World Rally Championship

Clio Rally5 scored its 26th world championship victory with Dimitris Parellis and Andreas Papandreou at the EKO Acropolis Rally Greece. The Cypriots, who already won there in 2023, did so again by avoiding the hazards of an event hard on both body and machine. The ‘Rally of Gods’ also saw Greece’s Efthimios Halkias and Nikos Komnos put in the best performance of the Clio Rally3s, finishing seventh in WRC3 and eighth in RC3.

French Rally Championship

Back on the scene of their Clio Trophy France Asphalte title, Benjamin and Florence Stirling claimed their third consecutive win and fourth podium in as many outings with the official Castrol Clio Rally3. The Sébastien Loeb Racing crew completed a grand slam, leading a sweep of the top four in the Rally3 class. After this successful weekend on his 28th birthday, Benjamin Stirling will complete his programme next month at the Critérium des Cévennes (24-26 October).

Benjamin Stirling : "We were looking forward to Mont-Blanc, where we won the Clio Trophy France Asphalte title last year. We had tried a different set-up given the profile of the stages, and we were comfortable at the shakedown despite the rainy conditions. The early stages weren’t completely dry, but we had every confidence in Clio Rally3 and really enjoyed ourselves. We went a bit harder when the sun came out, which was even more fun. The car was demonic, more than perfect and beyond reproach. The Critérium des Cévennes will mark the end of the season. Even if there will be a tinge of sadness, we can’t wait to see how formidable Clio Rally3 will be on slightly more technical roads."

Clio Trophy France Asphalte

Arthur Pelamourgues, who led the general classification heading to the Rallye Mont-Blanc Morzine, won on all fronts in the Alps. Co-driven by Bastien Pouget, the 24-year-old from Rodez edged out a trio of crews that was covered by just two seconds at the finish to claim his second victory of the season. With this success, Arthur Pelamourgues has mathematically secured the crown, the title in the Juniors category, and an official programme in 2025. Four teams will compete to service his future car in the Cévennes (24-26 October).

More information here.

Belgian Rally Championship & Clio Trophy Belgium

Clio Trophy Belgium title holders Lander Depotter and Jasper Maelfait confirmed their potential in finishing seventh in the official Castrol Renault Clio Rally3 on the Omloop van Vlaanderen. The 21-year-old Belgian mixed it up with the fastest Rally2 drivers, and won his category nearly seven minutes ahead of his closest rival with a drive which earned him the Michelin Star of the Weekend distinction.

The race to succeed him also continued in Flanders. On a route made tricky by showers, Leny Cols and Pascal Lopes became the third different winners from three rallies this season at the end of a finale full of developments both on and off the stages. Victorious ahead of the duo of Jo Muylle - Dries Deprez and Lyssia Baudet - Léa Sam-Caw-Freve, Leny Cols takes the lead in the trophy heading into the East Belgian Rally (28 September).

Lander Depotter : "Saturday was drier and, logically, we were a bit down on power to the Rally2 competitors in these conditions. However, seventh place is magnificent. We had a lot of fun with Clio Rally3. As on the Rallye de Wallonie, the car was a pleasure to drive."

More information here.

Clio Trophy Spain Asfalto

The Rally Princesa de Asturias hosted the penultimate round of the Clio Trophy Spain Asfalto season. Of the 11 crews entered, Juan Carlos Fernández and co-driver Óscar Arranz claimed their second victory of the year ahead of the duo of Sergio Fuentes - Ariday Bonilla and their rivals Javier Cañada - Aday Ortiz, who finished third despite suffering a puncture early on. The Madrid-born driver now has a ten-point lead over the chase group led by Javier Cañada ahead of the season finale on Rallye La Nucía (8-9 November).

More information here.

German Rally Championship

The seventh and final round of the calendar, the ADAC Ostsee Rally saw Clio Rally3 put in an impressive performance, with Carsten Mohe and Clara Bettge finishing fourth overall. The German duo secured fifth place in the championship, their first outside Rally2. Despite retiring, Simon Andersson and Jörgen Jönsson finished third in the two-wheel drive category this season and won the Pirelli Junior Cup. Lastly, Michael Sørensen and Bo Mølgaard Jensen led Clio Rally5 to victory in RC5.

Danish Rally Championship

Round five of the season, the Rally Vestjylland saw Clio Rally3 win the RC3 category in the hands of Carsten Jensen and Michael Fasterholdt. Eighth overall, the crew also moved up to second in the championship while securing the RC3 title. Meanwhile, Clio Rally5 locked out the top four in RC5, led by Jacob Egholm and Sarah Haulrik, who are now in an ideal position to claim the RC5 and U28 national crowns.

French Rally Cup

In France, Clio Rally3 and Clio Rally5 won on Rallye Le Béthunois with the duos Antoine Dhaisne - Rémi Calonne and Frédéric Perrard - François Gilbert. Clio Rally5 also amassed successes with Julien Charnay - Charlotte Baille on the Rallye du Picodon, Maxence Girard - Théo Mourot on the Rallye du Plateau Lévitien, Pierre-Marie Lacroix and David Labatut on the Rallye du Cantal, Jean-Michel Duché - Damien Gouin on the Rallye de Sauveterre and Émeric and Sylvia Pollet on the Rallye de la Vésubie.

And elsewhere…

In Italy, Renault Clio scored a hat-trick of wins on the tarmac of the Rally del Rubinetto with victories for Mauro Zappettini - Davide Oberti (Rally3), Michael Rendina - Veronica Modolo (Rally4 and Juniors) and Alessandro Corsini - Mauro Grossi (Rally5). Clio Rally3 also won in Poland with Hubert Kowalczyk and Dawid Potępa on the TurboJulita Rally and claimed a double podium in Portugal with Nuno and Danny Carreira on the Templários Rally Classic.

Clio Rally4 also impressed with Hélder Pestana and Jorge Gonçalves winning P2-4 at the Rampa Regional da Ribeira Brava (Portugal), while José Miguel López Mañas and Miguel Montoya Parra led a one-two finish in Rally4 at Rallycrono Indamóvil Ciudad de Énix (Spain).

Lastly, Clio Rally5 struck hard, with Erik and Noemi Sindermann finishing third overall on Autohaus Sindermann Rallyesprint Hünstein (Germany) and class wins for Martin and František Končal on Rally Vyškov (Czech Republic) and Marco Mori and Emanuele Dinelli on Rally di Casciana Terme (Italy).

Coming up

This week, the Clio Cup Series heads to the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya for Round 7. The weekend will host the season finale of the Clio Cup España, the third meeting of the Clio Cup Italia and the penultimate round of the Clio Cup Mid-Europe. Also on the circuits, the Clio Cup GB will begin the second half of its season at Donington. On the rally front, the Clio Trophy Spain Tierra will compete on Rally Ciudad de Granada, the Clio Trophy Portugal on Rally da Água and the Italian Junior Rally Championship, with its service park made up entirely of Clio Rally5s prepared by Motorsport Italia, on Rally 1000 Miglia.