Clio Trophy France Terre

The Clio Trophy France Terre season-finale at the Rallye des Cardabelles saw Bastien Bergounhe become the third different winner in four rounds this year. A regular in the Clio Trophy by Toksport WRT, the 20-year-old avoided the pitfalls of the course to win by 1.7s ahead of Quentin Ribaud, who secured the title by beating Jean Paul Monnin by 14.9s.

As the best Junior this season, Quentin Ribaud will have a two-round official programme in the French Gravel Rally Championship in 2022 with a Clio Rally4 run by Fun Meca Sport, which won the teams’ category. Although his performance was not enough for Marignane Automobiles to take the Challenge Réseau Renault from Garage De Sousa, Quentin Ribaud has nevertheless taken the lead in the French two-wheel-drive Championship ahead of Rallye Terre de Vaucluse (13-14 November) !

More information here.

Clio Trophy Italia

The Clio Trophy Italia also concluded its season last weekend. Davide Nicelli and Tiziano Pieri celebrated their title in style by leading their HK Racing Clio Rally5 to victory on Rally Due Valli with a 22.3s lead from Mattia Zanin & Fabio Pizzol and almost two minutes over Alfred Kramer Jr. & Jeannette Kvick. The Italian also won the R1 class and finished 18th in the general classification.

More information here.

Clio Trophy Belgium

There is still plenty to race for in the Clio Trophy Belgium after the triumph of Benoît Verlinde and Anton Dupan on Rallye de Wallonie, which took place around Namur. In the lead since Friday evening, the duo had to fight off the comeback of Tom Rensonnet & Renaud Herman the next day, then Gilles Pyck & Emile Mourisse to finally win by 5.5s and finish in the overall top ten. Benoît Verlinde’s second victory of the season snaps Gilles Pyck’s run of three consecutive wins, and now the gap to the leader is 14 points heading to the season finale in Condroz.

More information here.

Next round : Rallye du Condroz (5-7 November)

FFSA French Junior Rallycross Championship

Clio RX continues to put on a show in its first season of competition in the FFSA French Junior Rallycross Championship. This weekend, Edgar Maloigne, Dylan Dufas and Tom Le Jossec were in the spotlight during the qualifying heats in Dreux, but David Bouet capitalised on his consistency to take the lead in the intermediate classification before winning his semi-final and then the final against Dylan Dufas and Edgar Maloigne. David Bouet extends his lead to 27 points over Tom Le Jossec, who finished fourth on Sunday, while Arthur Le Boudouil has lost ground after his crash on Saturday.

More information here.

Next round : Faleyras (23-24 October)

Elsewhere...

While Quentin Ribaud’s Clio Rally5 took the lead of the French Gravel two-wheel-drive Rally Championship, Renaults were also excelling on tarmac at the Rallye d’Antibes Côte d’Azur.

With 13 best times in 15 stages, Anthony Fotia returned to victory with Clio Rally4. Winning for the second time this season with a lead of almost two minutes, the driver from Nice is now just outside the top three in the general classification, which is still dominated by the Clio Rally5 of Romain Di Fante after his class victory extended his lead in the French Tarmac two-wheel-drive Rally Championship.

In Italy, another Clio Trophy by Toksport WRT leader made a name for himself, as did Bastien Bergounhe in France. Leader of the trophy contested within the FIA ERC, Andrea Mabellini and co-driver Virginia Lenzi made their debut in the Clio Rally4 on Rally Due Valli. The duo put on an impressive demonstration to lead Clio Rally4 to its first major two-wheel-drive victory in the Italian Rally Championship while finishing just outside the top ten in the general classification.

Clio Rally4 and Clio Rally5 also won further successes in the French Rally Cup while the Clio Rally5 of Iztok Janičijevič and Jaka Žvab won its class and finished in the overall top ten of Rally Soča Valley (Slovenia).

Coming up

This week the Clio Trophy Turkey returns to action on the Ege Rallisi (16-17 October). While Çağlayan Çelik and Mehmet Besler have shared the honours in the first three rounds of the season, the competition will be keen to demonstrate their progress, particularly Nebil Erbil, who has finished runner-up three times so far this season.

Meanwhile, three Clio Rally4s and four Clio Rally5s will be aiming for victory in the French Rally Cup final this weekend in Châteauroux whilst two of each model will start the FIA World Rally Championship’s RallyRACC Catalunya - Costa Daurada.

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