Rallye du Valais: Strong performance by Mike Coppens 🎥
AND ONCE AGAIN The 62nd Rallye du Valais was hard to beat for excitement this year. In the end, last year's champion Mike Coppens successfully prevailed and deservedly celebrated his second home victory.
But the outcome was not quite as close as in 2021. A year ago, winner Mike Coppens was separated by just 4.4 seconds from runner-up Michaël Burri (center gallery). This time - the order was the same - it was 16 seconds. Nevertheless, the tradition-steeped rally in the Valais mountains was hard to beat in terms of excitement.
On the first day alone, the lead changed four times between four different drivers. At the end of the day, Jonathan Michellod (left gallery) was 0.5 seconds ahead of WRC-tested Freddy Loix (right gallery).
Flat tire cost Jonathan Michellod home victory
The second day continued in similar style, with local hero Michellod (on a Škoda Fabia) taking the reins from the eighth special stage after a brief interlude in the lead by Burri (on a Hyundai i20). The young Valais native and co-driver Stéphane Fellay entered the final stage from La Crêta to Mâche in the lead.
After one kilometer he touched a concrete barrier. The result was a punctured tire. Instead of celebrating his first home victory, Michellod slipped to fourth place overall and second in the Swiss championship standings.
Jonathan Michellod: "Something like that can happen. But of course it's very, very annoying. Nevertheless, we showed that we can keep up with the front runners. All in all, it was a good rally. Unfortunately, the result wasn't right in the end."
A small consolation for Michellod is the second final place in the 2022 Rally Championship, where he narrowly beat Coppens with 157:154 points.
Despite a few problems second victory after 2021
For 43-year-old Škoda driver Mike Coppens, second or third place in the championship didn't matter even before the rally: "It doesn't matter to me. The only thing that counts is the title. And we were unable to defend it. We still had a few problems on the first day. But they are not worth mentioning. We attacked until the end and in the end secured our second victory at the RIV after 2021."
Alongside Coppens, Burri (in second) and Loix (in third) were on the podium at the new service park in Saillon. Because Burri drives with a French license and Loix, as a Belgian guest driver, does not receive any points for the SM classification, Jonathan Hirschi secured third place in the Swiss classification behind Coppens and Michellod. Hirschi was still in front after two stages on the first day, but then dropped to 29th place in the meantime due to two punctures.
The race to catch up by the man from Neuchâtel, who had already been crowned 2022 champion, came to a halt again on the sixth special stage due to another puncture. At the finish Hirschi was 4:24 min behind winner Coppens. But he was still 1:16 min ahead of Sergio Pinto, who was once again "Best of the Rest" in his Alpine A110 RGT.
Guillaume Girolamoin Best in Junior Championship
The Junior Championship had long been decided before the Rallye du Valais. But that was no reason for the new champion Guillaume Girolamo (25) to lift his right foot. The rider from Valais set the best time in eleven of the twelve tests and won his class in a commanding manner ahead of Yoan Löeffler. At the same time, Girolamo not only secured victory in the Clio Trophy Swiss - ahead of Löeffler and Cédric Moulin - he also caught the previously leading Ismaël Vuistiner in the final, who had to retire in SS8 after an accident.
Lots of action in the Michelin Trophée Alps 2WD
Much entertainment also offered the dozen players in the Michelin Trophée Alps 2WD. After the first day, Michaël Droz led with co-driver Sarah Lattion. But Aurélien Devanthéry/Gaël Delasoie didn't let up and chased away the leaders in the penultimate special stage. Third place went to Nicolas Lattion. The title went to Frenchman Emeric Rey. In the Open class, Sergio Pinto was already the champion before the final in Valais.
Thrilling decision in the Swiss Rally Cup
The decision in the Swiss Rally Cup was also unexpectedly exciting. Philippe Broussoux was comfortably in the lead before the RIV with a lead of 26. However, a defective drive shaft in SS2 threw the Renault Clio driver from Vaud back to the rear of the field. However, because pursuer Alexandre Cruz crashed shortly afterwards, Broussoux still drove home the title. Victory went to Laurent Bérard in a Honda Civic. Second place in the championship was secured by Claude Aebi (Renault Clio). Laurent Rossi (Peugeot 206) was third.
Thrilling finale at the historic Rally Championnat
The finale of the historic rally championship was a real nail-biter for the participants. Although former champion Florian Gonon was in front with his Ford Escort from the first to the last stage, in order to win the VHC title, Gonon could not allow Eddy Bérard, who had been in the lead until then, to finish second.
However, the BMW M3 driver did not let himself be ruffled and finished the 5th edition of the RIV historique in just this second place. As a result, he beat Gonon in the final standings with 141:140 points. Third place went to last year's champion Guy Trolliet in a Porsche 911.
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Photos: Christian Eichenberger, Cornevaux
