French Gravel Rally Championship

Clio Rally3 won its class on the Rallye Terre de Lozère with Simon and Yves Heinemann. Guillaume Tardy was the early leader, battling with Julien Pontal, but both lost valuable time on the first run through Allenc. Simon Heinemann emerged in the lead, and the Fun Meca Sport driver then withstood Julien Pontal’s attacks to take the win. Michaël Lobry rounded off a podium finish monopolised by Clio Rally3, which proved unfailingly reliable on extremely rough terrain, with all seven of the crews entered reaching the finish.

Simon Heinemann : ’’This win is incredibly satisfying, especially as we debuted with Clio Rally3 at this same rally last year. I didn’t expect to be at this level after my crash at Castine. I was pleased with myself and made the most of Guillaume’s puncture and Julien’s small mistake to take the lead. I pushed harder in the final stages to defend our position, and we’re thrilled with the result. Clio Rally3 is simply brilliant and a pleasure to drive, especially on this rally where you can ’throw it around’ on stages like Allenc and Le Born."

Clio Trophy France Terre

Also on the Rallye Terre de Lozère, the crew of Tom Pellerey and Hervé Faucher became the first two-time winners this season in Clio Trophy France Terre. Despite the challenges of a highly demanding course, the CHL Sport Auto crew mathematically secured the Junior category title and an official programme in 2025. Second-place finishers Benjamin Boulenc and Chloé Barozzi-Gauze are now the only ones who can deny them the overall crown. Alexandre Gransagne and Loïc Maurel took their maiden podium.

More information here.

Clio Trophy Spain Tierra

The Clio Trophy Spain Tierra was also in action at the Rallye Terre de Lozère to include a foray into France on its calendar. Lacking success this year in the Clio Trophy France Terre, Baptiste Panissié and Gaël Lavernhe got back on form in the Spanish trophy. The Frenchmen won ahead of the Jordi Nualart - David Fernández duo and the Aritz Iriondo - Joseba Sánchez crew, who still lead the general classification ahead of RallyRACC Catalunya - Costa Daurada (18-19 October).

More information here.

Clio Trophy Portugal

Pedro Pereira Jr followed in the footsteps of Gil Antunes and Danny Carreira to become the third different winner in as many rounds in the Clio Trophy Portugal history. Co-driven by Tiago Silva, the driver from Mealhada won at the Constalica Rallye Vouzela e Viseu by 15.3s over Gil Antunes and 29.8s over Nuno Coelho. This victory sees him move to the top of the general classification, where the leading trio is covered by just 12 points, heading to the Rally da Água-Transibérico Eurocidade Chaves-Verín (13-14 September).

More information here.

French Junior Rallycross Championship

Already a four-time winner this season, Valentin Lumet wasn’t trembling when claiming a prestigious victory at Lohéac. The driver from Varades dominated round six of the calendar to make up some ground on his teammate Kelig Gouesbet. The Breton scored his third runner-up result to remain the main threat to the leader. Karting transfer Dylan Léger claimed his first Clio RX podium ahead of Ilona Bertapelle. The next round will come from Mayenne on 21 and 22 September.

More information here.

French Rally Cup

Also in France, Clio Rally4 and Clio Rally5 racked up double wins on the Rallye Velay Auvergne for Roland and Virginie Bonnefoy (Rally4) and Antoine Gerenton - Valentin Rix (Rally5), the Rallye des Côtes de Lumière with Thomas Bordagaray - Antoine Loiseau and Antoine Bordagaray - Brice Ricou and the Rallye du Bocage with Dorian Deslandes - Léa Pustelnik and Chris Langé - Albane Lefranc-Laplanche. Clio Rally5 also won on the Rallye de Chartreuse with Italians Federico Gangi and Andrea Ferrari.

Ans elsewhere…

Renault Clio also excelled on the continental and national scenes. In the FIA NACAM Rally Championship, Gustavo Uriostegui and David Hernández won Rally5 on Rally Sierra Juárez (Mexico). In Ecuador, Clio Rally3 and Clio Rally5 won their categories with Alejandro Martínez - Andrés Carpio (RC3) and Abraham Feijoo - José Espinoza (RC5) on Rally Provincia de Loja. Clio Rally5 continued its fine form in Lebanon with another RC5 success for Shadi El Fakih and Samer Sfeir on the Rally of Lebanon. Reis Suliman and Alina Bianca Pop scored no fewer than five victories with Clio Rally5 at the Raliul Iașului (Romania).

Meanwhile, Clio Rally3 caused a sensation by winning overall with Carsten Mohe and Andrea Lieber at the ADMV Herkommer Kfz-Technik Rallye Grünhain (Germany). Clio Rally4 also dominated proceedings with Simon Andersson and Jim Nilsson at Lundasprinten (Sweden). Among the weekend’s other successes, Clio Rally5 won its class with Marco Barzan and Luca Altoè on Rally Piancavallo (Italy), Alessandro D’Avelli and Andrea Marzella on Rally Terra di Argil (Italy), António Veiga and Francisco Martins on Rali Município de Mesão Frio (Portugal) and Oliver Sørensen on Yokohama Mesterskab Øst 3 (Denmark).

Coming up

This week, four Clio Rally3s and one Clio Rally5 will compete in the EKO Acropolis Rally, round ten of the FIA World Rally Championship. At the same time, the Rallye Mont-Blanc Morzine will host the penultimate round of the Clio Trophy France Asphalte, with 38 crews present. Title holder Benjamin Stirling will be behind the wheel of the official Castrol Clio Rally3. His Belgian counterpart, Lander Depotter, will also be in action at the Omloop van Vlaanderen alongside the return of Clio Trophy Belgium. The Clio Trophy Spain Asfalto will begin its home stretch on the Rally Princesa de Asturias.