Clio Cup Series

Gabriele Torelli scored a brace of victories in round nine at Mugello. On home soil, the Italian driver got the better of David Pouget, then Nicolas Milan. Léo Jousset and Alexandre Finkelstein completed the podiums while splitting the victories in the Challengers Cup, while Pierre Monmaneix won twice among the Gentlemen Drivers.

Thanks to his double win, Gabriele Torelli now trails Clio Cup Italia leader Felice Jelmini at mid-season. The title fight will also be intense in the Challengers Cup, where Cristian Ricciarini took the lead by winning on Saturday before Cosimo Papi’s success on Sunday. Meanwhile, Quinto Stefana extended his winning streak with two more victories to extend his lead in the Gentlemen Drivers Cup.

The tables also turned in Clio Cup France, where David Pouget saw his lead over Nicolas Milan shrink in Italy. With his victory in the category on Saturday, Léo Jousset took the Challengers Cup lead ahead of Alexandre Albouy and Joran Leneutre, whilst Mathieu Rigoulet retained first place in the Gentlemen Drivers Cup despite the domination of Pierre Monmaneix.

After the summer break, the Clio Cup will return to action at Hockenheim (Germany) for a joint round of the Clio Cup Europe, Clio Cup Eastern Europe and Clio Cup France from 2 to 4 September. Clio Cup Italia will return to the track a week later at the Red Bull Ring (Austria).

Clio Trophy Ecuador

Sixth in the inaugural rally of this new trophy dedicated to Clio Rally5, Abraham Feijoo and José Espinoza exacted revenge by winning the second round of the calendar on Rally El Ero. The duo won ahead of Juan Carlos Paredes - Daniel Gordillo and Alejandro Martínez - Andrés Carpio. Round one winners Diego and Juan Felipe Serrano finished fourth while scoring maximum bonus points in the Power Stage. They still lead the general classification, with the top four crews covered by just ten points apart ahead of the next meeting on Rally Imbabura (19 August).

Elsewhere…

In the French Rally Cup, Guillaume Roget and Benjamin Dupleix led a Clio Rally5 1-2-3 in its class on Rallye de Saintonge while Mathias Dubouloz and Dimitri Tognarelli led a 1-2 finish on Rallye de la Drôme. Clio Rally5 also won on Rallye Les Routes Picardes thanks to Sylvain Fouteret and Andrea Pelini.

Clio Rally4 also shone in Portugal, with the category triumph of Miguel Caires and João Miguel Sousa, who were also on the podium in the Madeira two-wheel drive Rally Championship. Staying on the Iberian Peninsula, Miguel García Gutiérrez and Osel Román Ruiz took Clio Rally5 to second place in their class at the Rallysprint de Cartes (Spain). Clio Rally5 also won with the duo Constantin Tudose - Teodor-Gabriel Găină on Raliul Sibiului, who claimed their second victory in the Romanian Junior Rally Championship.

Lastly, outside Europe, Jean Bassil and Rony Elias led Clio Rally5 to victory in RC5 at the Jezzine Rally, round two of the Lebanese Rally Championship.

Coming up

This week, Clio Trophy France Terre will enter the second half of its season during the Rallye Terre de Langres (22-24 July) with 33 Clio Rally5s entered. Title holder Quentin Ribaud will continue his official Clio Rally4 programme in the French Gravel Rally Championship while FIA ERC3 and FIA ERC3 Junior reigning champion Jean-Baptiste Franceschi will also be competing with the same model.

Meanwhile, the Clio Trophy by Toksport WRT will hold the penultimate round of its season at the Rally di Roma Capitale (22-24 July). The event will also host round four of the Italian Junior Rally Championship, run exclusively with Clio Rally5s prepared by Motorsport Italia. Lastly, three Clio Rally4s will be in action with Italians Andrea Mabellini and Roberto Daprà as well as Hungarian Martin László.