Sebastien Loeb and Yvan Muller together on the podium

Two multiple world champions topped the overall standings of the 1. Rallycircuit Cote d’ Azur, the French national rally event which took place at the Circuit Paul Ricard from Friday to Sunday. Nine-time world rally champion Sebastien Loeb, navigated by his wife Severine, is the winner of the event. Four-time touring car world champion and former Loeb’s  WTCC teammate Yvan Muller finished second, navigated by Guy Leneveu. Both crews were running in the Citroen DS3 WRC machines.

Yvan Muller, Sebastien Loeb and Romain Dumas

The Rallycircuit Cote d’Azur is the new event in the calendar of the French Rally Cup, so the organizers invited some famous international stars to participated and to promote the event. The world endurance champion Romain Dumas was one of them, driving his Porsche 997 GT3 RS, but he didn’t reach the finish.

After ten special stages, Loeb/Loeb have an advantage of one minute 48.1 seconds ahead of Muller/Leneveu. Local driver Thibault Durbec (Citroen DS3 WRC) completed the podium, ahead of one more international star Quentin Giordano (Peugeot 208 T16). Eighty-three crews participated in the event. There was also a historic part of the event, with 15 rally cars from the past, driven also by some world famous drivers. The winner is Erik Comas with Lancia Stratos HF.

Photos: circuitpaulricard.com,