Muller wins Andros Trophy race

Fastest in timed practice, and leading after qualifying, the Opel driver dominated the ten-lap final in his Astra.

'It's an important win for me,' he said afterwards.

'It has given me back my confidence and serenity, which had become slightly eroded after a difficult summer season. It feels good.'

Marcel Tarres, driving the factory Citroen Xsara, was second overall.

'I'm very pleased with the result,' he said.

'We hope to work on the car before Andorra, but it's looking good.'

Eric Helary was third, despite a lack of pre-season training.

'I was busy with Opel in Germany, and couldn't test,' he said.

'So I wasn't particularly confident beforehand. I tried to be consistent, but I wasn't quite fast enough. Next time should be better.'

With Dayraut fifth and Snobeck seventh, Opel have also taken the lead in the Manufacturer's Trophy.

SRWC champion Emmanuel Collard was ninth overall in his first attempt at Ice Racing.

The Promotion category was won by Jean-Noël Lanctuit in a Nissan Micra, followed by Guyhlem Dussaucy and Claude Millet.

The first promotion final saw a race-long fight between Guyhelm Dussaucy's Nissan Micra and Bertrand Vincendeau's Renault Mégane.

Halfway through the 5 lap race, Dussaucy, who had started from pole, went wide, and the Megane took advantage of the situation to push through.

Recovering, the Micra and the Megane went round the hairpin side-by-side.

Contact ensued, but Dussaucy regained the advantage and began to pull away, taking the chequered flag ahead of Vincendeau, Fouquet and Christophe Balas's Subaru Forester.