Clio Trophy Belgium

The East Belgian Rally hosted the penultimate round of Clio Trophy Belgium. The competitors had to deal with three loops of four stages, where Benoit Verlinde and Casper Nielsen shared the best times. The time differences were minimal as Benoit Verlinde won by 1.4s at the end of the 144 km of the route. With this success, the 24-year-old driver from Ardooie mathematically sealed the title and will only have to start the Condroz Rally (5-6 November) to win it officially. In his first appearance in the trophy, Tim Van Parijs won the Master category and completed the podium ahead of Jeroen Catelin and Lander Depotter.

Belgian Rally Championship

St. Vith was also the scene of round eight of the Belgian Rally Championship, where two Clio Rally4s dominated the proceedings in the Junior BRC. After missing out on the Omloop van Vlaanderen, the RACB national team protégé Tom Rensonnet perfectly kept his title chances alive by beating Gilles Pyck. Winner of the inaugural Clio Trophy Belgium season, Gilles Pyck finished second on his debut on the East Belgian Rally and still leads the Junior BRC.

Clio Trophy Canarias

The Rally Villa de Teror was to host round four of the Clio Trophy Canarias last Friday and Saturday. However, difficult weather conditions forced the event organisers to postpone the rally. The next event is currently scheduled for 28 and 29 October at the Rally de Maspalomas, pending any Rally Villa de Teror reschedule.

Elsewhere

Clio Rally5 shined in the Brazilian Rally Championship with victory on Rally de Rio Negrinho. Luis Stedile and co-driver Carlos Enrique "KZ" Morales were third overall in round five of the season, and surprised everyone by dominating the second leg on Sunday, beating all the competitors in the Rally2 category. The crew sealed their overall podium finish and took a convincing win in their class.

Clio Rally5 also made sensation in France with Arthur Pelamourgues - Sylvain Barrau finishing fourth overall and Yohan Saillat - Marine Pelamourgues sixth on Rallye des Thermes. Meanwhile, Clio Rally4 and Clio Rally5 claimed a double win on Rallye des Vallons Ardéchois, with Henrick Jullien - Sonia Burais (sixth overall) and Tom Vauclare - Frédéric Vauclare (eighth overall) respectively.

Lastly, Clio Rally4 was sixth overall in the Ronde de la Durance with Jean Ricard and Jérémy Brau while the model finished third overall on Rallye Vienne Glane - Porte Océane du Limousin with Frédéric Meurant and Kévin Aumeunier.

Coming up

This week, Clio Trophy Spain will embark on its second half of the season at Rally Rías Baixas (29 September -1 October), where Juan Manuel Mañá will try to extend his lead over his rivals led by Unai de la Dehasa. In parallel, Clio Trophy Swiss will also be on the programme with the penultimate rally of its calendar at Rally del Ticino (30 September - 1 October), where Ismaël Vuistiner will have his first chance to secure the title.