Rallye du Var

The Rallye du Var is a yearly motor rally held in the month of November in the French commune of Sainte-Maxime in Var. It is often held as the final round of the French Rally Championship. It began in 1950.

The rally has attracted famous names both from the world of rally driving and outside of it (some of which are rally converts), such as the recently retired nine-time WRC champion, Sébastien Loeb (the 2000, 2009 and 2014 winner), the four-time Formula One champion Alain Prost, 1994 WRC champion Didier Auriol (the 1987 and 1988 winner), Freddy Loix, Craig Breen, Jari-Matti Latvala (the 2011 winner), Dany Snobeck (the 1982 and 2008 winner), 2010 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Romain Dumas, François Chatriot (the 1985, 1986 and 1989 winner), Renault F1 driver and 2008 Canadian Grand Prix winner Robert Kubica, and Julien Maurin (the 2013 winner). Jari-Matti Latvala was the first non-Frenchman and thus foreign driver to win the rally, and it was also his first win on asphalt.

As well as part of the French Rally Championship, the Rallye du Var was part of the European Rally Championship calendar from 1984 to 2001.

Recent years

2008

Dany Snobeck, who had last won the Rallye du Var 26 years before, took his second victory in the event and beat out much younger drivers, such as the 25-year-old, Jean-Sébastien Vigion who finished second. The World Rally Champion, Sébastien Loeb, returned for this event and was third. Both of Snobeck's previous challengers, Eric Brunson and Pieter Tsjoen had retired so Snobeck was sure to win from the get go.

2009

Sébastien Loeb who recently won the 2009 World Rally Championship won here again in the title-winning Citroën C4 WRC, but this time co-driven by his wife, Séverine Loeb, for his regular co-driver Daniel Elena was driving a separate entry. The podium finishers were Stéphane Sarrazin and Patrick Henry. The Belgian Pieter Tsjoen, who crashed out of last year's rally, led for one stage in his Ford Focus RS WRC.

2010

In 2010, Cédric Robert won for the second time, having previously succeeded in 2002. He led the entire event and won four stages. Ex-Formula One driver Robert Kubica, who had recently completed the 2010 season for Renault, won the last three stages to ensure a high overall finish of fourth was bagged. The other two podium finishers turned out to be Bryan Bouffier and Stéphane Sarrazin.

2011

In 2011, WRC front runner Jari-Matti Latvala became the first foreign driver to win the race and the first Finn to do so. He beat previous winner Stéphane Sarrazin and Estonian driver Ott Tänak. He and his co-driver Miikka Anttila won in a Ford Fiesta RS WRC. It was also the first win for Latvala on asphalt, and he led the rally from start to finish, winning six stages along the way.

2012

In 2012, Cédric Robert won this rally for a third time, following his wins in 2002 and 2010. He was again co-driven by Matthieu Duval. The second placer was Le Mans winner Romain Dumas and third was Irishman Craig Breen. Ex-Formula One driver Robert Kubica of Poland dominated the rally and won every stage prior to crashing out late on, this allowed the Frenchman Robert to take the lead and win.

2013

In 2013, Julien Maurin won for the first time with co-driver Nicolas Klinger. Jérémi Ancian and Pierre Roché joined him on the podium. After a hat trick of stage wins, Maurin led to the end.

2014

In 2014, Sébastien Loeb driving his Citroën DS3 WRC won the Rallye du Var for the third time and the second with his wife Sévérine Loeb as the co-driver. The second place driver was David Salanon and third was Patrick Magnou. An influx of spectators caused three of the stages to be cancelled. However, Loeb did not let this hinder his performance, leading the entire rally from start to finish, as with his rival Jari-Matti Latvala in 2011.

2015

In 2015, the 61st running of this event, David Salanon and Romain Roche won in a Ford Fiesta RS WRC. Their first win on the asphalt event was followed by a secon place from newly crowned JWRC and WRC-3 champions Quentin Gilbert and Renaud Jamoul and third place went to Pierre and Martine Roché. For the second year running, the winner, Salanon, had a lights to flag victory. As for Gilbert, the newest Junior World Champion took advantage of his experience and won the final stage to elevate himself to second overall.