Finnish Rally Championship

Clio Rally3 scored its second podium finish in the Finnish Rally Championship on the Arctic Lapland Rally. Jooa Iivari and Jaakko Jäntti set the fastest time in their category on five of the twelve stages and finished second in SM2, 0.8s behind the winning crew. Always on the podium finisher since his debut with Clio Rally3, the 18-year-old is now second in his class in the championship. Meanwhile, Britain’s Robert Woodside and Dean Beckett were also in action with Clio Rally3, as were Belgium’s Thomas Martens and Eddy Smeets, who finished fifth in SM3 with Clio Rally4.

Indonesian Rallysprint Championship

Clio Rally3 debuted in Indonesia with two cars competing in the Kejuaraan Sprint Rally. Egon Irsan and co-driver Gerry Rosanto finished fifth overall, runners-up in H2 and winners in NS. Clio Rally3 actually claimed a double podium finish on its first appearance in Bali as Riezka Donalsha and Bani Adityasuny took third place in the H2 category in round one of the season.

French Rally Cup

After two campaigns with Clio Rally4 and Clio Rally5, Allison Viano debuted behind the wheel of a Clio Rally3 at the Rallye Pays des Maures. Three-time French Women’s Rally Champion won her category with co-driver Mallaury Sola on the tarmac of the Var region. Meanwhile, Bruno Riberi and Florian Haut-Labourdette led a one-two finish for Clio Rally5 in their class, winning by 12.5s from Julien Labonde and Emma Bonnemort after a fierce battle right up to the final kilometres.

And elsewhere…

Clio Rally5 was also victorious this weekend in Romania with Sorin Huțanu and Andrei Pădure, winners in RC5 and 20th overall in the Winter Rally Covasna in their first outing with the model.

Coming up

Postponed by a week, round three of the Clio Ice Trophy will take place this Saturday 10 February at the Pas de la Casa Circuit, with 16 competitors lining up, including overall leader Antonio Otero from Spain. Meanwhile, the Clio Cup Middle East will conclude at Yas Marina (9-11 February). Already crowned in the Challengers category, Mexico’s Eduardo Miranda will attempt to succeed Jerzy Spinkiewicz, but Stanislav Novikov and Ilya Sidorov still hope to wrest the crown from him while battling for top honours in the Gentlemen Drivers category.

Photos : Taneli Niinimäki / AKK (1), LFN Sederhana Motorsport (2), Quentin Ribaud Photographie (3)