Rally-SM: Lots of news for the season opener
TWO BRAND CHANGES The 2018 Swiss Rally Championship begins in France with the Rallye Pays du Gier. Three of champion Sébastien Carron's opponents will start with new R5 cars: runner-up Ivan Ballinari, Mike Coppens and Cédric Althaus have changed brands. Like a year ago, Sébastien Carron is leaving his season plans open. For the time being, the three-time Swiss rally champion has only [...]
Just like a year ago, Sébastien Carron is leaving his season plans open. For the time being, the three-time Swiss rally champion only has the start at the Rallye Pays du Gier near St-Etienne firmly on his schedule. After that, his wish is to take part in the WRC round in Corsica.
If this works out (depends on the budget), he will probably not be at the Critérium Jurassien (April 13/14). However, he will hardly miss the "Chablais" at the beginning of June and the "Valais" in October.
Carron's new teammate at Balbosca in a Ford Fiesta R5 is Cédric Althaus with co-driver Jessica Bayard. After the apprenticeship year with the Peugeot 208 T16, it shows how well Althaus can really cope with an optimal R5 car.
For budget reasons, his uncle Nicolas Althaus will not start the season with the rented Skoda Fabia R5 until the Jura. For the same reasons, last year's SM third-place finisher Michaël Burri (marries in May) and Pascal Perroud are only spectators.
Ballinari and Coppens want to know it with a Skoda Fabia
After Ivan Ballinari in Roger Tuning's Ford Fiesta R5 never quite made it against the champion in normal circumstances (in Ticino, Carron had engine problems in 2017), the runner-up is now trying it with a Skoda Fabia. Where and whether the Ticino native continues with it also depends on the budget - and probably also on success at the premiere.
Mike Coppens never came close to the top with the Citroën DS3. The man from the Valais now wants to find out whether he is capable of doing so by switching to a Skoda Fabia.
With all-rounder Jean-Marc Salomon and Steeves Schneeberger, who has switched from historic Ford Escort and Sierra to a Fiesta R5, two more Swiss R5 drivers will be competing in France.
Strong competition in the Junior-SM and the Clio Alps Trophy
The participation in the Rallye-SM Junior and the Clio R3T Alps Trophy is pleasingly good. Of the 13 Junior teams with R1 and R2 cars registered for the championship, eleven are already taking part in the season opener.
The only German-Swiss driver is Thomas Schmid, who has to listen to Quentin Marchand's announcement due to the absence of his regular co-driver Cornel Frigoli - no easy task. The man from St. Gallen is one of the favorites along with runner-up Jonathan Michellod and R2 rising star Sacha Althaus (all on Peugeot 208 R2).
In the Clios, Ismaël Vuistiner defends the title against seven drivers from Switzerland and France. Unfortunately, last year's junior champion Nicolas Lathion will only compete in two or three rallies with the Renault Clio R3T after that, but then he will be a yardstick for everyone.
Swiss-German teams come only to the Critérium Jurassien
Apart from Schmid, the German-speaking Swiss are still conspicuous by their absence. Ruedi Schmidlin and Erich Götte will not start the season with their Ford Fiesta S2000 until the Jura. Likewise Beat Wyssen with daughter Janine with their newly acquired Abarth 124 Rally.
Daniel Sieber, Carron's 2017 R5 teammate, will come to the Critérium in a Peugeot 207 S2000 from Balbosca and then see what else he feels like doing. And Urs Hunziker will only compete in Switzerland with his Mini Cooper WRC at the Valais finale.
A total of 33 Swiss teams have been named for the season opener, along with around 110 Frenchmen. The rally around the town of St-Chamond in the Loire department begins with two SS on Friday evening (30.24 km) and ends on Saturday at around 6 p.m. after two loops of three stages each (124.68 km) that have been driven twice.
