RALLYE DU CHABLAIS – FIA Historic Rally Championship – Round Four – Local Teams Make Good

The 19th Rallye du Chablais, Round 4 of this year’s FIA European Historic Rally Championship on 1-3 June, was memorable for many reasons, reaching its conclusion after a final day of drama and incident.

On a wet day 1 Lucky swept into the lead in his Lancia Delta Integrale  Photos Franck Budel

Day 1 overnight leaders Lucky and Fabrizia Pons had swept into the lead in their Lancia Delta Integrale after the Ford Sierra Cosworth of Tibor Erdí lost its turbo and going out of the rally altogether when a second turbo fitted at the service halt also blew.  The Italians had profited from heavy rain on Friday’s closing stages with their four-wheel-drive Lancia, but blazing sunshine on day 2 gave the rear-wheel-drive BMW E30 M3 of Pascal Parroud and Quentin Marchand an advantage.  Lucky nonetheless remained within striking distance as he waited for the promised rainfall in the afternoon.  Also keeping up with the lead battle was Asturias winner, Zippo in his Group 4 Audi Quattro with co-driver Denis Piceno, recovering well after losing time on the opening day.  Sadly, the crowd-pleasing Audi went out of the event in dramatic style, coming off the road on SS8 but with the crew thankfully unharmed.

The event attracted large numbers of spectators, not least because the road opening BMW E30 M3 was driven by Ari Vatanen, who entertained them with demonstrations of his legendary car control.

Read the full report in our July 2023 issue, either in hard copy or digital….