66ème Rallye d'Automne, 2024, Championnat de France des Rallyes 2ème Division

The Ford Fiesta of Guibert / Gracial appearing out of the foggy gloom.

This was the final round of the 2024 Championnat de France des Rallyes 2ème Division and the 66th running of the Rallye d'Automne.  A rally in the Charente Maritime department of France, the rally was run out of the seaside town of Châtelaillon-Plage.  

The rally started on Friday 29th November and ran through Saturday 30th November with some competitors finishing the rally in the early hours of Sunday morning 1st December.   I attended the 4th stage Vandre / Genouille on late Saturday morning and early afternoon when if was rather foggy near tonnay Boutonne.

The pictures below show the top 10 finishers plus most of the group and class winners and a number of other competitors.

138 cars started the rally and 88 were classified as finishers.

The rally winners, Pierre Rague and Julien Pesenti in their Skoda Fabia RS.

Second overall were Mathias De Sousa and Kévin Millet in this Citroën C3.

Third overall were Bruno Longepe and Ronan Choucroun in this Volkswagen Polo GTi.

Fouth overall and winner of the FRC3 group were Arthur Pelamourgues and Bastien Pouget in this Renault Clio V. 

Fifth were Jordan Berfa and Damien Augustin in this Hyundai i20.  They were fastest on this special stage.   Jordan Berfa had already been declared champion.

Sixth overall and winners of the FRGT group were Nicolas Hernandez and Candice Melocco in this Alpine A110.

Eighth overall was this Skoda Fabia of Philippe and Alexandra Rageau.

Ninth overall was another Skoda Fabia, this one driven by Patrice and Valérie Robert.

Tenth were Jimmy Thibaudeau and Dimitri Pilet in this Porsche 997 GT3.

Twelfth overall and winner of the FRC4 group were Dorian Deslandes and Léa Pustelnik in this Renault Clio V RS line.

Thirteen overall and winner of F Rally Nat group were Alexis Flambard and Natacha Delanney in this Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9.

Fourteenth overall and winner of its class was this Subaru Impreza WRX driven by Gary Guerin and Damien  Guille.

Winner of the FRC1 group were Alain Foulon and Maelle Casays in this Citroën DS3 WRC.

Despite the damage, this Renault Clio R3 won its class in the hands of John Laroche and Patrick Dupas.

This Renault Clio Ragnotti driven by Pierre Brard and Alain Labussiere won its class.

Kévin Coignard and Antonin Ambroise won  their class in this Renault R2,

Another class winner was this Citroën Saxo VTS driven by Nicolas Bueno and Sylvain Mahiers.

This Renault Clio Williams won its class in the hands of Florian Le Cadre and Kévin Barraud.

Locking up its brakes is this Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X of Christophe Barbier and Cyril Gosse.  It did win its class.

Amongst the class winners was this Peugeot 106 S16 of Arnaud Gassuau and Alizee Fayolle.

This old Simca Rallye 3 of Michael Etie and Jean-Paul Cognée won its class.

Top all female crew were Aline Chollet and Coralie Girard in this Renault Clio Ragnotti.

Jordan Solnais and Alexis Michaud won their class in this Peugeot 106 XSI

Another class winner was this Citroën Saxo VTS of Emmanuel Coignaud and Hugo Melin.

The classwinning Peugeot 106 S16 of Christophe and Camille Couttier.

The final class winner was this Renault Twingo of Corenin Pinot and Benjamin Billet.

The VW Polo of Sam Taveneau and Pauline Boyer that was to crash out and cause the neutralisation of the last stage for most competitors who were then given a set time.

The Peugeot 205 GTi of Praud / Hurtaud gets a little wide.

The Renault Clio V of Faucher / Desmereau having a moment.

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The Peugeot 106 XSi of Boulanger / Cordonnier also having a moment.

The Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 having a larger moment but it got going again.

The Porsche 997 GT3 of Girardeau / Bichon.

The Peugeot 208 of Domene Guerin / Billard

The Renault Clio 3 RS of Germain / Gouionnet.

The Peugeot 106 Rallye of Guinot / Jeanneau.

The Peugeot 205 Rallye of Fragnaud / Brun.

The Peugeot 106 XSi of Jeanneau / Jannsens.

The Rover MG Type F of Regnier / Regnier

John Etherton asserts his copyright to all of the photos on this blogpost.  However, you may post the photos elsewhere on the web as long as you credit the photographer, John Etherton, and this blog post, Rouenlesafx@blogspot.com and provide a link to this page.

