European Rally Championship

Defending its 2021 crowns with Jean-Baptiste Franceschi, Clio Rally4 endured a difficult weekend on Rally Liepāja. Anthony Fotia and Andrea Mabellini were second and third in FIA ERC4 after the first loop, but got caught out by afternoon showers before starting their comeback on Sunday. Anthony Fotia eventually finished fifth, just 17.9 seconds off the podium, while Andrea Mabellini had to settle for ninth place after a puncture on SS9. Martin László and Dávid Berendi were also in contention for the top ten before they retired on the penultimate stage. Despite their difficulties in Latvia, Andrea Mabellini - Virginia Lenzi and Anthony Fotia - Arnaud Dunand are still in the thick of the title race as they remain the the closest challengers to the FIA ERC4 leader. The Italian duo are also fifth in the Junior ERC class heading to the next round, Rally di Roma Capitale on 23-24 July.

Clio Trophy by Toksport WRT

After victories in the Azores and the Canary Islands, Paulo Soria and Marcelo Der Ohannesian took their third consecutive win on Rally Liepāja. Although they took the lead on stage one, the Italian duo of Giorgio Cogni and Gabriele Zanni took advantage of a puncture on SS3 and the arrival of rain on SS4 to claim the top spot. The Argentinians replied on the following timed sector, taking advantage of their rivals’ problems to control the proceedings on a perfect Sunday and win ahead of the crew of Andrea Mazzocchi - Silvia Gallotti, which finished second despite a penalty of more than two minutes for a late check-in. With their third podium in a row, Spain’s Sergio Fuentes and Alan Peña are now the biggest threat to Paulo Soria and Marcelo Der Ohannesian, but they are 27 points behind before the second to last round of the season, Rally di Roma Capitale (23-24 July).

Elsewhere...

In the French Rally Cup, Clio Rally4 put in a superb performance in the hands of Henrick Jullien and Frédéric Vauclare, who finished sixth overall on the Rallye de Saint-Marcellin and won their class, as did Grégory and Sophy Dizier with Clio Rally5. The two models also came home first in their categories on the Rallye du Vallespir with Loïc Sauvage - Brice Brun (Clio Rally4) and Sébastien Selve - Théo Selve (Clio Rally5) as did Florian Bartaire - Marjolaine Patier (Clio Rally4) and Romain Rageau - Alexandra Rageau (Clio Rally5) on the Rallye de Saint-Sornin-Leulac. Also in France, Clio Rally5 won the Rallye de la Côte Roannaise with Eric and Valérie Babin.

In Spain, Clio Rally5 scored a one-two finish in Class 3 of the Rally Valle del Almanzora-Sierra Filabres round of the Andalusian Rally Championship, with Carlos Rodríguez - Esther Gutiérrez and José Miguel López - Miguel Montoya, respectively second and fourth overall. Meanwhile, José Javier Pérez and Alberto Espino also led Clio Rally5 to success in their class on Rally Goilurrak in the Basque Country.

In Italy, Davide Craviotto - Fabrizio Piccinini led a Clio Rally5 sweep of the top four on Rally della Lanterna - Rally Val d’Aveto, while Matteo Doretto and Iuri De Felice won its class on Rally Valli Della Carnia. Lastly, Pedro Silva and Luís Ribeiro won the P2-4 class and finished sixth overall in their Clio Rally5 on the Rally de Resende - Douro Verde.

Coming up

This week, all the variants of the fifth-generation Renault Clio will race. More than 40 Clio Rally4 and Clio Rally5s will be in action in the French Rally Championship and Clio Trophy France Asphalte at Rallye Aveyron Rouergue Occitanie (July 7-9). Clio Rally5 will also be in the spotlight at round three of the Italian Junior Rally Championship on Rally di San Marino (July 9-10).

Meanwhile, some 30 Clio Cups will gather at the Hungaroring (8-10 July) for a joint meeting of Clio Cup Europe and Clio Cup Eastern Europe. And Clio RX will take centre stage in the French Junior Rallycross Championship for the fourth fixture of the season at Circuit de Touraine Pont-de-Ruan Saché (9-10 July).

Photos : @WORLD