Clio Cup Series

The resumption of the Clio Cup Series saw Anthony Jurado and David Pouget share the spoils at the Red Bull Ring. With his victory and another podium finish, David Pouget extended his Clio Cup Series lead and took command of Clio Cup Europe at the expense of Gabriele Torelli, still the Clio Cup Mid-Europe leader. In the Challengers category, Adrian Schimpf took top honours in the Challengers Cup on Saturday, as did Nikola Miljkovic on Sunday. Luca Franca scored the double in the Racers Cup and extended his Clio Cup Italia lead. The next round will be held in Valencia (22-24 September).

More information here.

Clio Trophy Spain Asfalto & Clio Trophy Spain Tierra

The 60th edition of the Rally Princesa de Asturias welcomed the Clio Trophy Spain Tierra and Clio Trophy Spain Asfalto crews to Oviedo in support of the S-CER (Supercampeonato de España de Rallyes) and CERT (Copa de España de Rallyes de Tierra).

Leg one saw Ramón Cornet and Daniel Noguer continue their winning form with a third Clio Trophy Spain Tierra victory. The pair got the better of rivals Miguel García and Osel Román, who made a mistake on SS5, to win ahead of Aritz Iriondo and Joseba Sánchez. Salvador España and Miriam Antelo edged out Xesús Alfonsín and José Antonio Barrán by 1.4s to claim the podium’s bottom step. With his victory, Ramón Cornet is one step closer to the crown ahead of the Rallye Tierra de Madrid (6-7 October).

The following day, Fran Cima and co-driver Anna Tallada won the Clio Trophy Spain Asfalto. Twice winner of the Clio R3T Iberian Trophy, the Spaniard won in his home region by 2.1s after a thrilling duel with the pairing of Juanma Mañá and David Fernández. Juan Carlos Fernández and Óscar Arranz finished third ahead of Carlos Rodríguez, the new overall leader. Four teams will battle for the title at the season-finale Rallye La Nucía (4-5 November).

Meanwhile, Unai de la Dehesa and Daniel Sosa underlined the all-round potential of the Renault Recalvi Rally Team’s Clio Rally4 by finishing third in the Beca Junior Rally Team Spain, their best result of the season.

More information here and here.

Campionato Italiano Assoluto Rally Junior & Clio Trophy Italia

The Italian Junior Rally Championship and its line-up of Clio Rally5s prepared by Motorsport Italia were at the start line of Rally 1000 Miglia for round four of the season. Davide Pesavento and Marco Frigo dominated the proceedings, scoring maximum points, with their third triumph of the season and the fastest time in the Power Stage. Igor Iani - Stefano Tiraboschi and Francesco Dei Ceci - Nicolò Lazzarini joined the overall leaders on the podium.

Alessandro Casella and Rosario Siragusano won their category with their Clio Rally3. Edoardo De Antoni and Lisa De Cecco claimed their second Clio Trophy Italia win in as many rounds this year. They were joined on the podium by the duos of Andrea Gonella - Erika Badinelli and Alberto Marchetti - Riccardo Dabbrescia, who will look to bounce back on Rallye Sanremo (29-30 September).

More information here.

And elsewhere

Clio Rally3 was on hand for the WRC Acropolis Rally Greece, with Efthimios Halkias and Nikos Komnos. The pair overcame the treacherous conditions to score a promising sixth place in WRC3. Also in Greece, Cypriots Dimitris Parellis and Andreas Papandreou gave Clio Rally5 its 18th RC5 win on the world championship scene.

In France, Clio Rally3 won its category with Bernard Taffin and Gabriel Sery on the Rallye de l’Huveaune. Clio Rally4 scored a one-two result led by Thierry Cassinoto and Eric Mallet. Also in France, Clio Rally4 and Clio Rally5 won the Rallye du Pays de Saint-Yrieix, with Arthur Beylard - Rémi Jardel in Rally4 and Florian Bartaire - Marjolaine Patier in Rally5.

Clio Rally5 also tasted victory on the Rallye du Marquenterre with Romain Wallon and Maxime Daszuk, the Rallye de Lisieux Normandie with Olivier and Gabin Willame and the Rallye du Picodon with Lionel Mars and Jean-Marc Bouget. The weekend’s list of winners also included Théo Fortanier and Damien Gouin on the Rallye Cigalois, Cyril Labouyrie and Laure Deguirard on the Rallye du Cantal and Calvin Lucas and Yohann Marilleau on the Rallye des Jardins de Sologne.

In Germany, Erik Sindermann and Matthias Pätzold led a Clio Rally5 lockout of the podium whilst finishing fourth overall on the inaugural Autohaus Sindermann Rallyesprint Hünstein. Meanwhile, Kim Daldini and Pietro D’Agostino won their class on the CRZ version of the Rally 1000 Miglia with Clio Rally5. The model also won with the Czech duo of Jan Dvořák and Jiří Kalkus on the Kärcher Rally Kumrovec (Croatia) and with Constantin Tudose and Teodor-Gabriel Găină on the Raliul Iașului (Romania).

Coming up

This week, the title race will accelerate between the Clio RXs in the FFSA French Junior Rallycross Championship with round seven at Rallycross de Mayenne (16-17 September). Meanwhile, the Clio Trophy Galicia will return to action at Rally Ourense-Ribeira Sacra (15-17 September).