After relinquishing the Twingo R2 Trophy points lead at Morzine, Manu Guigou and Kevin Millet were determined to register their third win of the season in Les Cévennes and close the gap on Yann Clairay. Joined by Gilles de Turckheim, the championship leader nevertheless posted the fastest time in the event’s opening special. Undeterred, Guigou hit back hard, opening out a lead of nearly a minute over Clairay, with Nicolas Romiguiere and Alexis Negre running third and Mathieu Sentis and Gil Valette fourth.

While Manu Guigou maintained his advantage on Saturday morning’s damp roads, Yann Clairay’s incorrect choice of tyres allowed Nicolas Romiguiere to close up on him. Conditions improved in the afternoon, with the race order remaining unchanged. After ending the day in style by winning the final stage, Yann Clairay said he was content with second place, though it soon became first when race stewards disqualified Manu Guigou for unauthorised tyre cutting. Scoring 25 points for the third time in the campaign, Yann Clairay topped the podium ahead of Nicolas Romiguiere and Mathieu Sentis, and needs only to finish in the points at the Rallye du Var to win the Twingo R2 Trophy.

“Les Cévennes was a new event for me,” said Yann Clairay. “I was very happy as it was to get through to the end without making a mistake and to finish second, posting three good times in the process. But to get the 25 points is just the icing on the cake. There was no way I could have caught Guigou on the road, though I attacked all the same, which allowed me to keep well clear of Romiguiere after losing time to him on Saturday morning. I’d like to thank Team Revo6 - Digiservices, and my co-driver Gilles de Turckheim, who was with me for the first time. I’m going to go away now and prepare just as hard for the Rallye du Var as I did for Les Cévennes. We’re not going to start celebrating, though, because there’s no legislating for mechanical problems or a mistake. We’ll need to make sure we finish but we want to drive well too. We won’t be going there to make up the numbers.”

Stage win and a scare for Jeremie Serieys

Jeremie Serieys continued his development programme with Renault Sport Technologies on home territory. Teaming up with Justine Quillet, he kicked off the event by posting the fastest times in the R2 class in every stage in the first loop with the exception of the short super special in Kartix Parc. Running eighth overall, he then lost five minutes in SS5 after puncturing. Serieys was quickly back in the groove, going fastest in R2 in each of Friday’s specials. He began the next day in equally majestic form, outpacing the entire field in SS9 and following up that amazing feat by going third-quickest in SS10, which catapulted him up to seventh in the GC. His run came to an end when he crashed in SS11, however, with both driver and co-driver being taken to hospital for observation. Fortunately, Jeremie Serieys sustained nothing more serious than a ricked back and should be fit to take his place at the Rallye du Var.

The final event of the season, the Rallye du Var will take place on 22-24 November.

Twingo R2 Trophy – Critérium des Cévennes – Final standings
1. Yann Clairay – Gilles de Turckheim 2:27:55.2
2. Nicolas Romiguière – Alexis Nègre +2:24.0
3. Mathieu Sentis – Gil Valette +13:17.4

Twingo R2 France Trophy standings (after round five of six)*
1. Yann Clairay 93 points
2. Nicolas Romiguière 77 points
3. Manu Guigou 50 points
4. Mathieu Sentis 33 points
5. Chris Ingram 30 points
6. Jonathan Fra 24 points …

*Points totals include each crew’s lowest score, which will be discarded at the end of the season.