World Rally Championship

Three official Clio Rally3s lined up at the Rally de Portugal. Early leaders Matteo Chatillon and Maxence Cornuau were on the provisional WRC3 podium before their momentum was halted in the final leg. Leading the championship before the start, Arthur Pelamourgues and Bastien Pouget also showed good pace despite several setbacks. Lastly, Tom Pellerey and Hervé Faucher posted promising times on their WRC debut and overcame several challenges to finish tenth in WRC3.

Tom Pellerey : "This rally promised to be tricky, with the opening leg featuring 11 special stages. We had a fairly sensible plan to look after the car and see where we stood before tackling the rest of such a long event, which was a first for us. Everything was going well until we suffered a series of setbacks and had a difficult night to manage, with minimum visibility due to the dust. We decided to play it safe before moving up the order on Saturday. We were regaining fourth place before a frustrating breakdown. We restarted on Sunday to rack up some mileage and continue our learning process. We are still taking away some positives : the performance was fine when everything was going well, and we gained valuable experience for the future. Now, it is time to prepare for Sardinia, bounce back and keep moving forward."

Arthur Pelamourgues : "Right from the first special stages, we were surprised by our performance on this surface, taking the lead on stages already on the route last year. It was super encouraging, but mechanical issues made the rest of the day extremely challenging, and I eventually made a mistake. On Saturday, we started quickly before managing our pace to ensure we racked up the kilometres. On Sunday, we enjoyed the legendary Fafe stage a little longer than expected, with an unscheduled stop to change a part. It was an intense rally, but stepping out of our comfort zone is always enjoyable and formative. We’re leaving with the same determination to perform and, above all, the conviction that the car has what it takes to win ! The team was incredible once again, and the dream continues !"

Matteo Chatillon : "It’s incredibly frustrating as we were running at a measured pace, one that was ideally suited to the difficulty and demands of this long and gruelling rally. Everything was going perfectly until Sunday morning. We were in control , sitting comfortably in second place and pulling away from our pursuers. It was truly encouraging, but a technical failure made our retirement inevitable. It’s frustrating because we were in contention for big points. We would have liked to bring home a good result for the entire team but also for Arthur and Tom, who fought hard despite their misadventures. The championship is getting complicated, but everything is still to play for, and we had a strong weekend until our misfortune."

After overcoming numerous challenges, Takumi Matsushita and Pekka Kelander finished sixth in WRC3, while Clio Rally5 secured its 29th WRC victory with Italy’s Paolo Raviglione and Giacomo Ciucci.

French Rally Championship

Clio Rally3 enjoyed better luck on home turf, with Denmark’s Jacob Leutenberger Madsen and Line Nedergaard scoring a Rally3 clean sheet at Rallye Antibes Côte d’Azur. Second in the class with Clio Rally3, Allison Viano and Mallaury Sola impressed on home soil, winning in the French Women’s Rally Championship and securing a podium finish in the Michelin Premium Trophy. Clio Rally4 was not to be outdone, with Julien Bregeon and Amélie Arrivé finishing runner-up in Rally4 and the Michelin Amateurs Trophy. At the same time, Clio Rally5 continued its dominance in Rally5 with Pascal and Caroline Bérard.

More information here.

Belgian Rally Championship

Round three of the Belgian calendar, the Sezoensrally, went well for the Clio Rally range. Leading from start to finish in RC3, Gunther Monnens and Kris Jehoul made a perfect debut with the Clio Rally3, finishing eighth overall and leading a sweep of the top four in its class. Meanwhile, Lény Cols and Pascal Lopes put in a solid performance in their Clio Rally5 to win RC5 and the Junior and BRC Trophy classes. Making their debut in the event with the Clio Rally5 in RACB National Team colours, Thyrsa Eertmans and Justine Demeestere won the Lady Cup.

More information here.

ARA National Championship

Clio Rally3 took another podium finish in the ARA National Championship with Sean Donnelly and Zach Pfeil at the Oregon Trail Rally. On the special stages around Dufur and Goldendale, the American duo was the best-performing Rally3 crew and finished runner-up in L4WD and LN4. Thanks to this strong result, they now sit sixth in the championship, retake the lead in LN4 and move up to second place in the National Pirelli Privateer Cup at the midway point of the season.

French Rally Cup

In France, Clio Rally3, Clio Rally4 and Clio Rally5 all won their respective classes at Rallye du Printemps de Bords, with Alexis Birard and Théo Maurice, Thierry Landais and Kelly Ruchaud, and Antoine Bordagaray and Antoine Loiseau. Clio Rally3 and Clio Rally5 also dominated the competition at Rallye du Val d’Ance with the duos Gérard Delorme - Sophie Bert and Christophe Monnin - Marc-Emilien Choudey, as well as at the Rallye de Mézidon Vallée d’Auge with Arnaud Gautier - Édouard Dubos and Ludovic Germain - Christophe Reboursiere.

Meanwhile, Clio Rally4 secured a podium finish overall and a class victory with Sébastien and Nicolas Blondel at Rallye de la Vallée du Loir, where Clio Rally5 also enjoyed success with Willy Mathey and Nelly Guillé. Lastly, Clio Rally5 also set the pace with Rudy and Tylan Bollud at Rallye de la Matheysine, Frédéric Aizier and Ophélie Beluche at Rallye Ajolais, Benjamin Herail and Quentin Monteillet at Rallye du Val Dadou and Enzo Mavounzy and Matthieu Belhacene at Rallye de la Canne.

And elsewhere…

In Cyprus, Andreas Psaltis and Andreas Chrysostomou finished third overall in the Finikoudes Larnaca Rally, winning the RC3 class ahead of their countrymen Michalis Posedias and Savvas Laos, who finished fourth overall.

In Italy, Clio Rally3 took the top step of the overall podium at Rally degli Abeti e dell’Abetone while winning its class with Alessandro Ciardi and Alessandro Tondini. On the same special stages, Clio Rally5 dominated its class with Maicol Noti and Sandro Sanesi and the U25 category with Filippo Tonarelli and David Castiglioni. At Rally della Valle Intelvi, the crews of Ludwig Zigliani - Sara Montavoci, Loris Buttiglione - Debora Fancoli and Alyssa Anziliero - Maurizio Barone won the Rally3, Rally5 and Women’s categories, respectively. Last but not least, Mikko Nevalainen and Petri Silvennoinen finished in the top five overall and on the RC3 podium in their Clio Rally3 at Rallybaron Mäntsälä Ralli (Finland).