Rally Championship: Jonathan Hirschi top again
FIRST RESULTS At the Critérium Jurassien, Jonathan Hirschi laid the foundation for his first win of the 2023 season in the first stage at the season opener of the Swiss Rally Championship.
On the first almost 30-kilometer stage from Courtemautruy to Les Enfers, the reigning champion took 30 or more seconds off his rivals. And he did so with a new car, a Citroën C3 Rally2, and Sarah Lattion, a co-driver who was allowed to sit in Hirschi's passenger seat for the first time.
Jonathan Hirschi: "We were surprised ourselves about the time on the first stage. We knew we were doing well, but I didn't expect us to be so fast. Maybe I just drove so liberated because the pressure to win the title is off."
Sacha Althaus worst pursuer
Hirschi left no doubt on Saturday who is the boss in the ring in the Jura. However, the gaps on the second day were more bearable for the competition. After five stages, Hirschi was already more than 44 seconds ahead of his opponents. The fact that Sacha Althaus was his closest rival at this point was not particularly surprising. The Jura native had prepared meticulously for his home rally and in the end achieved his best result to date in the Swiss championship with third place.
The top 10 at the start of the season
Only thanks to three best times in the sixth, eighth and eleventh stages did Jonathan Michellod/Stéphane Fellay move up to second place. The 2022 runner-up lacked confidence in his Skoda Fabia on Friday evening. Fourth, 1:39 min behind winner Hirschi, was Mike Coppens (with co-driver Christophe Roux). Behind the top 4, Sergio Pinto finished 5th (in the CH classification) in his Alpine A110.
Pinto (with co-driver Charlène Greppin) lost the internal battle in the Michelin Trophy Alps Open by 6.1 seconds to Frenchman Ludovic Godard, who, however, does not receive Swiss championship points for his fifth place overall. The other placings within the top 10: 6th David Erard/Sarah Junod, 7th Steeves Schneeberger/Gaëtan Aubry, 8th Sébastien Berner/Grégoire Chappot, 9th Stefano Mella/ Gea Daldini, 10th Jean-Marc Salomon/David Comment.
Accident costs the lead
Victory in the Juniors was firmly in the hands of Damien Lovey up to and including the sixth stage. An accident on the seventh special stage ended the Peugeot driver's dreams. The beneficiary was Jérémy Michellod, Jonathan's younger brother, who celebrated his first junior triumph in the Jura with co-driver Simon Volery. At the same time, he finished second in the Michelin Trophy Alps behind the duo Olivier Ramel/Florian Barrachin.
Rally Historique de Régularité
In the historic class, the VHC, Pascal Perroud with co-driver Quentin Marchand in his BMW M3 E30 took a similarly commanding lead as Hirschi in the modern class with an advantage of 46 seconds. The driver from the canton of Vaud easily managed this lead with six further best times against old champion Florian Gonon (Ford Escort RS1600), who was just under a minute behind the winner at the finish. Third place in the Critérium Jurassien went to Nicolas Gérard on a Ford Sierra RS Cosworth). Fourth place went to last year's champion Eddy Bérard, also on BMW M3 E30.
In the VHRS, the Coupe Rallye Historique de Régularité, Laurent Pernet (BMW325 ix) won ahead of Lionel Munsch (Ford Sierra Cosworth) and Marine Lachenal ( Ford Escort RS 2000).
... and so it goes on this year:
- until June 3, Rallye du Chablais
- July 8 and 9, Rallye de Bourgogne - Côte Chalonnaise (F)
- August to September 2, Rally Mont-Blanc Morzine (F)
- and September 30, Rally del Ticino
- October 26-28, Rally International du Valais
Source: motorsport.ch
Photos: Cornevaux (3), Kaufmann (Gallery Center)
criterium-jurassien.ch
