European Historic Rally Championship Round 3 – Antibes Historic Rally

Down to the wire for Pieri

For the third round of the European Historic Rally Championship, most of the regulars gathered in France for the  Rallye d’Antibes.  With Finnish rally champion Jari-Matti Latvala in his Toyota Celica, already winner of the first two rounds, along with 37 other registered competitors, including the four category leaders, in attendance, the competition would be tough as the overall winner can come from any Category.  Frédéric Lombard reports…

A mistake on SS3 dropped Angelo Lombardo down the order, but he surged back to take second overall and first in Category 2 in his immaculate Porsche Carrera RS

With three stages to be covered on day 1 on a route that followed some of the stages already used by the Monte-Carlo Rally, the start was given on Friday afternoon May 16 from the Pre des Pecheurs in the port of Antibes under a magnificent sun.  However, competitors met with very different climatic conditions in the hinterlands of Nice.  On SS1, a big storm broke at the start for the first 25 crews, which allowed the Alpine A310 of Hervé Guignard to set the fastest time.  Latvala managed to limit the gap and lost only 3secs over 10km.  For other crews, who made the wrong tyre choice, it was nearly 30secs lost.  Latvala set the fastest time on the next stage and left the young French driver Tom Pieri (26), who had already participated in 2022 and 2023 in a modern car, to set the fastest time on the last stage of the day in a BMW E30.

In mixed weather conditions young Tom Pieri and navigator Marine Lacruz took a surprise win when Jari-Matti Latvala faltered on the final stageIn mixed weather conditions young Tom Pieri and navigator Marine Lacruz took a surprise win when Jari-Matti Latvala faltered on the final stage Photos Bastien Roux courtesy ASA Antibes

Read all about it in our June 2025 issue, available in hard copy or digital…