GREGORY FONTALBA WIDENS THE GAP ON RALLYE MONT-BLANC MORZINE

The Alpine Elf Rally Trophy set a participation record in the opening round of the second half of the season with ten crews in Morzine.

Cyril Raymond was determined to get back to his winning ways after two consecutive retirements and set the pace from the start between Avoriaz and Montriond-le-Lac. Alpine Elf Rally Trophy leader Grégory Fontalba fought back on the following two timed sectors to take the lead whilst Bertrand Fassio and Alain Marechau were the first drivers to retire on a route made incredibly difficult by the unpredictable weather.

Dissatisfied after losing nearly thirty seconds on the Samoëns - Morzine run, Cyril Raymond was back on the attack with three best times in four stages on Friday afternoon. The two-time rallycross champion only managed to take back 0.8s from Grégory Fontalba, whose advantage sat at 25.7s at the end of the first leg. Fabrice Bect came on strong to slot into third place, 1.7s behind despite a ten-second penalty for speeding during recce.

On Saturday, Cyril Raymond continued to push, with a sweep of the four-morning stages to cut his deficit to the leader to 3.9s, but his hopes of victory vanished when he went off the road on Morzine - Montriond-le-Lac. Grégory Fontalba was no longer threatened and controlled his pace perfectly in the last two timed sectors to seal his second consecutive win with a 28.6s lead over Fabrice Bect, again victorious in the Gentlemen category. Raphaël Marry saw his consistency pay off by completing the podium more than two minutes behind the winner, ahead of Sérgio Pinto and Yoann Lambert. Jean-Luc Roché and Romuald Lamboley closed the order.

With this second straight win, Grégory Fontalba strengthens his lead in the Alpine Elf Rally Trophy, which now stands at 13 points over Gentleman driver Fabrice Bect. The next meeting at the Rallye Coeur de France (29 September-2 October) will be crucial for their rivals still able to mathematically claim the crown.

Meanwhile, Alpine won the French two-wheel drive Rally Championship again, led by Cédric Robert. Ninth overall, the native of Saint-Étienne led a quintuple of Alpine A110 Rallies, beating Grégory Fontalba, Fabrice Bect, Vincent Leduc and Raphaël Marry in that order. Cédric Robert thus extended his lead in the general classification while sitting fourth overall in the French Tarmac Rally Championship before heading to Vendôme.

Classification

1. Grégory Fontalba-Stéphan Hermet 1h54:03.2s

2. Fabrice Bect-Arnaud Michal +28.6s

3. Raphaël Marry-Alexis Magand +2:01.5s

4. Sérgio Pinto-Sophie Barras +2:44.8s

5. Yoann Lambert-Flavien Gueyraud +6:21.0s

6. Jean-Luc Roché-Olivier Bacle +8:05.9s

7. Romuald Lamboley-Aurélien Benzal +11:58.9s

Ret. Cyril Raymond-Valentin Salmon

Ret. Alain Marechau-Robin Marechau

Ret. Bertrand Fassio-Denis Giraudet

General classification

1. Grégory Fontalba 55 points

2. Fabrice Bect 42 points

3. Yoann Lambert 28 points

4. Raphaël Marry 22 points

5. Cyril Raymond 20 points

6. Romuald Lamboley 20 points

7. Jean-Luc Roché 18 points

8. Bertrand Fassio 15 points

9. Sérgio Pinto 10 points

10. Guy Bertrand 8 points

NC. Hugo Bonfils, Alain Marechau & Alexandre Vernazza 0 point