Italian Rally Championship

Andrea Mabellini made his Rallye Sanremo debut in his second appearance in the Italian Rally Championship (CIAR). The Clio Rally4 driver and co-driver Virginia Lenzi gradually got into the swing of things and climbed into the provisional top three. After setting the fastest two-wheel-drive time and finishing in the overall top ten on SS10, Andrea Mabellini finished runner-up to consolidate second place in the general classification ahead of the Targa Florio (May 6-7).

Rallye Sanremo also marked the start of the Italian Junior Rally Championship (CIAR Junior) with ten Clio Rally5s entered for ACI Team Italia’s hopefuls and identically prepared by Motorsport Italia. Clio Trophy Italia title holders Davide Nicelli and Tiziano Pieri dominated the opening timed sectors and Power Stage before going off the road on SS5. Alessandro Casella and Rosario Siragusano then took control of the proceedings while resisting the attacks of Mattia Zanin and Fabio Pizzol to take the win by 21.8 seconds. The duo of Matteo Ceriali and Luca Ferraris completed the podium. The competitors will now meet again on the Rally dell’Adriatico (13-14 May) for round two of their season.

More information here.

Belgian Rally Championship

Winner of the inaugural Clio Trophy Belgium season last year, Gilles Pyck launched his programme at the next level with Clio Rally4 at the TAC Rally. With co-driver Émile Mourisse, the Belgian driver starred, winning thirteen of the fourteen stages in the RC4 and Juniors categories while also scoring twelve top-ten finishes overall. Seventh in the general classification on the Flemish asphalt, Gilles Pyck won in his category and in the Belgian Junior Rally Championship by more than two minutes. Renault remains undefeated this season in Belgian Junior Rally Championship as Tom Rensonnet’s Clio Rally4 won the first two rounds on the calendar.

Meanwhile, the race to succeed Gllles Pyck began on the same stages with twelve crews starting in Clio Trophy Belgium. Benoît Verlinde & Anton Dupan, Jeroen Catelin & Christof Duyck and Casper Nielsen & Ward Hanssens quickly broke away on the first loop. Benoît Verlinde pushed his lead to win by thirty seconds and move to the top of the general classification ahead of the next round of Rallye de Wallonie (29-30 April).

More information here.

Clio Trophy Swiss

Eleven crews were at the Critérium Jurassien for the kick-off of Clio Trophy Swiss. Titleholders Ismaël Vuistiner and Florine Kummer made a guest appearance and battled with old friends Styve Juif and Maxime Biegalke. Already successful in the Clio Trophy France, the latter tamed the snowy conditions to take the lead at the start. With six fastest times in seven stages, Styve Juif controlled his pace on the final timed sector to seal his victory with an 18.4s advantage over Ismaël Vuistinier and 1.04.1s over Guillaume Girolamo & Benjamin Betrisey, who won the Swiss Junior Rally Championship season-opener.

Clio Rally4 was also in action at Saignelégier in the hands of Nicolas Lathion and Marine Maye. Also in contention for the overall top ten, they won six of the seven stages in their category to take the Michelin Alps Trophy two-wheel-drive win with an advantage of nearly two minutes. Meanwhile, Aurélien Devanthery and Gaël Delasoie retired before the start after an accident during the shakedown.

The next round of the season will take place on the Rallye du Chablais (June 2-4).

More information here.

Elsewhere…

Clio Rally4 continues to cause a stir in the French Rally Cup. Entrusted for the first time to 2015 Junior World Rally Champion Quentin Gilbert and his co-driver Rémi Tutélaire, the car scored an overall scratch time and finished third place on Rallye Mouzon-Frézelle, only 23.1s behind the winner entered in a Rally2 car. On the same stages, Jérôme Janny and Clément Gutierrez, won in their category with Clio Rally5, as did Adrien Castalian & Damien Gouin on the Rallye des Côtes du Frontonnais, Enzo Lucotte & Candice Desrayaud on the Rallye de l’Anguison and Benjamin Barnouin & Brice Brun on the Rallye National de Venasque.

Clio Rally4 and Clio Rally5 also starred in Italy at the Rallye Sanremo Leggenda, with the tandem of Igor Rainoldi and Daniel Pozzi taking the victory in Rally4, as well as a sweep of the podium led by Davide Craviotto and Fabrizio Piccinini in Rally5. In the Czech Republic, Filip Ocelka & Jaroslav Blažek and Jaroslav Petráš & Petr Jindra gave Clio Rally5 a one-two finish in RC5 on the Kowax Valašská Rally ValMez while both finished in the top five in two-wheel-drive category. Matjaž Mihevc and Matej Dolenc were also successful in Slovenia on Rally Vipavska dolina.

Four Clio Rally5s were at the start of the Raliul Maramureşului in the opening round of the Romanian Rally Championship. Constantin Tudose and Teodor-Gabriel Găină proved to be the fastest, winning the Clio Rally5 Challenge while mixing it up with the cars in the higher categories to finish fifth among the front-wheel-drive entries and third in the Juniors. Thomas Andersen & Preben Lønberg Jensen and Jan Jørgensen & Vagn Åge Hansen led their Clio Rally5s to first and third place in the RC5 category on round one of the Danish Rally Championship, the Slagelse Rally.

Coming up

Following its first campaign and the triumph of Çağlayan Çelik, Clio Trophy Turkey will kick off season two this week on the gravel roads of Bodrum Rally (16-17 April). Meanwhile, circuit racing will return with the first Clio Cup Series meeting, with thirty-one drivers battling at Nogaro (France).