FIA CODASUR Rally Championship

The sixth and final round of the FIA COSASUR Rally Championship saw Luigi Contin seal the FIA CODASUR4 title with Clio Rally4. The Uruguayan finished seventh overall and, together with co-driver Federico Rodríguez, took his third victory of 2022 to clinch the title on home soil at the Rally del Atlantico. This victory in Latin America’s leading two-wheel-drive category was not the only one for Gianni Motorsport, as Uruguayans Ignacio Gardiol and Leonardo Fernández also won their class with Clio Rally5. This success allowed them to be crowned in the two-wheel drive and RC4 classes ahead of the Uruguayan Rally Championship season finale in Mariscala (2-4 December).

Clio Trophy France Asphalte

As he was on his way to a 2022 clean sheet, Thomas Chauffray saw his hopes of a fifth consecutive victory vanish due to a puncture on the final leg of the year at the Critérium des Cévennes. Patrick Magnou and Anthony Vilanova made the most of the situation to score their maiden victory ahead of Junior Tom Pieri ; who secured the crown for his team 3P Racing by BHR and will continue the adventure with the squad as part of his official programme with Renault in 2023. Meanwhile, Élodie Gines won a round of the French Rally Championship in the Alpine A110 Rally as she ended the year as the best-ranked female driver. Eric Royère (Gentlemen) and Groupe Bertrand (Renault Network Challenge) completed the 2022 list of winners.

More information here.

Clio Trophy Canarias

After a three-month break, the Clio Trophy Canarias resumed at the Maspalomas Rally. Alejandro Martín, who had scored three wins in as many starts, mathematically secured the first title in the history of the category with his fourth consecutive victory with co-driver Daniel Rosario. The Canarian’s superb performance saw him finish in the overall top five, only 4.8s off the podium. Second at 23.2s, Noé Armas and Efraín González performed brilliantly on their debut, clearly ahead of the chasers led by Sebastián Gil and Adrián Gil. The season finale will take place this week at Rallye de Villa de Teror (4-5 November).

More information here.

Elsewhere

The Critérium des Cévennes was also the scene of Pauline Dalmasso’s seventh podium-finish in eight starts in the French Women’s Rally Championship. Also in France, Belgian Tom Rensonnet finished fifth in his Clio Rally4 in the discipline’s first appearance at the FIA Motorsport Games in Marseille. In the French Cup, Clio Rally4 and Clio Rally5 took a double-class victory on Rallye Sud Haute-Marne - Haute-Amance with Nicolas Miclo - Brice Pierrat and Jérôme Janny - Aurélien Beaudouin while Grégory and Crystal Dizier led a Clio Rally5 hat-trick on Rallye de la Noix de Grenoble.

In Germany, Erik Sindermann - Matthias Pätzold led Clio Rally4 to first place in the ADAC Rallye Atlantis, as did Alexander Ernst - Julian Birtel in the ADAC Saarland Rallye. There was also success in the Czech Republic, where Vratko Kubík and Kateřina Klášterková won in RC5 at the Rentor Racing Partr Rally Vsetín. Clio Rally4 also scored a prestigious result in Portugal, with Henrique Moniz - Jorge Diniz taking fifth overall in RC4 while mixing it up with Rally2 and GT at the sharp end of Rali Além Mar Ilha Lilás. In Romania, István Soos Hortea - Akos Szabo won the Clio Rally5 Challenge, thus putting an end to Constantin Tudose’s series of five consecutive victories after he crashed out on SS1.

Alex Lorenzato and Stefano Beltramello also completed a Clio Rally5 hat-trick in its category on Rally Città di Bassano (Italy) while Gabriele Priante and Mattia Pastorino claimed the top step of their category podium with the same model on Rally Internazionale Golfo dell’Asinara (Italy).

Coming up

This week, Clio Trophy Spain returns to Rallye La Nucía (5-6 November) for the penultimate round of its season. Juan Manuel Mañá will start as the leader, but the gaps are still incredibly close with four challengers able to steal the lead. The inaugural Clio Trophy Canarias season will conclude at Rally de Villa de Teror (4-5 November), where the runner-up spots behind Alejandro Martín will be up for grabs. Lastly, the Clio Trophy Belgium will wrap up on Rallye du Condroz (5-6 November). Benoit Verlinde and Anton Dupan have already clinched the title, but there will be several accessits - including the Power Stage Trophy - in play this weekend.