Clio Cup Series

Nicolas Milan and Felice Jelmini took a victory apiece in a field of 43 competitors at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola in the third meeting of the year. The Frenchman won ahead of Jerzy Spinkiewicz and David Pouget before Felice Jelmini won on home soil on Sunday, becoming the fourth different winner in six races in 2022.

With a pair of wins in Clio Cup Europe, Nicolas Milan is the new leader of the general classification ahead of Marc Guillot and Challengers Cup leader Jerzy Spinkiewicz. Stephan Polderman did the double in the Gentlemen Drivers Cup to take the lead in the category. Meanwhile, Felice Jelmini is the first leader in the Clio Cup Italia, ahead of Gabriele Torelli and Challenger Cristian Ricciarini. Lastly, Alex Lancellotti left Imola at the top of the Gentlemen Drivers Cup after sharing the victories with Vittorio Zadotti.

While Clio Cup Italia and Clio Cup Europe will return to the track in June, more than 40 drivers will be in action this week at Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours for a shared meeting among Clio Cup France, Clio Cup Spain and Clio Cup Eastern Europe !

More information on cliocup.fr

French Rally Championship

Clio Trophy France Terre title holder Quentin Ribaud contested the second round of his official Clio Rally4 programme at the Rallye Castine Terre d’Occitanie.

Demonstrating his progress immediately, the Frenchman won the first stage in the two-wheel drive category before settling into third place with two more top-three times in the opening leg. Despite a 1:50s-penalty for checking in late after emergency repairs on the road and a puncture that cost him more than a minute on Sunday, Quentin Ribaud, Mélissa Declerck and the Fun Meca Sport team regained third place in the last kilometres.

With his second consecutive podium, Quentin Ribaud is now trailing the French Two-Wheel Drive Gravel Rally Championship leader by only 11 points. Alpine Racing will renew its confidence in Quentin Ribaud by extending his initial programme with a third round at the Rallye Terre de Langres (22 -July 24), where he will seek to continue his progress.

Clio Trophy France Terre

Even more spectacular than the season-opener, round two of Clio Trophy France Terre offered many twists and turns ; on a treacherous and challenging Rallye Castine Terre d’Occitanie.

Florian Condamines and co-driver Damien Jole found the perfect balance in their approach to avoid the hazards and claim their first win with Clio Rally5 ahead of Florian Bouchonneau and Jeanne Rey ; who now leads an incredibly tight general classification. Tom Vauclare and Frédéric Vauclare completed the podium in their trophy debut ahead of Gentlemen duo Laurent Reuche and Jean Dériaz.

With two runner-up results in 2022, Junior Florian Bouchonneau takes the lead in the Clio Trophy France Terre ahead of Florian Condamines, Jean-Paul Monnin, Faniry Rasoamaromaka and Julien Pontal in a top-five covered by just 15 points. The crews will meet up on 22-24 July at Rallye Terre de Langres.

More information on cliorally.com

Italian Rally Championship

With the win on the Targa Florio, Andrea Mabellini continued his rise to prominence at the wheel of Clio Rally4. Supported by co-driver Virginia Lenzi, the Italian won an incredibly tough rally due to the weather conditions. Andrea Mabellini took the lead on SS2 and never looked back to claim the win with a 37.8s margin of victory. This victory, and third consecutive podium, see Andrea Mabellini and Virginia Lenzi take the lead in the Italian two-wheel drive Rally Championship.

And elsewhere…

In France, Maxime Braesch and Loïck André led Clio Rally5 to victory on Rallye Centre Alsace as part of the French Rally Cup and the Luxembourg Championship. Also on Rallye Centre Alsace, Clio Rally4 took a double podium with Fabrice Martin & Gabrielle Genet and Nicolas Miclo & Benjamin Stirling. Still in France, with Clio Rally5, Thomas Gaume & Armand Godard, Nicolas Paviet-Roche & Tony Ponsot and Antoine Dhaisne & Marine Flajolet won respectively the Lochois, Beaufortain and Routes du Nord rallies.

Edoardo De Antoni and Federico Raffetti led a one-two-three finish for Clio Rally5 on the Rally della Valpolicella in Italy. Silvio Nevischi and Luca Vitelli also won their category on the Rally Valdinievole e Montalbano. Meanwhile, Clio Rally4 and Clio Rally5 dominated their respective categories in Portugal, with Miguel Caires & João Miguel Sousa on Rali de Calheta and Joaquim Bernardes & Laurinda Alves on Rali de Santo Tirso.

In Germany, Nico Knacker and Enrico Flores-Trigo won the two-wheel drive category in the German Championship with Clio Rally4 and finished ninth overall on the Sulingen Rally. Clio Rally4 also excelled in the hands of Viliam Prodan & Zoran Raštegorac, who finished eighth in Rally Opatija and won among the competitors in the Croatian Championship.

Meanwhile, Unai de La Dehesa Martínez and Alain Peña Salvador took a second straight success on the Beca U24 RFEdA by winning the category initiated by the Spanish federation and aimed at the country’s young hopefuls on Rally da Auga with Clio Rally5. Lastly, Jaroslav Petráš and Petr Jindra won with Clio Rally5 in the RC5 category at Rally Šumava Klatovy (Czech Republic). Renault also scored other podium finishes in Belgium and Poland.

Coming up

This week, Clio Cup France, Clio Cup Spain, and Clio Cup Eastern Europe will come together at Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours (May 12-15), with more than 40 cars entered. Rally Adriatico (13-15 May) will host round two of the Italian Junior Rally Championship, with ten Clio Rally5s taking part.

Renault will also be the most represented brand on Rally Islas Canarias (May 12-14), the scene of round three of the FIA European Rally Championship season. Three Clio Rally4s, including two official entries driven by Anthony Fotia and Andrea Mabellini, will be there, as well as seven Clio Rally5s for round two of the Clio Trophy by Toksport WRT and 12 for the Clio Trophy Canarias debut.