FIA European Rally Championship

Clio Rally3 scored a new European podium result on Rally Silesia. Hubert Kowalczyk and Jarosław Hryniuk were consistent on home soil in the final round of the FIA ERC calendar, finishing second in ERC3 and fifth in the final general classification, having contested just three of the season’s eight events. Thanks to his performance, Hubert Kowalczyk finished seventh in the Polish Rally Championship and was crowned class 3 champion. Meanwhile, Błażej Gazda and Maciej Mikuliszyn Clio Rally4 finished on the two-wheel-drive podium in their Clio Rally4, while Romanians Ciprian Lupu and Andrei Aițculesei won in RC5 with their Clio Rally5.

Clio Trophy Portugal

Danny Carreira became the first driver to register his name on the Clio Trophy Portugal honours list with victory on the Rallye Vidreiro Centro de Portugal. Co-driven by Marco Vilas Boas, he was quickest on seven of the nine stages to claim the title ahead of Gil Antunes, who had briefly taken the lead after SS4, and Pedro Pereira Jr. The event also saw Gonçalo Henriques take his second consecutive national two-wheel drive crown, winning both the category and the Junior category with Clio Rally4 and co-driver Inês Veiga.

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Uruguayan Rally Championship

Clio Rally5 had already scored several podium finishes, and the 2024 Uruguayan Rally Championship saw Clio Rally4 take its turn on the overall podium. Driven by Luigi Contin and Cecilia Cedrés, the model claimed third place on the Rally Sierras del Yerbal, the penultimate round of the calendar. The team won the RC4N class ahead of Federico Quintela and Joaquín Varela, the leaders of a Clio Rally5 sweep of the top four in the RC4 Light category.

French Rally Cup

In France, Clio Rally3 and Clio Rally5 won on the Rallye Centre Alsace, with Nicolas Miclo and Benjamin Stirling finishing sixth place overall and first in Rally3. At the same time, Yoan Corberand and Juliette Hamel led a Clio Rally5 lockout of the top five in their class. Dorian Deslandes - Marc Haddad won with their Clio Rally4, as did the Clio Rally5 duo of Sébastien Alemany - Emma Alemany on the Rallye des Boucles de Seine. Thomas Vergines - Joris Sinet and Eric Sauteur - Camille Couttier did the same on the Rallye Vallée de l’Homme Périgord Noir. Clio Rally5 was also victorious on the Rallye des Bauges with Nicolas Paviet-Roche and Tony Ponsot, the Rallye du Montbrisonnais with Emilien and Thomas Blanc and the Rallye du Midi Toulousain with Charles Pujol and Julien Aoufi.

And elsewhere…

Clio Rally3 claimed the podium’s second step in the Finnish Rally Cup with Jussi Lindberg, who debuted in the car at the Hakevuori Ralli with co-driver Toni Nuikka. Clio Rally5 also added to its list of successes, with Tim Wacker and Luca Kiefer winning their class on the ADAC Stäubli Rallye Fränkische Schweiz (Germany), as did Tomáš Večerka and Michal Cibulka on the Herbst Rally (Austria) and Adrián José and Yeray Vargas de La Rosa on the Rally de La Vendimia (Spain). There was also success in Italy, with Luca Volontè and Elisa Imarisio winning in their Clio Rally5 and Nazan Zorlu and Ozhan Ciplak taking victory in the Women’s category on the Trofeo Villa d’Este ACI Como.

Coming up

This week, the 2024 Clio Cup Series draws to a close at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza. While Italian Gabriele Torelli and his Rangoni Corse have sealed their titles, the Junior, Challengers and Gentlemen crowns are still up for grabs. The four Clio Cup Italia titles will also be decided this weekend.

On the rally front, three Clio Rally3s will be on the starting grid for the Rally of Central Europe with the duos Matteo Chatillon - Maxence Cornuau, Hermann Gaßner Jr - Michael Wenzel and Timo Weigert - Jasmin Weigert. In addition, the Clio Trophy Spain Tierra will conclude its season at Rally RACC Catalunya, the Clio Trophy Galicia at Rally San Froilán and the Italian Junior Rally Championship, with its grid made up entirely of Clio Rally5s prepared by Motorsport Italia will be in action at Rally Sanremo.

Clio RX will also crown a new champion in the season finale of the French Junior Rallycross Championship at Dreux, with a thrilling duel at the summit between favourite Valentin Lumet and rival Kelig Gouesbet.