Clio Trophy Portugal

Danny Carreira dominated the second meeting of Clio Trophy Portugal with ten fastest times in 11 stages to take victory by nearly two minutes. The duos Pedro Pereira Jr - Tiago Silva and Nuno Coelho - Ricardo Cunha joined him on the Rali de Castelo Branco podium. Thanks to his success, the 23-year-old takes command of the trophy ahead of the Constálica Rallye Vouzela e Viseu (30-31 August). Gonçalo Henriques and co-driver Inês Veiga were also victorious on the same roads in their Clio Rally4, defending their two-wheel drive national title and winning the Junior category.

More information here.

Clio Trophy Galicia

Already victorious in Pontevedra, Álvaro Castro doubled up on the Rallye Comarca do Carballiño. Battling initially with Marcos Rodríguez and Álvaro Cerqueiras, the Spaniard and co-driver Isidro Rey only had to manage their lead after the incident of their rivals on SS6. He won ahead of Gabriel Rodríguez Gándara and Alejandro Vaqueiro and finished fourth overall. Iván and Diego Vázquez completed the podium, the closest rivals to the leader heading to the next Clio Trophy Galicia fixture on Rally Sur do Condado (12-13 July).

More information here.

Italian Junior Rally Championship

The San Marino Rally hosted round three of the Italian Junior Rally Championship, the second gravel event on the calendar. Mattia Ricciu and co-driver Marco Corda battled with Matteo Doretto and Marco Frigo throughout the weekend to snatch victory from them on the final stage by 1.3 seconds. It is the Sardinia native’s first success in the category, with the service park made entirely of Clio Rally5s prepared by Motorsport Italia. Marco Zanin and Fabio Pizzol completed the podium. Matteo Doretto still leads in the general classification before the competitors return to the tarmac on Rally di Roma Capitale (26-28 July).

More information here.

Belgian Rally Championship

Renault shined on one of the most challenging rounds on the Belgian calendar, the Ardeca Ypres Rally. Clio Rally3 won on the tarmac with Olivier Decoene and François Geerlandt in RC3, while Clio Rally5 monopolised the top four places in RC5, with Thomas Martens and Eddy Smeets winning by just half a second from Benoit Verlinde and Bert Feys. Filip Pyck and Michael Grave won overall in the Second Division in their Clio Rally3, while Joachim Dequeker and Jonas Vanderhaeghe won the RC5 in their Clio Rally5.

Danish Rally Championship

Clio Rally3 and Clio Rally5 also performed at the highest level in Denmark at the Mascot Rally Herning. The four-wheel drive model finished seventh overall and won its class in the hands of Carsten Jensen and Michael Fasterholdt in the season’s third round. Meanwhile, Clio Rally5 scored two top-ten finishes overall and a lockout of the top four in RC5 led by Oliver Sørensen and Frederik Bülow Glad.

Dutch Rally Championship

Round three of the Dutch Rally Championship saw Clio Rally3 claim the top four places in RC3 in the Acon-Van der Spek Vechtdal Rally, led by Ceriel Klein Kromhof and Marcel Hanstede, who also won the Dutch Clio Trophy. The model also claimed a double top-ten finish, competing with the best Rally2 cars on the national scene. Clio Rally4 and Clio Rally5 also won their respective classes, with the duos of Maurice Kuijstermans—Daan Tijink and Nard Ippen—Mark Bierbooms.

Romanian Rally Championship

Eliott Delecour claimed his third consecutive victory in the Clio Rally5 competition in the Romanian national championship. Co-driven by his mother, Priscilla, the Frenchman also won in the RC5 class ahead of Ciprian Lupu and Andrei Aițculesei. He also finished third in the front-wheel-drive and Junior categories, ahead of several higher-category crews at Raliul Clujului.

French Rally Cup

There were also numerous successes in France. Clio Rally3 and Clio Rally5 won their respective classes on the Rallye des Bornes, with Thomas Battaglia - Marc Della-Pina and Bastien Bouverat - Bastien Duc, respectively. The Rallye de l’Huveaune saw the same double success, with David Sauvaigo - Florian Chardon and Loïc Scandola - Bastien Scandola. Meanwhile, Clio Rally4 and Clio Rally5 won the Rallye des Vins de Chinon et du Véron, with Eric Mauduit - Johan Lacote and Antoine Bordagaray - Alan Autegarden. Lastly, Clio Rally5 won with Jérémy Lafarge and Adélie Terrier on the Brionnais Rally, Antoine Gerenton and Valentin Rix on the Haute Vallée de la Loire Rally, Quentin Dumoulin and Solène Piagno on the Sidobre Rally and Yassine Bangui and Irchade Mollan on the Salazie Rally.

French Junior Rallycross Championship

Valentin Lumet took his third victory of the season with Clio RX in the French Junior Rallycross Championship. Threatened by team-mate Kelig Gouesbet early in the meeting, the driver from Loire-Atlantique struck hard in the finals to win and establish himself as the title favourite. Already second in Lessay, Kelig Gouesbet remains in contention, while Mélanie Lefrançois scored her first podium finish ahead of Ilona Bertapelle and Florian Alemany. The next round will be at Pont-de-Ruan (6-7 July).

More information here.

And elsewhere…

Clio Rally3 won in Italy with a class victory for Andrea Bernardi and Chiara Battistelli on Rally Coppa Valtellina, where Andrea De Nunzio and Alessandro Rossi also won with Clio Rally5. Meanwhile, Clio Rally4 excelled in Italy with Alessandro Balletti and Laura Bottini on Rally Val d’Aveto, where Gabriele Ghiglione and Anna Gamenara also led Clio Rally5 to success. Clio Rally4 was equally impressive on the Spanish tarmac of Rally Ciudad de Telde in the hands of Alejandro Martín and Armando Rivero. Lastly, Clio Rally5 dictated the pace with Marek and Tomáš Štuksa in the RC5 class on the ADAC Labertal Rally (Germany), Horacio Cánepa and Ricardo Figueroa on Rally Matahuasi (Peru) and Andrés Molina and Marcelo Leon on the Mega Rally El Oro (Ecuador).

Coming up

This weekend, three Clio Rally3s will contest the seventh round of the FIA World Rally Championship, Rally Poland. Matteo Chatillon and Maxence Cornuau will target a third WRC3 podium. At the same time, the crews of Gracjan Predko - Michał Jurgała and Hubert Kowalczyk - Jarosław Hryniuk will be keen to impress on home soil.