The Alpine ELF Rally Trophy featured eight crews on the Rallye Cœur de France for the fifth and penultimate round of its 2024 calendar.
Overall leader Pierre Roché sealed the championship at Vendôme to become the discipline’s first double champion, almost a year to the day after his first title won on home soil.
Newly crowned double champion Pierre Roché said: “I came into this rally not thinking about the title. Above all, I wanted to win on home soil by waging a good battle, but I got off to a terrible start with a small mistake on the opening stage when we were on the pace.
“That stopped my momentum, and after that, I was too cautious. Ludovic took advantage of that to build up an insurmountable gap, but the consolation came in the form of the crown.
“All we had to do was finish the event, which we did and which will enable us to compete in the Alpine A110 Rallye GT+ on the Rallye du Var, so we’re delighted.”
On slippery and muddy roads, however, Ludovic Godard was the first to set the pace in Sougé-Bonneveau on Saturday. Frédéric Perriat then set the fastest time in Bessé-sur-Braye, where a punctured radiator dashed Guy Bertrand’s hopes.
Still, the GL Automobiles Compétition team director extended his lead before another stage win in Cellé to returned to the service park 14.4s ahead of Yann Clairay and Frédéric Perriat.
In drier conditions, Yann Clairay won SS4 and SS5 to return within 8.4s before his momentum was cut short by a mechanical failure in Cellé 2. Having set the fastest time in SS6, where Frédéric Perriat lost more than eight minutes when he hit a pole, Ludovic Godard remained firmly in the lead. Behind him, Pierre Roché emerged in second place at 37.3s after he won the Vendôme super-stage.
On Sunday, Pierre Roché upped the pace with the fastest times in Sargé-sur-Braye and Savigny-sur-Braye, the longest-timed sector of the rally. However, Ludovic Godard regained the upper hand in Fortan-Mazangé, increasing his advantage to 39.6s. Although Pierre Roché finished the rally with three reference times in the decisive loop, his rival’s lead proved irreversible, and Ludovic Godard won by 26.4s.
Round five winner Ludovic Godard said: “We’re delighted with our performance. We drove well on Saturday in wet conditions, which I like. I used that to open up a gap and maintain it to the finish. It’s a sweet revenge compared with last year when Pierre snatched victory from me by just seven-tenths of a second.
“Congratulations to him on his new title, and I can only regret the two rallies where I underperformed because I think that’s what made the difference.”
Runner-up Pierre Roché had reason to celebrate at the finish as his fifth podium finish in five rounds sealed his second consecutive Alpine ELF Rally Trophy crown.
Due to ELF and Michelin, long-standing partners of the Alpine ELF Rally Trophy, the winner takes home €5,000 in prize money and €5,000 in parts vouchers, the latter being doubled with his crown in the Challengers category.
Jérémy Crétien completed the podium, 43.0s ahead of newcomer Jérémy Bordagaray and Frédéric Perriat was the final finisher over two and a half minutes back.
Despite going off the road on Saturday afternoon, Grégory Fontalba secured the Gentlemen’s title and a €5,000 spare parts voucher.
The Rallye Cœur de France also saw Raphaël Astier and Denis Giraudet win the GT+ class in their Alpine A110 Rallye GT+. The pair found the ideal balance between attack and consistency to avoid the hazards of the route.
The A110 Rally also won in the French Two-Wheel Drive Rally Championship, with Cédric Robert and Matthieu Duval taking victory by 16.7s over Ludovic Godard and the other Trophy contenders.
The Alpine ELF Rally Trophy will gather for the final time this season on the Rallye du Var on November 21-24, where the battle for the places of honour promises to be intriguing.
Alpine ELF Rally Trophy – Rallye Cœur de France
- Ludovic Godard – Damien Augustin 1 hour 50 minutes 22.1 seconds
- Pierre Roché – Martine Roché +26.4 seconds
- Jérémy Crétien – Xavier Rouchouze +7 minutes 20.3 seconds
- Jérémy Bordagaray – Pierre Renault +8 minutes 03.3 seconds
- Frédéric Perriat – Nadège Passaquin-Bouvet +10 minutes 37.3 seconds
Ret. Yann Clairay – Gilles De Turckheim
Ret. Grégory Fontalba – Stéphan Hermet
Ret. Guy Bertrand – Thibaut Daval
General classification
- Pierre Roché – 85 points
- Ludovic Godard – 59 points
- Grégory Fontalba – 47 points
- Yann Clairay – 41 points
- Jérémy Crétien – 38 points
- Matthieu Fassio – 20 points
- Sergio Pinto – 14 points
- Jérémy Bordagaray – 10 points
- Frédéric Perriat – 8 points
- Fabrice Bect – 8 points
- Jean-François Mourgues – 6 points
- Loïc Pautou – 4 points
- Guy Bertrand – 3 points
- Éric Giannini – 0 point
- Sébastien Maurel – 0 point
THE HERDWICK NEWS 