Rally Championship: Showdown in Valais 🎥

The season finale in Valais next weekend, October 26-28, will see Jonathan Michellod/Stéphane Fellay (center gallery) and Jonathan Hirschi/Sarah Lattion battle it out for the title. The starting position ahead of the 63rd edition of the Rallye International du Valais is as follows: Hirschi is 154:161 points behind and must score points if he wants to defend his title. However, if Michellod wins, Hirschi would only need to finish fourth in Valais due to the scratch result rule. In this case, Michellod would have 178 points, Hirschi 179.

It's hard to say on whose side the advantage lies. Hirschi knows that he can't afford a zero. And Michellod is dependent on support even if he wins. The fact is: If you take the season so far as a yardstick, the odds are 4:1 in Hirschi's favor in terms of victories. Or to put it another way: When Hirschi has been on the starting line, he has also won.

Third home win for Mike Coppens?

Winning is also the keyword for Mike Coppens (gallery left) with co-driver Christophe Roux. The 2021 Swiss champion is only 6th in the overall standings. At the Rallye du Chablais, he retired after a puncture with a defective brake system. At the Rallye de Bourgogne, a driving error led to an accident. At the time of retirement, Coppens was in the lead on both occasions. Because he also recently abandoned the Rally del Ticino, Coppens no longer has a chance of finishing in the top 3. That, in turn, allows him to drive liberated and opens up the chance of a third home victory in a row. In 2021 and 2022 (please note the video from 2022), he narrowly beat Michaël Burri in each of the RIVs. The driver from the Jura, who is again driving with a French license this year and therefore does not collect points for the Swiss championship, is in a Skoda Fabia like Hirschi, Michellod and Coppens.

Sascha Althaus in front of Sergio Pinto 

The fight for third place in the championship between Sacha Althaus (also Skoda Fabia) and Sergio Pinto (gallery on the right) on Alpine A110 RGT will certainly be exciting. Althaus is 19 points ahead of Pinto. Both will be dropped one more result, provided they finish.

Thibault Maret no longer has a chance of making it into the top 3. Ideally, the young man from the Valais can only finish fourth. He proved that he has the means to annoy the experienced drivers in 2023 at the Rallye du Chablais (in 4th place) and at the Rallye Bourgogne (in 3rd place).

Rally Cup decision

Among the 67 drivers on modern cars at the RIV, keep an eye out for Yoan Loeffler (Citroën C3 Rally2), David Erard (VW Polo) and Cédric Althaus (Porsche 991 Cup), who is competing against Pinto in the RGT. Also on the grid is newly-crowned Junior champion Jérémy Michellod. The younger brother of Jonathan Michellod has already closed the bag at the Rally del Ticino.

The decision in the Swiss Rally Cup is still open. Four drivers are still in the title race. Claude Aebi (Renault Clio) leads with 74 points ahead of Alphonse Kilchenmann (Suzuki Swift, 71 points), Laurent Rossi (Peugeot 206 XS, 64) and Olivier Ramel (Renault Clio, 57).

These champions are already fixed

In the Trophée Michelin Alps Open, the die has also been cast. However, champion Sergio Pinto will still try everything to prevail against the two Renault Clio 3 drivers Thomas Battaglia (F) and Ismaël Vuistiner at his home rally. In the Trophée Michelin Alps 2WD, the leader Alexandre Bastard from France is missing. Jérémy Michellod and Olivier Ramel can still challenge him for the title, depending on the outcome of the rally.

In the VHC, the historic class, the title has already been decided. BMW driver Pascal Perroud has an unassailable lead of 173 points before the finale in Valais. Second-placed Eddy Tapparel (Porsche 911) is also practically through. His lead over third-placed Florian Gonon (Ford Escort) is 45 points. That's the maximum number of points Gonon, Swiss rally champion in 2009, can score at his home rally. A total of 19 historic cars are at the start. In addition, there are a dozen vehicles in the VHRS, which is all about uniformity. There, too, the decision has already been made: Laurent Pernet (BMW 325 ix) is unassailable at the top of the standings with the maximum points.

Service Park and Rally Village

After a transitional year at the Bains des Saillon, the Rallye du Valais returns to the CERM exhibition center in Martigny. There is the service park, which is open to the public free of charge, as well as the Rally Village with stands and attractions. The rally starts on Thursday with the shakedown just a few kilometers away from the rally center. On Friday, eight stages are scheduled in the Sion region and on Saturday six around Martigny. A total of 181.55 special stage kilometers have to be covered.

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Source: Car Sport Switzerland
Photos: Eichenberger, Cornevaux, Kaufmann,  @01Team3V (Video)
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