The Alpine ELF Rally Trophy kicked off its fifth campaign with one of the most competitive fields in its history, featuring previous champions and several former class winners at Charbonnières-les-Bains.
Pierre Roché scores big in GT+
Two-time reigning champion Pierre Roché faced off against Raphaël Astier in the new GT+ class dedicated to the Alpine A110 Rallye GT+ cars.
2016 French Rally Cup winner, 2018 and 2022 FIA R-GT Cup winner, and 2023 French 2WD Rally Champion, Raphaël Astier, came out swinging in his debut in the trophy on Friday morning. The CHL Sport Auto driver won the first three special stages and took advantage of a minor error by Pierre Roché in the second timed sector to return to the service park with a comfortable lead.
Starting in the same vein in the afternoon, Raphaël Astier was fighting for the overall top-five before a technical issue in SS5 dashed his hopes. Pierre Roché inherited the lead, and the Team FJ driver cruised home to secure the 20 points for victory.
Pierre Roché said: “It’s a good start to my title defence, but I’m not quite satisfied with my overall performance. I needed to get back into the pace for the first leg on Friday, after which we set some interesting times on Saturday. However, finishing the rally was the smartest thing to do after Raphaël’s retirement. The Alpine A110 Rallye GT+ is quite different from the A110 Rally. I need to drive more to get a better feel for it and improve. We have a strong basis now, so I’m confident we’ll get there.”
Grégory Fontalba controls in RGT
In the RGT class reserved for the A110 Rally, Grégory Fontalba set the pace on Friday, building up a 38.2s lead over Fabrice Bect by midday. The driver from the VIP Enjolras team carried on in the afternoon, taking the lead among all the trophy contenders.
After running the table on the opening leg, Grégory Fontalba began to control his pace on Saturday morning. Fabrice Bect took advantage to win SS7 and SS8 before his rival claimed the last four special stages. The 2022 Alpine ELF Rally Trophy and 2024 Gentlemen title winner, Grégory Fontalba, ultimately won by 1m49.2s.
Consistent and focused throughout the rally, Mireille Vidueira completed the podium on her Alpine ELF Rally Trophy debut. The Swiss driver’s mistake-free performance earned her the French Women’s Rally Championship victory, a first for the A110 Rally!
Grégory Fontalba commented: “Overall, we are quite satisfied with our performance, as we were on par with the competition. We are delighted to have won the RGT class while finishing close behind the GT+ cars. It bodes well for the rest of the season. We planned to push hard on Friday to see if we could make a difference. We did just that, and I managed things a bit more on Saturday, even though I was also keen to keep Simon Jean-Joseph behind me. Mission accomplished!”
Multiple victories for Alpine
Already victorious with Raphaël Astier at the Rallye Le Touquet Pas-de-Calais, Alpine scored another win in the French 2WD Rally Championship. After a thrilling duel between their A110 Rallye GT+, Ludovic Godard won by 4.9s ahead of Quentin Gilbert. The two drivers also finished in the overall top ten and secured a one-two finish in the Michelin Premium Trophy.
The Alpine ELF Rally Trophy competitors will meet again in under three weeks for round two of their calendar, the Rallye Antibes Côte d’Azur (May 16-18, 2025).
Results for Rallye Rhône-Charbonnières
01: Pierre Roché/Martine Roché (GT+) – 1h 53m 29.6s
02: Grégory Fontalba/Stephan Hermet (RGT) + 1m 47.6s
03: Fabrice Bect/Arnaud Michal (RGT) + 3m 36.8s
04: Mireille Vidueira/Jeanne Rey (RGT) + 8m 13.8s
See the full event’s results here.