French Rally Championship

All three versions of Clio Rally impressed at round six of the French Tarmac Rally Championship on the Rallye Mont-Blanc Morzine.

Clio Rally3 won all the stages in RC3 to take a one-two finish with Thomas Chauffray - Anthony Hamard and Thomas Battaglia - Marc Della-Pina. With 11 fastest times from 13 stages, Thomas Chauffray also won the Michelin Trophy ahead of the Clio Rally4 of Styve Juif and Maxime Biegalke, who were victorious in RC4. Quentin Ribaud and Mélissa Declerck finished third. The two crews won 12 stages on the course to confirm their status as the benchmark amongst the front-wheel drive Clio Rally4s.

Meanwhile, Clio Rally4 and Clio Rally5 scored a double podium finish in the French Women’s Rally Championship with Allison Viano - Christelle Bou-Meunier and Charlotte Olea - Cécile Pages. Lastly, Ismaël Vuistiner and Florine Kummer put Clio Rally5 in the overall top ten, with their Clio Rally5 in round four of the Swiss Rally Championship.

More information here.

Clio Trophy France Asphalte

Benjamin Stirling scored his second consecutive victory of the year on Rallye Mont-Blanc Morzine, making the Clio Trophy France Asphalte title a mathematical certainty. The twenty-six-year-old driver showed great skill and composure despite the competition led by Romain Fostier, leading from start to finish to win the 2024 official programme reserved for the top Junior. Sébastien Loeb Racing and Fun Meca Sport will battle to determine which team will run his future car at the season-finale, Rallye Coeur de France (29 September-1 October).

More information here.

French Junior Rallycross Championship

The sixth meeting of the season at Lohéac marked a turning point in the FFSA French Junior Rallycross Championship. Marceau Launay was on top form on Sunday, winning two qualifying heats before securing the victory with his Clio RX ahead of Gautier Sarhy and Valentin Lumet. Louka Bourd and Bryan Dufas completed the top five. Now with a 23-point lead in the general classification, the driver from Normandy took a step towards the title heading to the next round at Rallycross de Mayenne (16-17 September).

More information here.

French Rally Cup

The Clios performed brilliantly at other events in France, including a victory for Clio Rally4 with Roland and Virginie Bonnefoy at the Rallye Velay Auvergne, where Clio Rally5 swept the top five, led by Sylvain Rouquette and Jean-François Assenat. The two models also won the Rallye des Côtes de Lumière, with Thierry Landais - Landry Vernageau and Antoine Bordagaray - Alan Autegarden. Lastly, Edouard and Magali Latty drove their Clio Rally5 to victory on the Rallye de la Vésubie, as did Nicolas Levillain and Arnaud Guedoit on the Rallye du Bocage.

And elsewhere

In Belgium, Clio Rally3, Clio Rally4 and Clio Rally5 dominated their corresponding classes at the Omloop van Vlaanderen. Behind the wheel of a Clio Rally3, Dutchmen Jeroen Klein Kromhof and Jouri Dockx won the RC3 class and round four of the Clio Rally Trophy Nederland. Meanwhile, Belgium’s Jonas Dewilde and Jeffrey Vandenbussche led Clio Rally4 to victory in RC4 and the Belgian Junior Rally Championship ahead of the Clio Rally5 of Lander Depotter and Jasper Maelfait, who won in RC5. With this result, Jonas Dewilde also secured the Junior BRC title !

In Italy, Clio Rally3 won its category in the hands of Daniele Berger and Tiziano Pieri on Rally Città di Torino, whilst Alessio Bert and Vanessa Prandi led a Clio Rally5 lockout of the top five in its class. Meanwhile, Matteo Doretto and Andrea Budoia won their class with Clio Rally5 on Rally Piancavallo, as did Filippo Nannetti and Alessia Tasi on Rally di Casciana Terme.

There were further successes in Europe. Aleksandar Tomov and Yavor Brankov finished eighth on Rally Bulgaria, leading Clio Rally5 to victory in the Bulgarian Junior Rally Championship. Elsewhere, the model won with Jaroslav Petráš and Petr Jindra on Rally Vyškov (Czech Republic), Henrique Azenha and Hugo Marques on Constálica Rallye Vouzela e Viseu (Portugal), Thomas and Melanie Schultz on ADMV Rallye Kurstadt and Tim Wacker and Ann Felke on ADAC Rallye Oberehe in Germany. Lastly, Jack Brennan and John McGrath made their Clio Rally5 debut outside their native Ireland, winning in RC5 and finishing fifth in the ERT Junior at the JDS Machinery Rali Ceredigion (Great Britain).

Coming up

This weekend, the Clio Cup Series returns to the Red Bull Ring with a 44-car field for a round counting towards Clio Cup Europe, Clio Cup Italia and Clio Cup Mid-Europe. In addition to the circuits, a Clio Rally3 and two Clio Rally5s will be at the start of the FIA World Rally Championship round, Acropolis Rally Greece. Lastly, the Clio Trophy Spain Asfalto will make its debut on the Rally Princesa de Asturias, as will the Clio Rally5s of the Clio Trophy Italia and the Italian Junior Rally Championship on the Rally 1000 Miglia.