John Etherton affirme son droit d'auteur à l'ensemble des photos sur ce billet de blog. Cependant, vous pouvez poster des photos ailleurs sur le web à condition de créditer le photographe, John Etherton, et ce blog, Rouenlesafx@blogspot.com, et de fournir un lien vers cette page.

The Mitsubishi Evo 8 of Gshchindemann / Bonnegarde

38ème Rallye régional du Médoc - Moderne 2021

The Renault Clio 2 of Debec and Kistersky on ES4.

There were over eighty starters in the modern section of the 38th running of this year's Rallye du Medoc and of these sixty eight were classified at the end of the event.  There was a good field of competitive R5 cars at the front and some nice variety down the field, including cars dating back many years.   You can see a mixture of both in my photos from  the fourth special stage on Sunday 12th December and from the Parc Fermé the day before.    Run on minor public roads around the Médoc peninsula and its world famous Bordeaux vineyards, the rally has been centred around the town of Lesparre-Médoc for a number of years, and traditionally is one of the last events on the calendar, and a welcome excuse to avoid Christmas markets!  Last year it was cancelled because of Covid so this year's event was eagerly anticipated.  The Sunday when I attended the special stage was a warm day that stayed dry in the morning, even if it was rather grey most of the time.   Later in the day it rained so the competitors got a mixture of wet and dry driving and also day and night driving.  I certainly enjoyed my morning watching and taking pictures at this regional asphalt rally and hope you enjoyed that I shared some of it with you.  

Like all regional rallyes in France the total distance of the timed special stages of the Rallye du Médoc is limited to just 40km, but it still gives the competitors and spectators a good weekend with nighttime stages on the Saturday evening and daytime stages on Sunday morning and early afternoon.

For those motor sport historians who may recognise the name of Lesparre-Médoc but can't quite remember why, there was a F2 race run around the public roads of this town in 1950.  It was a triangular shaped circuit and the race was won by André Simon in a Simca-Gordini.  Raymond Sommer and Jean Behra also competed that day, May 5th 1950. 

For the VHC/VHRS cars, click here.

The winner of the rally was this Volkswagen Polo R5 of Jean-Sébastien Vigion and Adrien Labrousse.

The winner of the rally, Jean-Sébastien Vigion is a 38 year old French driver who first won the Rallye du Médoc back in 2007.   As well as being a rally champion he has also had success in rallycross.

Runner-up was this Citroën DS3 R5 with the team of Julien Marty and Michaël Dussillos. 

The third team on the podium were Luc Giroux and Julien Loup in a Citroën C3 R5.

An unusual car to see on a rally was this Aston Martin Vantage.  Here it is in the Parc Fermé.  Unfortunately it left the road on the first special stage, so no chance to see it on ES4.

The Peugeot 106 S16 of Vigier/Lauseille.

Peugeot 205 Rallye on ES4 driven by Fragnaud/Brun.

The Subaru Impreza of Guerin/Lecomte

Headlights blazing on the Renault Clio of Buran/Gilet.

The BMW Z3 of Lasalle/Irigaray just before it broke down.

The Parc Fermé in Lesparre-Médoc with a Seat Ibiza in the foreground.

The Bezinauds in their BMW Compact.

Kicking  up the dust is the Renault Clio RS Line of Harnois and Pichon.  They won RC5.

Winner of the RC4 Group was the Renault Clio of Pion/Regal.

Winner of the RNat Group were the Larqeuys in this Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X.

The rather impressive looking Porsche 997 GT3 RS 3.8 that unfortunately didn't finish the rally. 
However, it did made a nice noise!

The Subaru Impreza STI Prodrive of Remolins/Vernhez.

Borderie/Palombie in a  BMW 318 Ti Compact.

John Etherton asserts his copyright to all of the photos on this blogpost.  However, you may post the photos elsewhere on the web as long as you credit the photographer, John Etherton, and this blog post, Rouenlesafx@blogspot.com and provide a link to this page.

John Etherton affirme son droit d'auteur à l'ensemble des photos sur ce billet de blog. Cependant, vous pouvez poster des photos ailleurs sur le web aussi longtemps que vous créditez le photographe, John Etherton, et ce blog, Rouenlesafx@blogspot.com et fournissez un lien vers cette page.

The Peugeot 206 of Mulon/Lopes.

Another of the faster R5 cars, the Citroën C3 of the Brissiauds.

An electric rally car!  A Porsche Taycan turbo arrives to take part in the ENRS part of the rally.