Clio Trophy Galicia

Round four of the inaugural Clio Trophy Galicia season saw Diego Félix claim his second victory of 2023. With Co-driver Raquel Rodríguez by his side, Diego Félix returned to the sharp end of the field on home soil, winning eight of the nine stages on the Rally Ourense Ribeira Sacra to win by more than a minute ahead of José Joaquín and Borja Rasilla. Third-placed Alberto Rielo and Diogo Rodríguez took their second consecutive podium finish. On the strength of his victory, Diego Felix goes into the season finale, the Rallye San Froilán (20-22 October), with a nine-point advantage over José Joaquín Rasilla, the last driver in with a chance of the title thanks to three consecutive runner-up results.

More information here.

FFSA French Junior Rallycross Championship

After a near-perfect weekend with 40 points out of a possible 41, Valentin Lumet won for the second time this season to keep his title hopes alive against leader Marceau Launay. Winner of the first two qualifying heats, Launay finally had to settle for third place behind Andréa Bénézet in the fickle conditions on Sunday. The hotly contested title to be the FFSA Junior Champion of France will come to a head at the final round of the calendar on the Circuit Philippe Chanoine in Dreux (14-15 October).

More information here.

French Rally Cup

All three versions of Clio Rally won on the French stages this weekend, starting with Clio Rally3, which took top honours in its category and seventh place on the Rallye de Corte with Ghjuvanni Rossi and Kylian Sarmezan. The same model won in the hands of Jérôme Potard and Anthony Fernandes, but they were denied a place on the overall podium due to a ten-second penalty for an early start. Lastly, the Clio Rally3 of Michaël Lobry and Gaëtan Parade also tasted victory in its class on the inaugural Rallye Terre de Découverte.

Meanwhile, Clio Rally4 and Clio Rally5 scored a double success on the Rallye de la Vie, with Thomas Bordagaray - Antoine Loiseau and Antoine Bordagaray - Brice Ricou. Clio Rally5 also won the Rallye du Pays de Fayence with Frédéric Chiapello and Gérard Caillard, Rallye du Haut-Lignon with Pascal and Caroline Bérard and the Ronde Nationale de l’Est with Samuel and Nicolas Hoarau. The weekend’s results in France included wins for the Clio Rally5s of Marc Pompei and Pierre-Louis Caillat on the Rallye de Corte and Baptiste Panissié and Gaël Lavernhe on the Rallye Terre de Découverte.

And elsewhere

Clio Rally3 made a big impression in Germany, with a superb performance culminating with Carsten Mohe and Alexander Hirsch finishing second overall on the ADMV Herkommer Kfz-Technik Rallye Grünhain, just four-tenths of a second behind the winners. Clio Rally3 also swept the top five places, led by Mitchel van den Brink and Bart van Heun on the Eurol Hellendoorn Rally (Netherlands). Third in RC3, Jeroen Klein Kromhof and Jouri Dockx won the Clio Rally Trophy final, where the Clio Rally5 of Willem Wouter Overbeek and Christiaan van der Rijsen, was crowned by finishing runner-up in RC5, behind the similar model entrusted to the duo Nard Ippen - Mark Bierbooms.

The final round of the Czech Rally Championship saw Clio Rally4 and Clio Rally5 win their respective categories at Invelt Rally Pačejov, with Slovaks Ján Kundlák and Peter Baran in two-wheel drive and RC4 I and Martin and František Končal in RC5.

Both versions were equally successful at Rali da Água, the venue for round seven of the Portuguese Rally Championship. Clio Rally4 won in RC4, 2WD and Junior with Gonçalo Henriques and Gonçalo Cunha, and Clio Rally5 in RC5 with Danny Carreira and Bruno Abreu. Meanwhile, Clio Rally4 won with Kenny Herbillon and Fernand Danloy in 4/13 at the Critérium Jean-Louis Dumont (Belgium).

Clio Rally5 also won with Daniel and Sandra Wittner at the ADAC Rallyesprint Pohlheim (Germany) and with Jari Jaakkola and Tatu Nukki at the Rantaralli (Finland), Not forgetting the successes in Italy of Nicola Angilletta and Michael Adam Berni on Rally dei Nuraghi e del Vermentino, Riccardo Gandolfi and Serena Vacchieri on Rally Valle d’Aosta, and Fabio Solitro and Alberto Porzio on Rally Appennino Reggiano.

Coming up

This week, the Clio Cup Series will be back on track at Valencia’s Circuit Ricardo Tormo, with 30 competitors in action at a meeting featuring Clio Cup Europe and Clio Cup España. Elsewhere, the Clio Trophy Belgium will come to a close on the special stages of the East Belgian Rally.