Rally: Clear case for Jonathan Michellod 馃帴
HALF TIME In the absence of leader Jonathan Hirschi and after an accident by Mike Coppens, Jonathan Michellod secured his first win of the season in the Rally du Bourgogne C么te Chalonnaise.
The Swiss were unable to have any say in the overall victory at the Rally Bourgogne C么te Chalonnaise this weekend. In the end, the local teams were too strong - above all Frenchman Nicolas Hernandez, who was in the lead on his 艩koda Fabia Rally2 evo from the fourth stage and did not relinquish it until the finish (SS12).
Best Swiss on 艩koda
But the best Swiss, Jonathan Michellod (gallery right) could not care less. The 2022 Chablais winner secured victory in the Swiss championship standings in fifth place overall on his 艩koda Fabia Rally2 evo and is now in the lead as half-time champion after three of six rallies.
Jonathan Michellod: "Actually, it only went really well on the first three stages. After that, we had problems. First with the engine, which didn't run smoothly and we therefore couldn't get all the power, then - on the second day - with the transmission. We drove more than two stages without fourth gear. I'm pleased that we still managed to win the Swiss championship. Although of course we also benefited from Mike's retirement."
Mike Coppens in misfortune
The 2021 Swiss rally champion retired on the eighth stage. At this point, Coppens (right gallery) was more than 30 seconds ahead of Michellod. And if he hadn't made a wrong turn on the first special stage after a false start, the lead would have been even greater.
Mike Coppens: "We were doing great, apart from that mistake on the first special stage, which cost us an easy 30 seconds. Then we had an accident on the eighth special stage - nothing serious, but it still hurt. We could have won the rally, but our write-up wasn't helpful at this point. The corner closed up. I underestimated that."
Sacha Althaus very successful
Due to Coppens' retirement, two riders who have already attracted attention this year moved up. Directly behind Michellod, Sacha Althaus secured second place (center gallery) in the Swiss classification. The 26-year-old from Moutier (JU) was only 23.3 seconds slower than brand colleague Michellod and thus made it onto the podium again after two third places at the Crit茅rium Jurassien and the Rallye du Chablais.
Sacha Althaus: "I am very happy with this result. I'm still missing that last bit of speed, even though I drove with a knife between my teeth the whole rally. But that's probably down to experience. After all, this was only my fifth rally with this car."
Podium finish for Thibault Maret
Third place went to the 22-year-old Thibault Maret. The young man from Voll猫ges in the Valais, who had already made a positive impression in the Rallye du Chablais with fourth place, kept old champion Olivier Burri in his Hyundai i20 at bay from the second stage onwards and celebrated his first podium finish in Burgundy as part of the Swiss championship.
Thibault Maret: "That was a very good and constructive weekend. The stages were very fast. And the competition was strong. I have to verify that again exactly, but I think I lost one and a half to two seconds per kilometer to the fastest. That's definitely something to build on."
Sergio Pinto rounded off the top 5 in his Alpine A110 RGT. The man from the Valais lost only 17 seconds to veteran Burri and secured second place overall in the Michelin Trophy Alps Open behind French brand colleague David Lamarche.
Michelin Trophy Alps with a lot of bad luck
In the Michelin Trophy Alps 2WD none of the three starting teams finished. Olivier Ramel/Florian Barrachin had to park their Clio Ragnotti Gr. N as early as the third stage due to engine failure. The same fate befell Laurent B茅rard, navigated by returnee Micha毛l Volluz, in SS11, just before the finish. And Claude Aebi/Justin Vuffray got as far as the seventh SS before they too had a mechanical problem.
Overall victory for favorite Pascal Perroud
In the historic class, the VHC, the favorite Pascal Perroud prevailed as expected. The driver from Vaud secured overall victory in his BMW M3 E30 ahead of Frenchman Benoit Chavet by 19 seconds, thus extending his overall lead. Third place went to Nicolas Jolidon from Jura in a BMW 325i.
聽... and so it goes on this season:
- August 31 - September 2, Rally Mont-Blanc Morzine (F)
- September 29 and 30, Rally del Ticino
- October 26-28, Rally International du Valais
Source: Car Sport Switzerland
Photos Eichenberger (2), Cornevaux (2)
Video: Adrille Rally
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