After taming the slippery Touquet roads and the technical stages on the “Charbo”, Florian Bernardi will try to conserve his domination ahead of the summer holiday season.

Unbeaten so far this season, the Vaucluse native will try for a third victory to pull away on a round he knows very well after his win in the Trophée Twingo R1 and his runner-up finish last year behind Cédric Robert.

However, there will be plenty to pay attention to in and around Rodez and the field chasing him led by Thibaut Poizot, Olivier Delaporte and Boris Carminati intend to seize upon any error.

Junior category leader, Thibaut Poizot is all the more motivated because he is the only driver able to dethrone Florian Bernardi. First among the Gentleman divers, Olivier Delaporte will be racing in the Rouergue for the first time but his ability to quickly adapt to the Clio R3T makes him one of the favourites, just like Boris Carminati who made a remarkable debut on Lyon-Charbonnières. In 2005, he finished on the Clio Cup Rallye podium on the roads of Southwestern France !

Three Junior drivers, Mathieu Walter, Guillaume Jean and José Javier Perez, complete the chase field. All three want to confirm their strong form so far this season to keep their title hopes alive, but none of them have any experience on the Aveyron roads !

Sixth in 2016 and fifth in 2017, Damien Tozlanian wants to continue to improve on this rally, while Jérôme Aymard and Dominique Patenotte hope to have a bit more luck after a low-profile start to the season. At the same time, Julien Brégeon is studiously preparing for his first Rouergue.

Round three of the year will see the return of Sara Williams. After missing the previous rally, the British driver is hoping to again underline the progress she has made after running second on the Touquet. Also back is the 2017 runner-up in the Clio R3T Trophy Italia Riccardo Canzian, who will be out for revenge on the Rouergue after retiring after just two stages last year.

This weekend, three drivers will have their first go in the Clio R3T Trophy France : Yoann Lambert, who is well-known in the French Rally Cup, Pierre Lerosier, class winner last year at Rouergue, and Spain’s David Nafria, who was a front runner in the Trophée Twingo R2.

Not eligible to score points, Manu Guigou and Cédric Robert will once again have to be watched. Following their first here mano-a-mano, the winner of the 2017 Clio R3T Trophy France has a slight advantage in this clash of titans at the top of the R3 class.

Contested over two days, the Rallye du Rouergue begins on Friday July 6 with a loop of three special stages repeated the afternoon. There will be six stages the following day. The rally-route will feature the famous Campouriez–Le Nayrac and Luc–Moyrazes roads before the rally ends in front of the Musée Soulages de Rodez after the completion of 209.26 timed kilometers.

Rallye Aveyron Rouergue Occitanie

Entry list – Clio R3T Trophy France
#34 Florian BERNARDI – Victor BELLOTTO 

#35 Thibaut POIZOT – Laurie GALERA (Junior)
#
36 Olivier DELAPORTE – Sébastien VOITEY (Gentleman)

#37 Boris CARMINATI – Marine LACRUZ

#38 Mathieu WALTER – Thibault RAINCOURT (Junior)

#39 Damien TOZLANIAN – Pierre BLOT

#40 Guillaume JEAN – Loris PASCAUD (Junior)

#41 Riccardo CANZIAN – Andrea PRIZZON (Junior)
#
42 José Javier PEREZ – Alberto ESPINO (Junior)

#43 Jérôme AYMARD – Sandrine AYMARD (Gentleman)
#
44 Sara WILLIAMS – Patrick WALSH (Féminine)

#45 David NAFRIA – Pedro REQUENA (Gentleman)
#
46 Julien BREGEON – Clément BRESSON
#
47 Dominique PATENOTTE – Anthony CHANDELIER (Gentleman)
#
48 Pierre LEROSIER – Marie CORBINEAU (Gentleman)

#49 Yoann LAMBERT – Laurent CAMUS

General classification
1. Florian Bernardi, 60 points
2. Thibaut Poizot, 31 points
3. Olivier Delaporte, 21 points
4. Boris Carminati, 21 points
5. Mathieu Walter, 20 points
6. Damien Tozlanian, 18 points
7. Guillaume Jean, 12 points
8. José Javier Perez, 12 points
9. William Pitot, 10 points
10. Florent Joly, 6 points
11. Jérôme Aymard, 6 points
12. Alex Sabater, 1 point
NC. Riquelmo Gomis
NC. Sara Williams
NC. Dominique Patenotte
NC. Julien Brégeon
NC. Yann Mogno