FIA ERC

Third in Rally Hungary, Jean-Baptiste Franceschi and his Clio Rally4 remain in the running for the FIA ERC3 Junior title and are closing in on the FIA ERC3 crown.

The Toksport WRT driver put in a strong performance against two rivals from the FIA Junior WRC but conceded the lead after a spin in a fast section on Saturday afternoon. The Frenchman did not give up and climbed back to third place while his main rival in the championship retired. With his sixth consecutive podium in FIA ERC3 and fourth in a row in FIA ERC3 Junior, Jean-Baptiste Franceschi will aim for the double in the season-finale in the Canaries.

Meanwhile, Anthony Fotia finished an impressive fifth place despite a puncture that cost him over a minute on SS6. If not for this hiccup, the 2020 Clio Trophy France title-winner could have challenged for a podium result on his European debut with two RC4 stage wins in Hungary.

Next round: Rally Islas Canarias (18-20 November)

More information here.

Clio Trophy by Toksport WRT

The inaugural edition of the Clio Trophy by Toksport WRT had a spectacular finale with Italians Andrea Mabellini and Virginia Lenzi on Rally Hungary taking the crown.

Argentina’s Paulo Soria had tried his best to steal the crown from them, taking the lead on SS2 of this double points event and winning by a wide margin ahead of Ghjuvanni Rossi. After the early retirements of Bastien Bergounhe and Yigit Timur, Andrea Mabellini only had to maintain his position on the final day to secure the title against Paulo Soria and Ghjuvanni Rossi.

With this victory, Andrea Mabellini wins a three-round programme in a Clio Rally4 prepared by Toksport WRT for the 2022 FIA European Rally Championship season.

More information here.

FFSA French Junior Rallycross Championship

At the end of a very competitive campaign with ten or so contenders for victory in each round of the French Junior FFSA Rallycross Championship, David Bouet clinched the first title in the Clio RX era.

Tom Le Jossec led the intermediate classification on Saturday at Faleyras while David Bouet was only sixth. The next day, Bouet bounced back to finish third just behind Tom Le Jossec, who lost out to Edgar Maloigne in this last meeting of the year.

David Bouet finishes the season with a 21-point lead from Tom Le Jossec, while Edgar Maloigne completes the top three in the final general classification thanks to maiden win in rallycross.

Next round in 2022!

More information here.

Clio Trophy Swiss

The Clio Trophy Swiss competitors also contested their last event of the season at the Rallye International du Valais.

Already crowned in the Swiss Junior Rally Championship and Clio Trophy Swiss, Jérémie Toedtli and Julie Faure were engaged in a breath-taking duel with Ismaël Vuistiner and Florine Kummer. After six leader changes during the rally, the latter finally won on home ground to secure second place in the final general classification. After the disqualification of Jérémie Toedtli & Julie Faure for a technical non-conformity, Guillaume Girolamo & Benjamin Bétrisey and Thibault Maret & Andy Malfoy completed this final podium of the year.

See you in 2022 for a new Clio Trophy Swiss season!

More information here.

Elsewhere...

Still in Switzerland, Clio Rally4 scored a superb victory at the Rallye International du Valais by dominating its category with Nicolas Lathion and Mélanie Tendille. The Swiss duo scored a fine took sixth place in the general classification, trailing only Rally2s and an RGT.

In Spain, the Clio Rally4 of Sergio Fuentes Matías and Alan Peña Salvador also won in its category on Rally Isla de Tenerife while Marcel Abad and Carles Cortes won at the Ral.li Esprint Sant Julià 2021 with Clio Rally5.

In Italy, Marco Petracca & Christian Trivellato and Luciano Calini & Francesco Cuaz scored a Clio Rally5 one-two finish in R1 on the Rally Trofeo delle Merende. Luciano Chiaramello and Renato Carassio took Clio Rally4 to third place in R2C. Meanwhile, Roberto Vanini and Susy Muzio won their class at the Trofeo ACI Como with Clio Rally5.

Other successes came in the French Rally Cup with Théo Apchie & Aurélie Vedrine on the Rallye des Côtes du Tarn, Franck and Maxime Giraud on the Rallye des Monts Dôme, Armand and Marie-Julie Sabatini on the Rallye du Nebbiu, Lilian Vialle & Manuel Ghirardello on the Rallye de l’Ardèche and Kévin Duc - Séverine Chamiot-Maitral on the Rallye de l’Épine.

Lastly, Adam Wrocławski and Jacek Spentany drove their Clio Rally4 to a podium finish in Open 2 on the Rajd Wisły in Poland.

Coming up

This week, the Clio Trophy France Asphalte will conclude its season at the Critérium des Cévennes (28-30 October). While Romain Di Fante has already clinched the overall and Junior titles, the running of his official Clio Rally4 programme in 2022 will be decided between Naudon Rallye Services and Europe Location. Meanwhile, the Clio Cup Europe competitors will contest the penultimate meeting of the season at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza (29-31 October) with 49 drivers expected!

Photos 1 et 2: DPPI / FIA ERC
Photo 3: MAP / Pierre Simenel
Photo 4: APPIX - MEDIA