Rallye du Valais: Grand finale in Valais
RALLYE The 2017 Swiss racing season comes to a close with the Rallye International du Valais. A good 20 of the 90 teams come from abroad. On Friday, spectators will be treated to a full day of action on the circuit at the Sion barracks. The 58th Rallye International du Valais (RIV) is not only the last round of the [...]
The 58th Rallye International du Valais (RIV) is not only the last round of the Swiss Rally Championship, but also part of several European series. Of the 90 registered teams, no fewer than 21 foreign crews from ten nations are expected at the start.
The field is led by Tour European Rally leader Giandomenico Basso from Italy in a latest-generation Hyundai NG i20 R5 (NG) and Kevin Abbring from the Netherlands in a Ford Fiesta R5.
The best-known international driver is Romain Dumas. The Swiss by choice was Neel Jani's teammate at Porsche until 2016 and won the long-distance world championship title with him. The Frenchman drives a visually and acoustically attractive Porsche 997 GT3.
With the exception of runner-up Ivan Ballinari, the entire Swiss elite will be at the start. After the title was decided at the Valli Cuneesi Rally in September, the old and new champion Sébastien Carron will be able to start without any worries.
Last year, the Valais native celebrated the biggest success of his career to date with this home win, which he would naturally like to repeat at the wheel of the tried-and-tested Ford Fiesta R5.
His toughest national rival could be Jérémie Toedtli, who made an impressive debut in the R5 class in the Valais in 2016, finishing third in a Skoda Fabia. Having recently performed well at the WRC round in Spain, Toedtli is keen for his first victory in Switzerland.
Spectator day at the Sion barracks
For financial and organizational reasons, the race will not start on Thursday afternoon, but on Friday morning. The rally center is located at the CERM in Martigny. The first stage will start there at 9.15 am on Friday and the second at 9 am on Saturday, finishing at 4.30 pm.
The barracks area in the cantonal capital of Sion will take center stage on Friday with two special stages (from 12.30 and from 17.30) and an exhibition of historic rally and racing vehicles - the Rallye Motor Show Emotion. Many of these exhibits, some of them rare, from the history of the World Rally Championship and the 24 Hours of Le Mans will be used for demonstration drives between the two special stages.
Spectators can find all the information about the event in Martigny and in advance on the homepage.
