At the end of a final event which fulfilled all expectations, Jérémie Serieys lifted the title of French Junior Rally Champion by finishing second in the Rallye du Var behind Jean Jouines. Charles Martin, who dropped out of the second stage, had to make do with the final victory in the Twingo R1 France Trophy stage.

Three drivers were vying to be successor to Nicolas Romiguière in the Twingo R1 France Trophy and the French Junior Rally Championship: Charles Martin, Jérémie Serieys and Florian Bernardi.

However, it was Damien Defert who made the best start racking up three best times to start this final leg. Before the finish of the first stage, Jean Jouines also showed himself in his best light by being fastest in SS4.

As he rolled into the Parc Fermé, Damien Defert was leading Jean Jouines by 6’’1. Florian Bernardi and Jérémie Serieys followed at least 30 seconds ahead of Roman Ferrero, Mathias Wouters, Gabriel Lieffroy, Nelson Lukes, Johan Notargiacomo and Antoine Massé. Classified only as 14th, with a two-minute delay caused by radio problems and then engine concerns, Charles Martin was nevertheless best placed to take the title.

The situation was to become even more delicate for Charles Martin. Having posted a best time in SS5, the driver from Île-de-France ended up dropping out due to engine failure. Still champion elect, he then had to wait for the end of the rally to discover his fate…

At the same time, Florian Bernardi lost practically any chance he had of taking the title with a puncture in SS5. Worse still, in SS7 an engine mount gave way. After two days of competition, he was sitting in 10th position more than seven minutes adrift.

Ahead, Jean Jouines held an advantage of less than one second. Damien Defert occupied second place while Jérémie Serieys was in third, 18 seconds behind the leaders. Roman Ferrero, Gabriel Lieffroy, Johan Notargiacomo and Antoine Massé made up the remainder of the first section of the classification.

The final stage of the year was a decisive one. Jérémie Serieys needed to gain at least one place to lift the title of French Junior Rally Champion. In SS10, Jean Jouines ate away at the gap and Jérémie Serieys pulled in Damien Defert. After the cancellation of the penultimate timed stage, there was everything to play for in the 31.74 km long final special stage.

Jérémie Serieys chalked up the second-fastest time behind Roman Ferrero. Jean Jouines defended his first position whereas Damien Defert gave away 39.7 seconds. Jérémie Serieys therefore stormed away with second place in the event and notched up enough points to overtake Charles Martin in the final overall classification of the French Junior Rally Championship, specifically for drivers aged under 25. He will be at the wheel of a Twingo R2 Evo next season in the French Rally Championship. Charles Martin found some solace in the advantage he still held in the Twingo R1 France Trophy.

Jean Jouines: “I got over a hurdle. At the start of the season, we were having plenty of problems. Up until the Cévennes, we were lacking in experience. Since then, I have worked a lot on tyre use, tyre pressures and note-taking. That paid off. This was my third event in the Var. I am happy with this first win. The objective wasn’t necessarily to win but to be able to be at the sharp end.”

Jérémy Serieys: “I’m very happy. This was my first season and I am French Champion! I’d like to thank all of the people who have been behind me, Renault Sport, the FFSA and Pirelli. In the final special stage I didn’t question myself. I drove flat out everywhere and I almost had a bump on several occasions.”

58th Rallye du Var
12 special stages, two cancelled
Best times: Damien Defert 4, Jean Jouines and Roman Ferrero 2, Charles Martin and Jérémie Serieys 1
Leaders: SS1 to 8 Damien Defert, SS9 to 12 (finish) Jean Jouines

Overall classification
1 JOUINES Jean - VILLANI Jean-René 3:02:29:3
2 SERIEYS Jérémie - QUILLET Justine +0:04:9
3 DEFERT Damien - DIOTTIN Florent +0:35:2
4 FERRERO Roman - MORIN Maxime +0:58:2
5 LIEFFROY Gabriel - EHRHARDT Laurine +2:56:7
6 NOTARGIACOMO Johan - DELON Marine +3:31:8
7 MASSE Antoine - FAVREAU Mathieu +5:00:2
8 WOUTERS Mathias - GAINET Aline +6:57:7
9 BERNARDI Florian - BELLOTTO Victor +7:54:2
10 PERRY Jean-René - REIBEL Joshua +8:28:2
11 MARGIOTTA Joffrey - MARGIOTTA Brice +9:30:4
12 FOHRER Thibaut - BIHL Anaïs +10:30:9
13 ASTIER Loïc - VARGAS Jonathan +13:54:0
14 COUTURIER Ségolène - BRUNEL Virginie +15:37:5

Trophée Twingo R1 France
1 MARTIN Charles 83
2 SERIEYS Jérémie 83
3 BERNARDI Florian 63
4 DEFERT Damien 62
5 JOUINES Jean 52
6 FOSTIER Romain 40
7 MASSE Antoine 32
8 NOTARGIACOMO Johan 23
9ex LEBIEZ Simon 22
9ex LIEFFROY Gabriel 22
9ex WOUTERS Mathias 22...

Championnat de France des Rallyes Junior
1 SERIEYS Jérémie 85
2 MARTIN Charles 83
3 DEFERT Damien 67
4 BERNARDI Florian 63
5 JOUINES Jean 55
6 MASSE Antoine 38
7 WOUTERS Mathias 24
8ex NOTARGIACOMO Johan 23
8ex LIEFFROY Gabriel 23
10 LEBIEZ Simon 22...