Rally Championship: Triumph for Jonathan and Sarah 🎥

A fourth place with a win for Jonathan Michellod would have been enough for namesake Jonathan Hirschi to successfully defend the title at the 63rd edition of the Rally International du Valais. But it didn't come to that. Hirschi with co-driver Sarah Lattion (center gallery) was already the boss in the ring on the first day. He briefly relinquished the overall lead to his title rival Michellod in SS3 and SS4. But from the fifth stage on, Hirschi was unstoppable.

When Michellod then lost more than 50 seconds to Hirschi in one fell swoop on day two in the first stage Les Cols 1 from Le Guercet to Sembrancher because a tire lost air, the drop was dropped. In the end, Hirschi had won nine of 14 stages - and was 51.2 seconds ahead of Mike Coppens/Christophe Roux (gallery on the right) and 1:12.1 minutes ahead of Michaël Burri/Gaëtan Aubry (all on Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo) at the finish. Because the latter drives with a French racing license, Michellod was classified third in the SM-Championnat.

Full points at the rally

For winner Hirschi, the second SM triumph at the Rallye du Valais after 2014 was his fifth win of the season overall. This means that Hirschi scored full points in every rally he completed in 2023 as part of the SM and won the championship with a commanding 196:166 points over Michellod.

Jonathan Hirschi: "Of course I'm happy about this title. The season was exceptional. Five rallies - five victories: it doesn't get any better than that. But I am also happy about this victory at the RIV. This is a very special rally. I have already won it once in 2014. But back then I was fourth overall as the best Swiss. That's not the same."

Final with highlight for Mike Coppens
For runner-up Coppens, a mixed season ended with a highlight. Although the Valais native would have liked to claim his third Valais victory in a row, he was powerless against Hirschi this time. In the battle for third place in the championship, Sacha Althaus and co-driver Lisiane Zbinden clearly prevailed over Sergio Pinto (13th overall). The 27-year-old from the Jura had to settle for sixth place overall at the Valais - behind brand colleague Nicolas Lathion/Marine Maye - but if someone had asked him before the season whether he would be satisfied with third place, Althaus would have signed immediately.

Jérémy Michellod is the new champion

The top 10 was completed by Ismaël Vuistiner/Florine Kummer (gallery left), who made a very strong impression on their debut on the Renault Clio Rally3, ahead of David Erard/Sarah Junod (8th on VW Polo), Thibault Maret/Kévin Bronner (9th on Skoda Fabia) and the second Clio Rally3 driver from France Thomas Battaglia.

In the Juniors, Jérémy Michellod had long since been crowned the new champion. However, Jonathan's younger brother would have liked to celebrate another triumph at his home rally. But a problem with the transmission dashed his hopes early on. Because Damien Lovey also had to retire on the penultimate stage, Quentin Claire/Gabriel Claire (Peugeot 106) were the winners in the small car category.

Success for Laurent Bérard and Audrey Zwahlen

Victory in the Rally Cup went to Laurent Bérard with co-driver Audrey Zwahlen. The Honda Civic driver fought a thrilling duel with Philippe Broussoux and took the lead on the eleventh stage. Third place in the rally cup went to Steve Gaspardi (who, like Broussoux, was driving a Clio). The title went to someone else: Claude Aebi (with son Justin Vuffray as co-driver) was only sixth, but kept his pursuers Kilchenmann, Rossi and Ramel at bay.

Claude Aebi: "This is my first title. I was third in 2021, second in 2022 and now first. This proves that I have steadily improved and that we have improved again this year."

In the Michelin Trophy Alps, victory went to Bérard - ahead of Broussoux and Didier Soguel (Renault Clio 3). In the Alps Open, Vuistiner beat Battaglia and Pinto. The 2023 champions are Sergio Pinto (Open) and Alexandre Bastard. Best Swiss behind the Frenchman was Jérémy Michellod.

Florian Gonon easily ahead of Eddy Bérard

In the historic class, the VHC, the fans were looking forward to a duel between Pascal Perroud (on BMW M3), who had already been determined as champion, and Florian Gonon (Ford Escort RS1600). But this duel was quickly decided. On the slippery surface in the first test early in the morning, Perroud damaged his right front wheel. Although he limped to the finish as fastest, he had to watch from the second stage on. Gonon took a commanding victory ahead of Eddy Bérard (BMW M3) and Laurent Metral (Ford Sierra RS Cosworth).

In the VHRS, which is all about uniformity, Laurent Pernet won on a BMW 325 ix. The man from Neuchâtel was already the first champion of this category, which was created in 2023, before the Valais.

riv.ch
Photos: Rhône FM, Eichenberger, Kaufmann, @01Team3V (Video)
Source: Car Sport Switzerland
motorsport.ch