FIA CODASUR Rally Championship

Clio Rally5 won again on the continental scene at round two of the FIA CODASUR Rally Championship, the Rally Sudamericano Jesús María. Federico Antúnez and Enzo Abanoni avoided the challenges of a course shortened by weather conditions to win the RC5 class by more than two minutes. In Argentina, the Uruguayans also finished sixth in the CODASUR4 class, only to be beaten by crews driving cars from higher categories. The next stop in the championship is the Rally de Erechim (Brazil) from May 17 to 19.

Greek Rally Championship

A quartet of Clio Rally3s lined up at the start of the Rally Stereas Elladas to kick off the 2024 Greek Rally Championship. Clio Rally3 again demonstrated its potential on gravel, with Paschalis Chatzimarkos and Marios Tsaoussoglou setting the best time on SS2. Although the duo crashed out on the final stage, Cypriots Petros Panteli and Pambos Laos finished third overall. They were joined on the C2 podium by Greece’s Efthimios Halkias and Nikos Komnos, fourth at the finish.

Italian Junior Rally Championship

Ten crews backed by ACI Team Italia lined up in Renault Clio Rally5s prepared by Motorsport Italia, were in action on round one of the Italian Junior Rally Championship, Rally Regione Piemonte. Matteo Doretto and Marco Frigo showed their stuff, snatching victory from Marco Zanin and Fabio Pizzol by a scant three-tenths of a second. Early frontrunners Igor Iani and Davide Cecchetto got caught out on SS7, while Francesco Dei Ceci and Nicolò Lazzarini lost a ton of time on the last timed sector. Andrea Boatti and co-driver Manuela Pellatti completed the podium, 43.5s behind the winners. Next up is Rally Adriatico (May 17-18).

More information here.

French Rally Cup

There were plenty of victories in France, starting with the Rallye de Séquanie, where Clio Rally3 and Clio Rally5 took top honours with Thierry Cassard - Mathéo Terret and Enzo Beschet - Romain Gandré. Clio Rally4, with Jean-Pierre Flori and Dann Garcia, and Clio Rally5, with Marc Pompei and Patrick Chiappe, completed a similar double in Corsica at the Ronde Nationale de la Giraglia.

Clio Rally5 extended its winning streak with a podium sweep led by Mickaël Marchal and Quentin Fagnone on the Rallye Mouzon-Frézelle, an all-top 4 finish led by Sylvain Lenne and Yoann Bouchet on the Rallye de Venasque and a quintuple dominated by Hervé Denis and Benjamin Guignard at Rallye Autocourse... But also the victories of Rudy and Tylan Bollud on the Balcon Est du Vercors Rally, Laurent Borderie and Nathalie Cousin on the Rallye du Quercy and Sébastien and Emma Alemany on the Rallye des Salines.

And elsewhere…

The three models designed for special stages also impressed on the international stage. Hubert Kowalczyk and Jarosław Hryniuk finished ninth overall in the Rajd Memoriał Janusza Kuliga i Mariana Bublewicza and first in the Rally3 class. The four-wheel drive version also won in Portugal with Nuno Carreira and André Mendes, fourth overall in Rally das Camélias, where Danny Carreira and Bruno Abreu won in P2-4, while finishing seventh overall in their Clio Rally5.

Also in Portugal, Clio Rally4 scored a one-two finish in RC4 with Vasco Silva Jr and Tiago Fernandes, 5.3s ahead of Rui Jorge Fernandes and João Pedro Freitas and in the top six overall in round two of the Madeira Rally Championship. Clio Rally4 also won in its category in Italy with Paolo Moricci and Paolo Garavaldi at the Trofeo Maremma, where the asphalt roads favoured Clio Rally5 with a sweep of the top eight led by Mattia Giannini and Roberta Papini.

Clio Rally5 locked out the top six places on the Paganella Rally (Italy) under the impetus of Fabrizio Dellantonio and Giada Chini. There was more success in Portugal with António Veiga and Francisco Martins at the Rali de Gondomar, in Germany with Tim Wacker and Luca Kiefe at the ADAC KW-Ostalbrallye and in the Canary Islands with Iván Cabrera Ravelo and Rayco Almeida Pérez at the Rallysprint Ciudad de Arucas. Lastly, Clio Rally5 won its class with Felipe Güelfi Regules and Kitzia Romero de Terreros on Rally Aguascalientes, round two of the Mexican Rally Championship and the FIA NACAM Rally Championship.

Coming up

This week, several crews who put their trust in the rally versions of Renault Clio will return to the stages, including the six crews entered with Clio Rally5 on the Rhône-Charbonnières Rally, and Matteo Chatillon and Maxence Cornuau, who will make their WRC3 debut with Clio Rally3 at Croatia Rally.