World Rally Championship

Italy’s Giovanni and Andrea Di Luigi secured Clio Rally5’s 30th world championship victory in RC5 at the Rally Italia Sardegna. The rough tracks of the Mediterranean island lived up to their reputation for the crews competing in Clio Rally3. After two stage wins and in contention for victory on their second start in WRC3, Tom Pellerey and Hervé Faucher were stopped by suspension damage. Meanwhile, Matteo Chatillon and Maxence Cornuau overcame several setbacks, but won three stages to return to the provisional podium before hitting an unmarked stopped car in the penultimate special stage. Lastly, Germany’s Timo and Jasmin Weigert exercised extra caution to finish fourth in WRC3.

Tom Pellerey : "We had planned our rally perfectly, aiming to put in some solid days and target the podium. Everything was going according to plan, and we could see that we were in a position to catch up with the leader. We set off again with a little more pace and made up most of the time lost in the split times in the special stage until we retired with our issue in SS10. It’s a bitter pill to swallow, but there is one positive point despite the disappointment : in only our second appearance in WRC3, we were battling at the front on terrain that our competitors knew well. That’s truly satisfying and confirms our potential. Let’s stay on course and keep moving forward. We’re sure the hard work will eventually pay off !"

Matteo Chatillon : "This weekend was challenging, and we went through a wide range of emotions. We knew this rally would be tough, but certainly not to this extent with a puncture, a technical issue and then a twisted subframe caused by a rock. Our rally never ran smoothly. We were frustrated but decided to go for it on Sunday. Things were going pretty well, with two stage wins to start the day, but unfortunately, we hit an unmarked stuck car in the third special stage. A Rally2 car just ahead of us had gone off and blocked a good part of the road. Unfortunately, nobody was there to warn us, and we hit it sideways with our right rear wheel. The impact broke the spindle, and our rally was over. It’s a huge disappointment, but we’re keeping our heads up knowing that we did nothing wrong."

Clio Trophy Galicia

Defending Clio Trophy Galicia champion Álvaro Castro returned to his winning ways at Rallye de Pontevedra. Co-driven by Ricardo Rey, the Spaniard avoided the hazards to finish ahead of Marco Lorenzo and Diego Gil, who secured their first podium finish. Leaders before a puncture late in the event, Guillermo Martínez and Nacho Sayans ultimately had to settle for third place. Buoyed by his success, Álvaro Castro regained the overall lead from Iván Vázquez, who finished fourth. The Rally Sur do Condado will host the next round on 11 and 12 July.

More information here.

Spanish Gravel Rally Championship

Also in Spain, Clio Rally5 triumphed on the national scene at Rallye Reino de León. On the gravel stages of round three of the season, Jordi Nualart and Daniel Rivera monopolised the best times in Class 3 to take victory and a fine 15th place overall. Julio Ramón and Bartomeu Vicens were well on their way to securing a one-two finish for the model before making a mistake on the final special stage of the rally.

Swiss Rally Championship

Round two of the Swiss calendar, the Rallye du Chablais, saw Clio Rally3, Clio Rally4 and Clio Rally5 triumph on the asphalt roads around Aigle. Jean-Yves Dayer and Laurent Nendaz won in RC3 in their Clio Rally3, while Cédric Moulin and Éric Bigler won the Michelin Alps Trophy for two-wheel drive cars and took third place in the Swiss Cup in their Clio Rally4. Lastly, Alain Rey and Estelle Coppex took top honours in the Swiss Junior Rally Championship and RC5 in their Clio Rally5.

Finnish Rally Cup

Clio Rally3 caused a sensation in round three of the Finnish Cup with a one-two finish. On the gravel stages of the Revontuliralli, Takumi Matsushita and Pekka Kelander emerged victorious from a thrilling battle to win by just under ten seconds ahead of the Clio Rally3 driven by Shotaro Goto and Jussi Lindberg. Clio Rally4 was not to be outdone, securing a class victory thanks to Jarkko Nikara and Tomiya Maekawa.

Greek Gravel Rally Cup

Following a double victory at the start of the season, Clio Rally3 repeated its success in round three at Rally Sprint Nafpliou. Cypriots Constantinos Sioferos and Kyros Georgiou set the pace and finished ahead of Dimitris Paleokostas and Andreas Vigkos at the end of a rally curtailed by forest fires.

French Rally Cup

Clio Rally4 and Clio Rally5 both triumphed at Rallye du Clain, with crews Thomas Bordagaray - Antoine Loiseau and Axel Guibert - Michaël Murzeau. Meanwhile, Clio Rally5 won its class with Axel Delaporte and Clémence Marechal at the Rallye Vins Mäcon, where Clio Rally4 also enjoyed podium success with Pierre Calegari and Maxime Jaffre. Clio Rally5 also won with Brice Droulin and Guillaume Tapias at Rallye du Laragnais.

And elsewhere…

Clio Rally3 secured another overall podium result in Finland, with Miikka Vuokila and Harri Kervinen coming third in the Metalli Järvelä Ralli. Clio Rally4 and Clio Rally5 excelled in Portugal at the Rali da Ribeira Brava with podium finishes in the two-wheel drive and RC4 categories for Emanuel Martins and Cristiano Freitas, as well as a podium sweep in RC5 led by André Freitas and Agostinho Bettencourt. Lastly, Martin and František Končal led another RC5 one-two-three result for Clio Rally5 at Rallye Plzeň (Czech Republic).