum points.

Competing in a Renault Twingo Renaultsport R2 Evo as a non-registered driver, reigning Swiss rally champion and two-time Rallye International du Valais winner Laurent Reuche will be making his competition debut. Reuche is also sponsoring the Twingo R1 Swiss Trophy, which, like its French counterpart, sees a national junior champion crowned at the end of the season.

Jérémie Sérieys banking on experience

Also appearing as a non-registered driver, Jeremie Serieys will be taking to the wheel of the official Twingo Renaultsport R2 Evo, his reward for winning the 2012 French Junior Rally Championship. “I’m feeling cool, calm and collected ahead of the rally,” he said. “It’s been a pretty good season for me and we’ve made a lot of progress. There’s a big difference between the R1 and the R2, and there are a lot of new things you need to get a handle on before you can get the best out of the car. We saw just how useful experience can be at Le Rouergue and we got some good pace going right from the start. We’re still lacking a bit of consistency but the performance is there. We’ve got good memories of the Rallye du Mont Blanc. We got our first podium finish there, which was a turning point for us, and it’s a big advantage for us to have competed in the rally before. That should give us confidence in the opening stages.

The Rallye Mont-Blanc Morzine begins on Friday 6 September with five special stages and continues on Saturday with the final six specials.

Twingo R2 France Trophy: entrants
49. Manu GUIGOU/David MARTY
50. Yann CLAIRAY/Thomas ROUX
51. Nicolas ROMIGUIERE/Alexis NEGRE
52. Mathieu SENTIS/Gil VALETTE
53. Chris INGRAM/Carl WILLIAMSON
54. Jonathan FRA/Vincent LANDAIS

Twingo R1 France Trophy: entrants
106. Axel GARCIA/Fabien POMARES
107. Florian BERNARDI/Xavier CASTEX
108. Laurent PELLIER/Alexandre DEWAELE
109. Gabriel LIEFFROY/Laurine EHRHARDT
110. Raphael ASTIER/Valentin SUCHET
111. Alexis SIRMAIN/Benjamin GAFFARD
112. Johan NOTARGIACOMO/Marine DELON
113. Simon LEBIEZ/Julie LEBIEZ
114. Olivier FLORET/Vincent GROULIER
115. Terry FOLB/Sebastien POUJOL
116. Jean JOUINES/Christopher GUIEU
117. Antoine DHAISNE/Marine FLAJOLET
118. Jordan MOTTARD/Leo OCCHIPINTI
119. Nelson LUKES/Giulia CRESTA
120. William PITOT/Olivier BROUZE
121. Taymoor MARAR/Damien AUGUSTIN