Chablais: Triumph for the Schneeberger couple

The absence of Ivan Ballinari due to illness initially caused unheard-of tension. The man from Ticino would probably have won the third round of the Rallye-SM in the Chablais region by a landslide, but now the opportunity presented itself for the second Swiss set to put themselves in the limelight - and they truly did.

At the beginning of Friday's first leg, Mike Coppens in the Skoda Fabia R5 attracted attention with two SS best times, after which Steeves Schneeberger and Cédric Althaus were fastest once each in their Ford Fiesta R5s.

Three-way fight at the top
After five special stages, Althaus and Coppens were tied at the top of the overall standings, just ahead of Schneeberger. It was not until the last special stage of the first day that Mike Coppens, who was driving as strongly as ever, managed to pull away somewhat.

Althaus explained his sudden 17-second deficit on Friday night with a stuck gas pedal on Balbosca's Fiesta R5.

On Saturday morning, the man from Vaud reduced the gap to the man from the Valais to 9.4 seconds with three best times, but paid for his pursuit with a crash into an embankment on SS10.

Althaus' retirement meant that Mike Coppens was suddenly one minute ahead of the Schneeberger couple. In his first start with an R5 car, a Fiesta from Balbosca, Joël Rappaz followed in third place, already almost three minutes behind.

Fatal mistake of the leader
The podium positions seemed to have been taken when Coppens' Belgian co-driver Renaud Jamoul made a serious mistake. On the spectator circuit at Collonges, the duo completed one lap too few and therefore had to be disqualified under the regulations.

Steeves and Isabelle Schneeberger thus unexpectedly moved into the lead. The couple from Courrendlin in the Jura region never relinquished it.

At the season opener in France, they finished second, and now there was even an overall victory to celebrate for the long-time Historic driver. In addition, the 52-year-old now leads the SM table after three of six rounds with 79 points ahead of Ballinari (64), who, however, has already taken his strike result.

Equally unexpectedly, Joël Rappaz, sponsored by Yokohama Switzerland, finished second with Gaëtan Lathion (co-driving Swiss Rally Champion Junior 2017).

Marc Valliccioni of Corsica, driving under a Swiss license, powered his Porsche GT3 to third overall ahead of Jean-Marc Salomon (Fiesta R5) and R2 class winner Aurélien Devanthéry (Peugeot 208).

Thomas Schmid is back in the title race
In the Junior-SM, Thomas Schmid and Cornel Frigoli showed speed and maturity. Neither did the team from eastern Switzerland try to keep Devathéry, who is not part of the championship, from winning the class, nor did they allow themselves to make a mistake under pressure from Jonathan Michellod.

This was rewarded with their second win of the season after Pays du Gier, which means they are now back in touch with the top of the table after the engine failure at the Jurassien. Six points (36 to 30) separate the two teams at the top.

In the Clio R3T Alps Trophy, Ismaël Vuistiner set the pace until he went off the road with his Renault Clio IV RS in the sixth SS.

This paved the way for Olivier Courtois from Alsace to win and take a clear lead in the championship, which Vuistiner may have squandered in Chablais.

Two world champions as fast forerunners
The stars of the 15th Rallye due Chablais were the two former world champions Ari Vatanen and Sébastien Loeb. The Finn drove ahead of the VHC field won by Florian Gonon in a Ford Escort Mk1 in a BMW M3, while the Frenchman, who is based in Prangins VD, drove the modern in a Peugeot 306 Maxi.

According to internal stops, Loeb would have had the best chance of reaching the overall winners' podium with the 20-year-old kit car, the top step of which he climbed last year.

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