Clio Trophy France Asphalte

The penultimate round of the season on the roads of the Loir-et-Cher was tipped to be crucial in the title race and the fearsome stages around Vendôme lived up to their reputation.

Winner for the third time in 2021 after a Rallye Cœur de France that left many of the contenders struggling, Romain Di Fante won ahead of Karl Pinheiro and Benjamin Stirling to claim the Clio Trophy France Asphalte crown before the season finale in the Cévennes.

The new leader of the French two-wheel-drive Rally Championship also clinched the Junior category, thus winning a factory programme with Clio Rally4 in 2022. It will be run by Naudon Rallye Services or Europe Location Rallye, who will battle for the teams’ title !

More information here.

Next round : Critérium des Cévennes (28-31 October)

Clio Trophy Swiss

Jérémie Toedtli and Julie Faure won the inaugural edition of the Clio Trophy Swiss and were crowned 2021 Swiss Junior Rally Champions at the end of a rally full of twists and turns !

The duo won at the Rally Ronde Internazionale del Ticino after their three main rivals retired. Sacha Althaus & Lisiane Zbinden were the first to be caught out on the first special stage, where David Érard & Michaël Volluz punctured. Last to prevent Jérémie Toedtli & Julie Faure to clinch the title, Ismaël Vuistiner & Florine Kummer also damaged their car, trying to avoid a spectator who didn’t respect the safety measures.

Jérémie Toedtli & Julie Faure won the final two stages to seal the victory ahead of Guillaume Girolamo & Benjamin Bétrisey and Yoann Loeffler & Gaëtan Aubry, and claim the Clio Trophy Swiss and Swiss Junior Rally titles !

More information here.

Next round : Rallye International du Valais (21-23 October)

FFSA French Junior Rallycross Championship

The Clio RXs of the FFSA French Junior Rallycross Championship returned to competition at the Circuit de Mayenne last week.

Baptiste Panissie sprung a surprise thanks to his consistency throughout the meeting and seized his chance in the final to score his maiden win in Rallycross. Behind him, Edgar Maloigne and Tom Le Jossec fought for the podium. David Bouet and Arthur Le Boudouil were equal on points at the top of the general classification, but the former retired after turn two on Sunday, while his rival had a mixed weekend.

With two rounds remaining on the calendar, David Bouet has a seven-point lead from Arthur Le Boudouil, whereas Tom le Jossec is still third and now just 15 points adrift of the leader.

More information here.

Next round : Dreux (8-10 October)

Elsewhere...

At the Rallye Cœur de France, Anthony Fotia continued his programme on the national scene behind the wheel of a Clio Rally4. The 2020 Clio Trophy France winner led his category from the debut of the event, collecting four fastest times before retiring due to an engine alarm at the start of the final loop.

Clio Rally4 also starred in the French Rally Cup, with Henrick Jullien & Sonia Burais winning on the Rallye des Noix de Firminy and Richard and Manuela Vallois on the Rallye d’Envermeu. At the same event, the Clio Rally5 of Ludovic Lemoine and Alexandre Quenouille won in RC5, as did those of Romain Harnois and Gaël Georges on the Rallye Vienne et Glane and of Cyrielle and Francis Delorme on the Rallye des Noix de Firminy.

Currently second in the Clio Trophy Belgium, Benoît Verlinde drove his Clio Rally5 to the overall victory in the East Belgian Rally Criterium with co-driver Anton Dupan. Clio Rally5 also won in Spain with the one-two result of Marcos Martín Marrero & Armando Rivero Alvarado and Manuel Hernández Padrón & David Bethencourt García on the Rally Villa de Teror. Lastly, Romanians Mihai Dumitrescu and Bogden Nitescu dominated the RC5 class and finished sixth in the front-wheel-drive category on the Raliul Clujului.

Coming up

Circuit racing takes centre stage this week with round 12 of the Clio Cup Europe. Nearly 30 Clio Cups will be in action at Circuit Paul Ricard, where David Pouget, Nicolas Milan and Marc Guillot will continue their battle for the European title while Kévin Jimenez and Horn will be looking to take a further step towards the Challengers Cup and Gentlemen Drivers Cup crowns !

Meanwhile, Jean-Baptiste Franceschi and Clio Rally4 will be defending their FIA ERC3 lead on Rally Serras de Fafe e Felgueiras in Portugal. The French driver will once again be joined by his team mate Ola Jr Nore in the Toksport WRT squad.

Photos 1 & 2 : DPPI / Alpine Racing
Photo 3 : Project Diffusion
Photo 4 : MAP / Pierre Simenel