Finnish Rally Championship

Clio Rally3 swept the top eight places at the season opener at SM Ralli Mikkeli. With five stage wins out of seven stages on snow, the model won the SM2 class with Japanese driver Rio Ogata and his Finnish co-driver Mikael Korhonen. Sixth overall, they finished ahead of the duos Kanta Yanaguida - Ville Mannisenmäki and Pekka Keski-Korsu - Hannu Lamminen. Clio Rally3 also won the Masters class with Mikko Nevalainen and Petri Silvennoinen, whilst Clio Rally4 also set the fastest time on SS5 in the SM3 class with Oskari Sokka and Aino Riipinen.

French Rally Cup

Clio Rally4 and Clio Rally5 excelled in France with a double win at Rallye des Images. Sylvain Fouteret and Christophe Bertrand won in RC4 in their Clio Rally4 and finished just outside the top ten overall. Meanwhile, Maxence Potard and Albin Goutry-André, who finished fifteenth overall, led a lockout of the top seven in RC5 in their Clio Rally5.

Coming up

This week, attention shifts to the Monte Carlo Rally. 2018 Clio R3T European Trophy Alps winner Olivier Courtois will compete with his co-driver Hubert Risser with Clio Rally3, as will Poland’s Błażej Gazda and Michał Jurgała. Three crews will also attempt to extend the Clio Rally5’s unbeaten run in the event. Meanwhile, Lebanon’s Shadi El Fakih and Joseph Kmeid will target another victory with the Clio Rally5 in the Middle East Rally Championship at the Oman International Rally. Other models will also be competing, notably at the Rally Alūksne, which marks the start of the Estonian and Latvian Championships.

📸 Taneli Niinimäki / AKK