Zoom Grégoire Hotz heading for victory.

Former Swiss Champion Grégoire Hotz won the 50th edition of the Rallye International du Valais, the last round of the European and Swiss championship, alongside co-driver Pietro Ravasi, from Ticino.

He had never won before on the treacherous roads of Wallis. At the wheel of his Peugeot 207 Super 2000, Hotz dominated his rivals, domestic and foreign, posting the fastest time in almost all the special stages. The member of the Lugano Racing Team only entered three rallies this year, of which he won two. However, it was not enough to remain in contention for the national title.

The driver from Neuchâtel won with a comfortable victory margin of nearly one minute, ahead of Giandomenico Basso. The Abarth works driver from Italy did not have to push too hard as he was already insured to be crowned European Champion. Third but quite a long way adrift, Michal Solowow completes the podium, the Pole finishing runner-up in the title chase.

Officially Swiss Champion since Friday morning, after the retirement of his last rival, Ticino's Ivan Ballinari, Florian Gonon has been just as consistent as he has been all season to finish fourth overall and second in the Swiss hierarchy. The driver from Les Marécottes and his co-driver, Sandra Arlettaz, did not meet any mechanical problems in the six rounds of the season.

Despite gearbox problems that earned him heavy time penalties, Frenchman Bryan Bouffier and his Belgian co-driver Nicolas Gilsoul brought their Citroën C2 R2 Max home in fifth position, ahead of the Renault Clio R3 of Alessandro Bettega / Simone Scattolin. The Italian was at his turn penalised and had to be content with sixth, ahead of another C2 R2 Max, that of up-and-coming Belgian Thierry Neuville, co-driven by Nicolas Klinger.

On the Swiss side, we retain the excellent performances from Jean-Philippe Radoux (8th overall) and from local youngster Pascal Rossoz (10th). Alain-Stéphane May, Michaël Burri, son of Olivier, Eric Micheloud, Rüdi Schmiedlin and William Winiger complete the top-15. The 2009 Swiss Cup was won by Stéphane Gobalet, alongside co-driver Stefan Charpilloz, at the wheel of a Renault Clio RS.

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