FIA World Rally Championship

Joosep Ralf Nõgene claimed Clio Rally3’s maiden WRC3 victory at the Tet Rally Latvia. Following their ERC3 podium finish on home soil the previous week, the 21-year-old Estonian and co-driver Aleks Lesk demonstrated once again their talent and the potential of their car to lead from start to finish in Latvia. The LightGreyTeam crew won 18 of 20 special stages to win by more than 19 minutes over their nearest rivals in this new round of the FIA World Rally Championship. Meanwhile, Belgians Thomas Martens and Eddy Smeets set seven fastest times in their Clio Rally4 in RC4, in which they were second before rolling on SS17.

Joosep Ralf Nõgene : "Latvia was a nice experience in an event where I’d competed before. It was only our second rally with Clio Rally3, so the main goal was to get as much mileage as possible, and I’m happy we could do that. The competition was, let’s say, a bit on the backfoot this weekend, but this should be my only WRC appearance this season. We’re still learning about the car, so the idea is to have a proper campaign next year."

Uruguayan Rally Championship

With its second overall double podium finish on Rally de Soriano, Clio Rally5 continues to cause a sensation on the Uruguayan national scene. On the gravel stages of the fourth round of the calendar, the crews of Alfonso López - Martín Villete and Rodrigo Fialho - Rodrigo Arbiza battled it out for RC4N honours while only being edged out by a car from a superior category in the general classification. Alfonso López and Martín Villete eventually took second place and the class win by 30.8s, while Federico Antunez and Pablo Bieito completed the RC4N podium and secured a third Clio Rally5 in the overall top four.

French Rally Cup

In France, Clio Rally3, Clio Rally4 and Clio Rally5 all won at the Rallye de Saintonge, with David Boissenin and Romain Depeux (Rally3), Frédéric Meurant and Kévin Aumeunier (Rally4) and Louis Quétier and Hugo Melin (Rally5). Meanwhile, Clio Rally3 and Clio Rally5 both won on the Rallye de Bagnols-les-Bains, with Gaël Tribouillois - Théo Ramondenc and Sylvain Rouquette - Marjorie Mercier, and on the Rallye de Matour with Thierry Cassard - Romain Gandré and Axel Delaporte - Clémence Marechal.

Clio Rally3 completed its string of successes with Mickaël Delrue and Camille Flajolet, sixth overall and class winners on the Rallye des Vallées Axonaises, where Clio Rally5 also won its class with Simon Salaun and Paul Dachicourt. Clio Rally4 and Clio Rally5 also won thier categories on the Rallye de la Drôme, with Gérard Delorme - Sophie Bert and Martin Paviet-Salomon - Camille Clément, respectively, while Pascal Donnadieu and Laurent Delmas dominated their class with Clio Rally5 on the Rallye de l’Écurie Région Elbeuf.

And elsewhere…

Clio Rally3 excelled in Spain, finishing third overall and taking class victory on the tarmac of Rallysprint Comarca Sur with Fernando Cruz Ramos and Juan Ricardo Luis Bautista. The Clio Rally4 of their countrymen Manuel Jesús Jiménez Olmo and Ignacio Paz also won its class on Rally Isla de Los Volcanes as part of the Spanish Gravel Rally Cup and the Canary Islands Gravel Rally Championship. Lastly, Clio Rally5 won on the Italian tarmac with Alessandro Corsini and Ismaele Barra on Rally Lana and on the Danish asphalt of the KOMO Rallysprint with an overall fourth place and victory in RS2 for Jacob Egholm and Sarah Haulrik.

Coming up

Ten Clio Rally5s will compete in the Italian Junior Rally Championship on the Rally di Roma Capitale this weekend. At this same event, the Clio Rally3s of Poland’s Hubert Kowalczyk and Bulgaria’s Aleksandar Tomov will contest the ERC3 while Italy’s Michael Rendina and Romania’s Ciprian Lupu will compete in the ERC4 with Clio Rally4 as part of the FIA European Rally Championship. The Italian will also participate in round five of the Italian Rally Championship. Meanwhile, Rally Ciudad de La Laguna will host the third round of the Clio Trophy Canarias while the Clio RXs in the French Junior Rallycross Championship will be in action at Kerlabo.