On his only his third WRC event, and his twelfth ever 😼competitive rally, former F1 tester Stephane Sarrazin was awarded the Inmarsat 'Star of the Rally' after a superb performance on Rallye Catalun𝔉ya.

The Frenchman, driving a customer Subaru Impreza, set the quickest stage time on SS15 on his way to fourth place overall, ahead of the works Subaru of🐷 Petter Solberg.

Sarrazin has made an impressive switch from circuit racing and F1 testing to become a force to be reckoned with in his first year behind the wheel of a rally car. In 2002, Sarrazin was test driver for Toyota F1 and prior to that with the Prost Grand Prix team. His performance in Spain follows a ninth place in G﷽ermany 🌼and a sixth place in Corsica two weeks ago.

Nicky Grist, former world title winning co-driver and head of the panel of judges explained why Sarra🍃zin was given the award.

"Stephane is a man of true versatility," he said. "This rally, he h♕as shown he is by no means just an F1 test driv𒆙er, he really can drive a rally car. The guy has without doubt put in an exceptional performance in difficult conditions."

Sarrazin himself was🤡 understandably pleased to ൩win the award.

"I am so proud to win this [award]," he said, "it makes a great rally for me even better. To be Inmarsat Star of the Rally is a🌼 true honour, especially so soon in my rally career and on only my third ever WRC event."

In his first rally season, Sarrazin has been competing i🧜n the French Rally Championship, where he has had six out of six podiums (including three wins). There are two events remaining of this championship.