Greek Rally Championship

Previously impressive with a third-place overall finish in the season opener last month, Clio Rally3 caused a stir this weekend on the Olympiako Rally. In the aftermath of their solid performance, Cypriots Petros Panteli and Pambos Laos did even better by winning the rally overall. Fifth, at the end of SS1, the duo avoided the hazards to make the most of the four-wheel drive car designed by the Viry-Châtillon and Dieppe teams to set the fastest time in the final timed sector and claim victory. The Greek duo of Efthimios Halkias and Nikos Komnos complemented this performance, finishing third overall and ahead of all the Rally2 entries.

Clio Cup Series

Gabriele Torelli (Rangoni Corse), who took a race win the previous week at Hockenheim, continued his winning form at round four of the 2024 Clio Cup Series. The Italian won both of the weekend’s races on home soil at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli to take command of the general classification. His countrymen Damiano Puccetti (Rangoni Corse) and Cristian Ricciarini (Essecorse) also left Emilia-Romagna leading Clio Cup España and Clio Cup Italia heading into the next round at Spa-Francorchamps (30 May-2 June).

More information here.

Italian Junior Rally Championship

For the second event on the calendar, the service park, consisting entirely of Clio Rally5s prepared by Motorsport Italia for the Italian Junior Rally Championship, got its first taste of gravel this season. Marco Zanin and Fabio Pizzol were dominant with six fastest times in nine stages, but the team was handed a two-minute penalty for a 12-minute delay at a time check. Matteo Doretto and Marco Frigo inherited first place, 5.6s ahead of Francesco Dei Ceci and Nicolò Lazzarini. Mattia Ricciu and Marco Corda completed the podium. With two wins from as many starts, Matteo Doretto extends his lead in the general classification, heading to the next round at the San Marino Rally (21-22 June).

More information here.

Clio Trophy Spain Tierra

Aritz Iriondo won the Rallye Reino de León, his second triumph in as many outings this year in the Clio Trophy Spain Gravel. The Basque native and co-driver Joseba Sánchez avoided the difficulties several of his rivals encountered to win ahead of Mexico’s Emiliano Retama and his Spanish teammate Eduard Ferrán. Newcomers Gabriel Cerutti and Matías Cardano from Argentina completed the podium. In addition to his success, Aritz Iriondo finished eighth overall to give Clio Rally5 its first victory in the Two-Wheel Drive Trophy of the Spanish Gravel Rally Cup. The service park’s next stop is the Rallye Terre de Lozère on 31 August and 1 September.

More information here.

Clio Trophy Belgium

Round two of the Clio Trophy Belgium, the Sezoensrally featured 30% of its timed route comprised of unpaved roads with the atypical Meuse gravel. The wet weather made these sections particularly treacherous, and the tarmac portions were just as slippery. Nard Ippen proved to be the most adept in these conditions, winning on the same ground where he had made his debut last year. Romanians Cristian Sugar and Vlad Colceriu, who won the season opener, finished second. Jo Muylle and Dries Deprez completed the podium. With his victory, Nard Ippen takes command of the general classification before the next round at the Omloop van Vlaanderen (6-7 September).

More information here.

French Rally Cup

In France, Clio Rally3 and Clio Rally5 both won at the Rallye du Pays Viganais with Laurent Papi - Jean-Michel Perrin and Teddy Turco - Melvin Lejeune. Clio Rally4 and Clio Rally5 scored a similar double at the Rallye des Monts de Vaucluse with Florian Dauchy - Vincent Bertoux-Romet and Benjamin Barnouin - Romain Garel. Like the latter, a Clio Trophy France Asphalte protagonist, Calvin Lucas, also starred at the Rallye de la Vallée du Cher, winning Rally5 with co-driver Manon Perrin. Lastly, Clio Rally5 also won its class on the Mézidon Vallée d’Auge Rally with Chris Langé - Albane Lefranc-Laplanche and on the Matheysine Rally with Rudy and Tylan Bollud.

And elsewhere…

Clio Rally3 impressed again in Poland with a fourth class win in five weeks for the crew of Hubert Kowalczyk and Jarosław Hryniuk at Rajd Nadwiślański. Meanwhile, Burcu Cetinkaya took her fourth consecutive victory in the Turkish Women’s Rally Championship with Clio Rally3. Navigated by Fabrizia Pons, the Turkish driver also saw her teammates Sinan Soylu and Ozgur Akdag finish third in RC3 at the Bursa Rallisi, where Clio Rally5 reaffirmed its supremacy in RC in the hands of Metehan Ustukarci and Huseyin Cetin.

Clio Rally4 was not to be outdone in Finland, winning its category at the O.K. Auto-ralli with Italians Valentino Ledda and Claudio Mele, fourth overall. In parallel, Clio Rally5 won on the continental scene with the success of Shadi El Fakih and Samer Sfeir on the Jordan Rally in the Middle East Rally Championship. A week after their victory on the national level in Lebanon, the duo dominated the proceedings to win in MERC4 and RC5. Clio Rally5 also won with Tomáš Štuksa and Ondřej Novák in round two of the Czech Rally Championship on Rally Český Krumlov. Also of note were the successes in Italy of Filippo Tonarelli and Juri Parducci on Rally degli Abeti e dell’Abetone and that of Kim Daldini and Celine Lachelin on Rally della Valle Intelvi.

Coming up

This week, the Rallye Terre d’Aleria hosts the Clio Trophy France Terre for the second year running. Tom Pellerey will try to increase his advantage over rivals, who are all determined to get back on track before the summer break. Five Clio Rally3s, including the official Castrol car driven by Matteo Chatillon, will also be in action in Corsica. Meanwhile, the Clio RXs of the French Junior Rallycross Championship will be in Faleyras for round two of the 2024 calendar.