Motorsport: Rally pros start in new territory

Many had been looking forward to the first championship round in German-speaking Switzerland since 1983, but now they will have to wait another year. For organizational reasons, the Rally Gotthard with planned special stages in the cantons of Graubünden, Ticino and Uri was postponed to 2017 in early summer. The ASS rally committee reacted quickly and decided that the Mont Blanc Rally in the French border region on September 2 and 3 would be the replacement event.

The rally around Morzine in the Haute Savoie region south of Lake Geneva is part of the French championship, resulting in an impressive field of over 160 teams with no fewer than 18 top cars in the R5 category plus four WRC cars. However, the 30 Swiss crews (plus four VHC) will have their own race on the two daily stages with 197 SS kilometers, as a preliminary decision could be made at the second-last SM round.

Last chance for Ivan Ballinari with Ford Fiesta R5
For Sébastien Carron, unbeaten in the four previous rallies, a second place is enough for an early title win. This can only be prevented by Ivan Ballinari (both Ford Fiesta R5), who would have to win at the foot of Europe's highest mountain - as well as at the Valais finale in October, which was shortened to two days - and hope for bad luck on the part of the Valais driver. With three wins each this season, Cédric Althaus in the Clio R3T Alps Trophy and Aurélien Devanthéry in the Peugeot 208 R2 are also clearly ahead in the Junior Championship. However, their first pursuers in the standings would have to drop out to be celebrated as champions before the Rallye du Valais.

www.rallye-mont-blanc-morzine.com
Photo: Jürg Kaufmann