European Rally Championship

Just three weeks after their Clio Rally3 debut at Rallye Le Touquet Pas-de-Calais, Lucas Zielinski and Ewen Leenhardt were back in action in the official car serviced by David Auto Compétition, tackling their first European event at Rally Sierra Morena.

Showing strong pace from the opening stage on Friday evening, the crew maintained focus and discipline to hold the lead throughout. With Michelin’s new 17-inch tyres, used for the first time in the FIA ERC, they claimed five stage wins to win by 33.2s among the 16 ERC3 competitors. Austrians Maximilian Lichtenegger and Bernhard Ettel also reached the podium in a Clio Rally3.

Clio Rally4 also secured podium finishes in both ERC4 and ERC Masters with Petr Turkin and Vasily Mirkotan. At the same time, Francisco Javier Vázquez Sánchez and María Jesus Cabalga Pérez claimed RC5 victory in their Clio Rally5.

Lucas Zielinski : “This first outing on the European scene was extremely rewarding. Ewen and I learnt a great deal, particularly understanding how Clio Rally3 works on very abrasive tarmac that offered plenty of grip. We were up against a very strong field of experienced competitors, well-prepared crews and the young drivers from the Fiesta Trophy. That makes this victory all the more satisfying. We took the lead right from the start and held onto it throughout the rally. Mentally, the work we did this winter helped us stay in our bubble despite the pressure, as was the case on the opening special stage, when the atmosphere in the town centre was quite intense. We felt very comfortable in the car. The David Auto Compétition team and the Alpine Racing engineer provided us with the ideal conditions to compete at this level and fulfil our potential. The new Michelin tyres were also key. We were impressed by the performance, durability and grip of the H1 on this rather demanding terrain. This gave us the confidence to manage and pace our efforts without taking excessive risks. This event confirmed that we are competitive in such an environment. We came here hoping to achieve a good result ; we succeeded, and we are already looking forward to revealing the rest of our programme.”

CODASUR Rally Championship

Lucas Zielinski and Ewen Leenhardt were not the only ones to lead Renault Clio to success on the continental level. In South America, Luigi Contin and Cecilia Cedrés were victorious in their Clio Rally4 round two of the season, the Rally Sudamericano Mina Clavero. On the Argentinian roads, the duo won seven of the ten special stages contested to dominate the field of 15 crews in the CODASUR4 and CO4 categories. Renault extends its deepest condolences to the families and friends affected by the tragic accident that struck the event.

Clio Rally5 Challenge Portugal

The gravel stages of Rali Terras d’Aboboreira marked the start of the Clio Rally5 Challenge, where Luís Caetano and co-driver David Monteiro secured their first victory in a Clio Rally5, finishing 19.5s ahead of the duo of Miguel Carvalho and António Reis. The podium was completed by Henrique Silva and Fábio Ribeiro. Meanwhile, in RC3, Clio Rally3 achieved a hat-trick led by Jarkko Nikara and Tomiya Maekawa. After this demanding round, competitors will next take to the tarmac at Rally de Lisboa (29–30 May).

More information here.

French Rally Championship

The Clio Rally range also shone in the French Rally Championship at Rallye Rhône Charbonnières. Transfers from Clio Trophy France Asphalte, Anthony Diel and Yannis Gosselin triumphed on home turf in their Clio Rally4 in the Michelin Amateurs Trophy. Winners of the Clio Full Challenge, Christophe and Barbara Truchet led a sweep of the top seven for Clio Rally5, finishing ahead of the pairs Léo Véricel and Enzo Forissier, and Pascal and Caroline Bérard.

French Rally Cup

Clio Rally3 and Clio Rally5 impressed at Rallye de la Lys : Théau Poiriez and Margot Delnieppe finished in the top five overall, while Rémy Morin and Sébastien Duthoit took a category victory. Meanwhile, on the regional scene, Clio Rally3 secured a podium finish overall at Rallye des Côteaux du Layon with Antoine Bordagaray and Alan Autegarden, and Jonathan Halopeau and Maëva Perrinaud led a Clio Rally5 lockout of the top nine in RC5. At Rallye Mouzon-Frézelle, Clio Rally3 and Clio Rally5 also triumphed, with Fabrice Martin and Coralie Darras finishing fourth overall, alongside Frédéric Aizier and Ophélie Beluche. Lastly, Guillaume Lambert and David Navarro scored a class win in their Clio Rally5 at Rallye des Vins du Gard.

German Rally Cup

At round five of the Deutscher Rallye Cup, Daniel and Sandra Wittner drove their Clio Rally5 to victory in the RC5 class on the tarmac stages of the ADAC-KW Ostalbrallye. Around Abtsgmünd, the duo finished ahead of the similar models driven by the crews of Reiner Ernst and Alexander Ernst, and Julian Birtel and Colin Peter, in an all-Renault one-two-three.

And elsewhere

In Italy, Clio Rally3 and Clio Rally5 set the pace with the crews of Giacomo Guglielmini and Andrea Sarti (Rally3), Alessandro Forneris and Vincenzo Torricelli (Rally5), and Arianna Doriguzzi Breatta and Elena Sica (Women’s) at Rallye Elba. The models also secured victories with Matteo Solis and Christian Trivellato, and Nicolò Ciancia Mercandino and Giuliano Santi at Rally Vigneti Monferrini. Finally, Andrea Zanon and Giuseppe Cogo steered the Clio Rally5 to victory at the Paganella Rally.

Clio Rally4 secured victory with the Dutch duo of John Coumans and Arno de Jonge at Rallye Salamandre (Belgium), as well as with Jordi Nualart and Dani Rivera at the Ral.li Rocafort de Vallbona (Spain). Clio Rally5 triumphed in the Juniors category with Luca Andrei Racoviță and Teodor-Gabriel Găină at Trofeul Sărata Monteoru (Romania). Lastly, Marco Lorenzo Crespo and José Ángel Fente Gómez secured a podium finish in their Clio Rally5 at Rali Noia (Spain).