Record world champion Loeb tests the Swiss
RALLYE On Friday and Saturday, the Chablais region will be dominated by the third round of the World Rally Championship and its prominent driving force, Sébastien Loeb. The nine-time world champion will be competing for the first time with the same equipment against the Swiss elite led by namesake Carron. The organizer cannot be praised enough. This is the fourth time that Eric Jordan has [...]
You can't really praise the organizer enough. For the fourth time, Eric Jordan has managed to bring one of the world's best racers of all time to the start of the Swiss race through the Vaud Alps and in the valley between Montreux and Martigny. Merci, Eric!
While he drove a superior WRC car in 2009, 2012 and 2013, this time Sébastien Loeb is competing with his wife Séverine in a Peugeot 208 T16 from his own rally team. The Peugeot is not one of the fastest and most reliable of the current R5 models. So this will also be a challenge for Loeb.
Will the Swiss take him and the second strong foreigner, multiple Belgian champion Peter Tsjoen in a Ford Fiesta R5, as the benchmark? Sébastien Carron has been unbeaten for a year and a half and knows he has a top car in his hands with the Fiesta from Balbosca. Regardless of how the champion drives, he can say that he has tried it or let it go in order to concentrate on the SM classification. The comparison will certainly be interesting.
Jérémie Toedtli is one driver who does not shy away from comparison with Loeb, Tsjoen and Carron. The man from Neuchâtel shone at the WRC round in Corsica in April and at his R5 debut in Valais in October 2016. In his third outing with the Skoda Fabia R5, the talented youngster can expect anything. No fewer than eleven R5 teams are on the grid. Plus the two Porsche 997 GT3 R-GTs of Marc Valliccioni and Olivier Gillet plus four Peugeot 207 S2000s - an impressive starting field.
Spectator-friendly event
The start is on Friday, June 2, at 10.45 am in Aigle. On the first stage, there will be three stages in two loops. On Saturday, four more stages are on the program, each of which must be completed twice. The finish after a total distance of 573 km and 166 km on best time (14 SS) is on Saturday, June 3, at 18:45 in Aigle.
Some of the stages are very easy for spectators to reach. On Friday, for example, SS1/6 Evionnaz-Verneyraz 1 and 2 (start 1st vehicle at 11.17 and 18.12 respectively). This is where all hell breaks loose as you pass through the village of La Balmaz.
There are three great opportunities on Saturday. In the morning, SS8 and 10 (8.45/11.45 am) with the start show at the cable car parking lot in Champéry. In the afternoon, either the circuit in Collonges (SS11 at 14.15 and SS13 at 17.00) or SS12/14 Bex-Lavey (14.55/17.45).
So you can watch the best rally sport with the record world champion in the lead without any stress. The start of the Whitsun weekend is a holiday for Swiss motorsport fans.
The teaser for the Rallye du Chablais 2017
