Clio Cup Series

The fifth meeting of the Clio Cup Series season provided the backdrop for a thrilling double-header featuring Gabriele Torelli, David Pouget and Nicolas Milan in challenging conditions at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. The Italian won on Saturday to extend his lead in the general classification before David Pouget hit back on Sunday. However, Damiano Puccetti, his countryman and Rangoni Corse teammate, caused a sensation by mathematically clinching the Clio Cup España title before the summer break !

More information here.

FIA World Rally Championship

Clio Rally5 added to its impressive FIA World Rally Championship haul with its 24th victory on Rally Italia Sardegna with Monegasque Marc Dessi and co-driver Mattia Pastorino. Italians Giovanni and Andrea Di Luigi made it a Clio Rally5 one-two in the RC5 class. The Clio Rally3 crews saw success elude them despite their obvious potential, as the duos of Matteo Chatillon - Maxence Cornuau, Ghjuvanni Rossi - Kylian Sarmezan and Davide Biancu - Giovanni Maria Mazzone fell victim to the hazards of the course. The two French drivers remain in the top five of the WRC3 general classification.

Clio Trophy Canarias

On home soil, Víctor Valido scored his first Clio Trophy Canarias victory with co-driver Emilio Pérez on the Rallye Isla de Gran Canaria. The Canarian won a hard-fought battle with trophy leaders Noé Armas and Alejandro Falcón. The gap between the two crews at the finish was just 6.5 seconds, while the podium was completed by Álvaro Santana and Juan Monzón, 8.6 seconds further back. Victor Valido’s success sees him move to within ten points of Noé Armas heading to Rally Ciudad de La Laguna (26-27 July).

More information here.

Clio Trophy Galicia

Season two of Clio Trophy Galicia opened with victory for Álvaro Castro and Isidro Rey on the Rally de Pontevedra. In a field comprised entirely of Clio Rally5s, the pair took the lead on stage two and went on for a comfortable win ahead of Iván Vázquez and Diego Vázquez. Last year’s runners-up Joaquín Rasilla and Borja Rasilla completed this first podium ahead of the next round on Rallye Pazo Tizón-Comarca do Carballiño (June 21-22).

More information here.

Swiss Rally Championship

Ismaël Vuistiner, who won the 2017 Clio R3T European Trophy Alps as well as the 2021 Clio Trophy Swiss, continued his successful run with Renault by winning the RC3 and the Michelin Alps Open Trophy with Clio Rally3 on the Rallye International du Chablais. Co-driven by Florine Kummer, the Swiss driver mixed it with the best Rally2 drivers to finish fifth overall and fifth in the European Rally Trophy. The event also featured the victory in the Michelin Alps Trophy and a podium finish in the Swiss Cup for the Clio Rally4 of Cédric Moulin and Pierre-Jean Vardanega, as well as an all-Clio Rally5 top-three in RC5 led by Jean-Albert Ferrez and Benjamin Betrisey.

French Rally Cup

Clio Rally3 won its category with Victorien Houyelle and Céline Berquez, fourth overall on the Rallye du Tréport, where Pascal Donnadieu and Laurent Delmas also led Clio Rally5 to success. Several competitors in the Clio Rally5 trophies also impressed in France : Tom and Frédéric Vauclare with a class win and an overall top ten finish on the Rallye Ecureuil Drôme Provençale, Jérôme Janny and Aurélien Beaudouin with a win on the Rallye des Ardennes, Teddy Turco and Brice Segui on the Rallye de Printemps Canet and Néo and Stéphanie Rivallant on the Rallye de Saint-Geniez-d’Olt. Romain Harnois and Gaël Georges won the Rallye du Lochois, as did Loan Biagetti, who exceptionally got behind the wheel to drive the Clio Rally5 to victory on the Rallye du Laragnais with Morine Gidel.

Clio Cup Great Britain

The Clio Cup made its return to the UK last weekend with the launch of the Clio Cup Great Britain at Brands Hatch. While Daire Flock (Westbourne Motorsport) claimed the first pole position at stake, Nicky Taylor (Graves Motorsport) was the first to add his name to the list of winners before Ben Colburn (Westbourne Motorsport) joined him in race two. The season continues next month at Anglesey (13 July).

More information here.

And elsewhere…

Clio Rally3 won its class in Denmark, with Carsten Jensen and Tobias Andreasen third overall at the Mesterskab Vest, just eight-tenths of a second behind the best Rally2. Clio Rally3 also impressed in Greece, where Paschalis Chatzimarkos and Marios Tsaoussoglou beat all the Rally2 entries on the Rally Sprint Egion.

In Romania, Samuil Mircea won the Raliul Maramureșului RC5 for the first time. The Romanian and co-driver George Marinescu also won the Clio Rally5 challenge in the national championship to take the lead from Eliott Delecour, who was absent this weekend. Clio Rally5 also dominated its category with Roberto Castillo and Enrique Espinoza on Rally Catamayo (Ecuador), Fernando Castaedo and Luciano Menéndez on Rally de la Espina (Spain) and Nina Bračko Colja on Rally in Circuit (Slovenia).

Coming up

This weekend marks the inaugural meeting of the Clio Trophy Portugal, a new national trophy reserved for Clio Rally5. The crews will battle on the tarmac roads of Rally de Lisboa (6-8 June), where the protagonists of Clio Trophy Spain Asfalto will also be present for round two of their season.