FIA ERC

After winning on Rally Liepāja and Rally di Roma Capitale, Jean-Baptiste Franceschi and Clio Rally4 scored their third straight victory in Europe on Barum Czech Rally Zlín.

Leader in the FIA ERC3 and FIA ERC3 Junior categories after the first two stages on the tarmac roads in the Czech Republic, the French driver was penalized three minutes for arriving too early at a checkpoint on SS3. The Toksport WRT driver was not about to give up as he put in an impressive comeback to retake the lead of the FIA ERC3 Junior category.

Back in the lead three stages from the finish, Jean-Baptiste Franceschi went on for the win and now leads the championship while remaining firmly in contention for the FIA ERC3 title before the next round on its campaign.

More information here.

Clio Trophy by Toksport WRT

With their win on Barum Czech Rally Zlín, the Italian crew of Andrea Mabellini and Virginia Lenzi took a big step toward winning the first-ever Clio Trophy by Toksport WRT title.

Andrea Mabellini, who won on the two previous rounds, took the lead on the first special stage on Friday evening. Avoiding the hazards of the route and fending off the attacks of his rivals, the Italian won again with a 1:19.9s margin of victory over Bastien Berghoune. Ghjuvanni Rossi completed the podium at 2:07.9s.

This third consecutive win, combined with Paulo Soria’s troubles and Yigit Timur’s retirement, sees Andrea Mabellini take a 22-point lead over the Argentinean and a 24-point lead over Ghjuvanni Rossi ahead of the double-points finale in Hungary.

More information here.

Next round : Rally Hungary (22-24 October)

Clio Trophy France Terre

Winner of an extremely selective Rallye Terre de Lozère ahead of John Laroche and Sébastien Studer, Quentin Ribaud reclaimed the lead in the Clio Trophy France Terre.

The French driver also finished on the two-wheel-drive class podium while securing the top Junior spot to win an official two-rally programme in the 2022 French Gravel Rally Championship with a Clio Rally4 to be run by Fun Meca Sport, which has sewn up the team title.

There is still plenty to race for among Quentin Ribaud, John Laroche and Jean-Paul Monnin, who will battle to win the inaugural Clio Trophy France Terre title on the Rallye des Cardabelles.

More information here.

Next round : Rallye Terre des Cardabelles (8-10 octobre)

Elsewhere...

Clio Rally5 continues its winning ways in the French Rally Cup, with notably the RC5 double of Eric Royere & Alexis Grenier and Sylvain Alanore & Anthony Gouin on the Rallye du Pays Basque, but also class wins for Marina Breuil & Manon Dauphin on the Rallye Velay Auvergne and Dimitri Regairaz & Mallaury Sola on the Rallye de Chartreuse.

In Italy, the Clio Rally5 of Luca Datteri & Daniele Mantani also won its class on the Rally Golfo dei Poeti, as did Vitalli Antonov & Geert Grooten on the Prima-Acon Vechtdal Rally (The Netherlands) and José Viana Martins & Gonçalo Palmeira on the Rali Município de Mesão Frio (Portugal). Clio Trophy Belgium stalwart Pierre-Emmanuel Brasseur did the same on the Micky Sprint Rally.

Coming up

Rally competition will once again be at the centre of the customer racing activities as more than 30 crews from Clio Trophy France, ten from Clio Trophy Switzerland and those competing in the Philippe Bugalski Challenge will take on the special stages of Rallye Mont-Blanc Morzine (2-4 September).

Meanwhile, the Clio Trophy Italia competitors will battle on the Rally Mille Miglia (5 September). Clio Trophy Belgium will be in action on the ConXion Omloop van Vlaanderen (3-4 September) and Clio Trophy Turkey will contest the Bursa Rallisi (3-5 September). Lastly, the Clio Rally5s entered in the NACAM Junior Cup will also battle on the Sierra Juárez Rally in Mexico (3-4 September).