Having skipped the Rallye du Touquet and then recorded back-to-back wins in Limousin and Le Rouergue, Manu Guigou was the firm favourite as the 65th Rallye Mont-Blanc Morzine got under way. With Kevin Millet alongside him, he jumped into the lead in the first timed stage only to miss a braking point in the following special and go off, causing him to retire.

Mathieu Sentis and Gil Valette briefly took command before making a fatal mistake of their own in SS3. That left Yann Clairay and Thomas Roux to fight it out with Nicolas Romiguiere and Alexis Negre, the French Junior Rally Championship crew and 2011 Twingo R1 France Trophy winners. With only a matter of seconds between them in each stage, they ended day one tied for the lead.

Yann Clairay was in no mood for any further drama in the second and final leg, the Mayenne driver winning each of the day’s six specials to come home more than a minute ahead of Nicolas Romiguiere, with Chris Ingram and Carl Williamson taking the last place on the podium from Jonathan Fra and Vincent Landais. Yann Clairay’s win took him back to the top of the Twingo R2 France Trophy standings with 68 points, nine ahead of Nicolas Romiguiere and 18 clear of Manu Guigou.

Yann Clairay: “It wasn’t as simple as it looked. It was a tough weekend and we had brake problems on the downhill sections. The team did a perfect job in giving us a great car, though, and we had a clean drive all the way to the finish line. This victory is a great reward for the whole team, for Thomas and our partners.”

Frustration for Jeremie Serieys on Mont-Blanc return
Jeremie Serieys and co-driver Justine Quillet were hoping to build on a fine first half of the season by moving up a gear at the Rallye du Mont-Blanc. Driving a Twingo Renaultsport R2 Evo set up by Renault Sport Technologies in reward for their French Junior Rally Championship triumph last year, the duo were making their return to an event they usually enjoy. But after making a fine start to the rally a mechanical problem forced them to stop, the pair eventually deciding not to take to the start line the following day because of their running order and for safety reasons. “It’s a shame because it’s a rally we’re familiar with and where the route hasn’t changed,” he said. “It really would have been a chance for us to test ourselves against our competitors in the class. We’re now going to concentrate on the end-of-season rallies. We’ve got the opportunity to take part in the French round of the World Championship in Alsace before hooking up again with the French Championship in Antibes, which will be a new experience for a lot of people.”

Twingo R2 France Trophy – Mont-Blanc – Final standings
1. Yann Clairay – Thomas Roux 2:13:41.9
2. Nicolas Romiguière – Alexis Nègre +1:25.4
3. Chris Ingram – Carl Williamson +3:17.3
4. Jonathan Fra – Vincent Landais + 9:13.3

Twingo R2 France Trophy standings (after round four of six)
1. Yann Clairay 68 points
2. Nicolas Romiguière 59 points
3. Manu Guigou 50 points
4. Chris Ingram 30 points
5. Jonathan Fra 24 points
6. Mathieu Sentis 18 points …

NB: The current provisional championship standings do not take into account the following stipulation in the Twingo R2 Trophy rules: “The crew with the most points shall be declared the winner. Only the five best results shall count in the final Twingo R2 France Trophy standings.”