Guerlain Chicherit (born 20 May 1978 in Paris) is a French rally and rallycross driver, and a professional skier who was four times world champion in freeriding (1999, 2002, 2006 and 2007).

Guerlain Chicherit
Guerlain Chicherit
Nationality French
Born (1978-05-20) 20 May 1978 (age 46)
Tignes, France
FIA World Rallycross Championship career
Debut season2015
Current teamGC Kompetition
Car number36
Former teamsFors Performance
JRM Racing
Starts44
Wins0
Podiums0
Best finish10th in 2022,2023
Finished last season10th

Biography

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He made his professional motorsport debut in the French Rally Cup driving a Citroën Saxo, and after a successful season in 2003 he became an official Citroën driver.[1] In 2006, after winning the 2005 Dakar Challenge, he attended his first Dakar Rally, driving a BMW X3, and won a stage on his way to finishing 9th in the final classification.

In the 2009 Dakar Rally he suffered an accident while fighting in the general classification,[2] and finished 9th.[3]

 
Guerlain Chicherit, driving the BMW X-Raid 2009

Later that year, after achieving a great series of results including a 3rd place in the Tunisia Rally and wins on Rally Transibérico and UAE Desert Challenge, he won the FIA Cross Country Rally World Cup with co-driver Tina Thörner.[4]

In the 2010 Dakar Rally, Chicherit was able to get another stage win and finish 5th in the final classification with an X-Raid BMW.[5]

In the 2013 Dakar Rally, Chicherit won a stage and finished 8th overall driving an SMG buggy. In 2013, he also became the first driver to complete an unassisted backflip in a car.[6]

In March 2014 Chicherit tried to break the world record for the longest car jump in Tignes, France. He crashed spectacularly on landing (which became a viral video on YouTube), but only suffered relatively minor injuries.

In August 2015 Chicherit joined JRM Racing for two events in the FIA World Rallycross Championship driving the MINI RX in the Supercar class in Loheac, France, and Franciacorta, Italy.

In 2016, Chicherit again tackled the Dakar Rally, driving an X-Raid Buggy but retiring on medical grounds following a steering related issue during SS5. 2016 also saw Chicherit rejoin the FIA World Rallycross Championship, replacing Monster Energy athlete Liam Doran at JRM Racing, with the latter being fired following the Gatebil incident. He contested events in France, Barcelona and Germany. However, a non-start for Chicherit in Loheac meant he also entered the first ever event in Riga, Latvia.

Chicherit announced plans to form his own team, GC Kompetition, driving a pair of Renault Mégane RS RXs in the 2018 FIA World Rallycross Championship.[7] The team got a podium in its first season through Jérôme Grosset-Janin in Holjes.

2019 saw Guerlain and GC Kompetition continue its involvement in the FIA World Rallycross Championship, growing to a 5 car team by the end of the season - with 3 Renault Mégane RS RXs, and a pair of Renault Clio RS RXs making up the new GCK Academy team. Guerlain had his strongest season yet, threatening the top of the timesheets on a regular basis and sealing his best ever finish with 4th in Canada despite suffering mechanical issues in the final.

Away from sports, Chicherit is involved in property development. He has his own company, GC Kollection, which designs and builds chalets in the Alps.[8] Guerlain has many other business ventures including GCK Energy, which won the FIA tender to power the upcoming electrification of the FIA World Rallycross Championship.[9]

Racing record

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Dakar Rally results

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(key)

Year[10] Vehicle Position Stages won
2005 Nissan 49th 0
2006 BMW X3 9th 1
2007 X-Raid BMW Ret. 0
2009 X-Raid BMW 9th 0
2010 X-Raid BMW 5th 1
2011 X-Raid Mini Ret. 0
2013 SMG buggy 8th 1
2014 SMG buggy Ret. 0
2015 X-Raid buggy 45th 0
2016 X-Raid buggy Ret. 0
2022 GCK Thunder buggy Ret. 0
2023 Prodrive BRX Hunter 10th 2
2024 Toyota Hilux Overdrive 4th 2

Complete FIA World Rallycross Championship results

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(key)

Supercar/RX1/RX1e

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Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 WRX Points
2015 JRM Racing MINI RX Countryman POR
HOC
BEL
GBR
GER
SWE
CAN
NOR
FRA
28
BAR
TUR
ITA
16
ARG
34th 1
2016 JRM Racing MINI RX Countryman POR
HOC
BEL
GBR
NOR
SWE
CAN
FRA
31
BAR
20
LAT
21
GER
21
ARG
26th 0
2017 Fors Performance Renault Clio IV[broken anchor] BAR
21
POR
HOC
21
BEL
20
GBR
NOR
19
SWE
CAN
FRA
LAT
GER
RSA
32nd 0
2018 GC Kompetition Renault Mégane RS RX BAR
12
POR
5
BEL
12
GBR
15
NOR
15
SWE
14
CAN
15
FRA
12
LAT
10
USA
9
GER
13
RSA
12
11th 68
2019 GC Kompetition Renault Mégane RS RX UAE
8
BAR
9
BEL
13
GBR
7
NOR
10
SWE
14
CAN
4
FRA
13
LAT
15
RSA
7
12th 73
2020 GCK UNKORRUPTED Renault Clio R.S. RX SWE
16
SWE
13
FIN
14
FIN
15
LAT
15
LAT
15
ESP ESP 17th 14
2021 Unkorrupted Renault Mégane R.S. BAR SWE FRA LAT LAT BEL PRT GER
7
GER
5
14th 27
2022 Guerlain Chicherit Lancia Delta Evo-e RX NOR LAT LAT POR POR BEL BEL ESP ESP GER
9
10th 7
2023 Special ONE Racing Lancia Delta Evo-E RX POR
8
NOR
7
SWE
6
GBR
C
BLX
GER
RSA
RSA
CHN
CHN
10th 27

RX2 International Series

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Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 RX2 Points
2017 Olsbergs MSE RX2 BEL GBR NOR SWE CAN
15
FRA
RSA
12
20th 8

References

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  1. ^ "Vom Schnee zum Sand" (in German). 2008-01-02. Retrieved 2010-01-17.
  2. ^ "The film of the stage, Coma, alone in the Pampa, BMWs all over the place". Retrieved 2010-01-17.
  3. ^ "2009 Dakar Rally final standings". Archived from the original on 2015-06-03. Retrieved 2010-01-17.
  4. ^ "Motorsport: Guerlain Chicherit fired up for Dakar Rally". 2010-01-02. Retrieved 2010-01-17.
  5. ^ "Chicherit Wins First Stage in 2010 Dakar". 2010-01-14. Retrieved 2010-01-17.
  6. ^ "Guerlain Chicherit's Car Backflip". YouTube. 2013-03-04. Archived from the original on 2021-12-15. Retrieved 2014-06-27.
  7. ^ Evans, David (8 February 2017). "Prodrive building Renault Megane for 2018 World Rallycross". Autosport. Retrieved 24 February 2017.
  8. ^ "GC-Kollection Luxury Ski Chalets". www.gc-kollection.com. Archived from the original on 2016-12-17.
  9. ^ "GCK Energy awarded tender to power FIA World RX".[dead link]
  10. ^ "The Dakar's history (Historic Book)" (PDF). Retrieved 2019-01-23.
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