Clio Rally5 starred this past weekend in the opening rounds of the Clio Trophy Spain and Clio Trophy Italia.

Clio Trophy Spain

Fifteen crews representing three countries were at the start in Córdoba for the first meeting of the Clio Trophy Spain season on Rallye Sierra Morena.

Local driver Germán Leal jumped into the lead with the best time on the three Friday special stages to take a 27.8s advantage. Thomas Chauffray and Jorge Cagiao went on the offensive with three and two stage wins respectively the following day, but their efforts eventually fell short.

Once again, the quickest on the final stage, Germán Leal and co-driver Pablo Sánchez won with a 30.1s margin from Thomas Chauffray - Anthony Hamard and Miguel García and Osel Román, consistent all throughout the rally. The Spanish crew of Jorge Cagiao and Amelia Blanco and the Portuguese pair of Diogo Gago and Jorge Eduardo Carvalho completed the top five.

Tenth in the general classification, Germán Leal also claimed top honours in the two-wheel drive category in his ClioRally5 while also winning the first round of the Andalusia Tarmac Rally Championship.

Next round: Rali de Castelo Branco (Portugal), 11-13 June.

Clio Trophy Italia

After the prologue held last month on Rally Il Ciocco e Valle del Serchio, the Clio Trophy Italia began its season in earnest on Rallye Sanremo with twelve crews at the start, including some protagonists from the French and Swiss Trophies.

Anthony Fotia set the pace on the only Saturday timed sector. The Frenchman then led the way on the first three special stages Sunday morning to take his lead to 33.2s before controlling the efforts of Giovanni Marco Lanzalaco and Davide Nicelli in the afternoon.

After the eight special stages totalling 90.12km of tarmac action, Anthony Fotia and Didier Sirugue went on for the win with a 19.8s margin of victory over Giovanni Marco Lanzalaco - Antonio Marchica. With the best time on SS8, Mattia Zanin - Fabio Pizzol finished third at 22.5s.

Davide Nicelli - Tiziano Pieri and Battistu Ceccaldi - Anthony Raoult rounded out the top five, less than a minute adrift of the winner, indicating that 2021 will be an extremely competitive campaign.

Next round: Targa Florio - Rally Internazionale di Sicilia (Italie), 6-8 May.

Clio Trophy France Asphalte & Challenge Philippe Bugalski

Following the postponement of some events due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Clio Trophy France Asphalte and Challenge Philippe Bugalski calendars have been revised.

As initially planned, the Rallye Le Touquet Pas-de-Calais will act as both the finale of the 2020 Clio Trophy France season and the 2021 Clio Trophy France Asphalte opening round.

Thanks to an agreement with the FFSA, all Clio Trophy France Asphalte competitors will automatically be entered in the 2021 French Two-Wheel Drive Rally Championship.

Clio Trophy France Asphalte & Challenge Philippe Bugalski
27-29/05/2021: Rallye Le Touquet Pas-de-Calais
10-12/06/2021: Rallye Vosges Grand Est
08-10/07/2021: Rallye Aveyron Rouergue Occitanie
02-04/09/2021: Rallye Mont-Blanc Morzine
23-25/09/2021: Rallye Cœur de France
28-30/10/2021: Criterium des Cévennes

The Clio Trophy France Terre calendar remains unchanged so far.

Clio Trophy France Terre
02-04/07/2021 Rallye Castine Terre d’Occitanie
23-25/07/2021 Rallye Terre de Langres
27-29/08/2021 Rallye Terre de Lozère
08-10/10/2021 Rallye Terre des Cardabelles

Clio Cup France

Several protagonists of the 2020 Clio Cup France season received their awards last week at Nogaro from the category’s official partner, BRM Chronographes.

After winning his sixth title in France last year, Nicolas Milan was presented with a specially developed watch, reserved for the Clio Cup France title winners.

Crowned in the Gentleman category, Mickaël Carrée received a prestigious desk clock while Thibault Bossy is now the owner of a personalised watch for winning the BRM Award.

This week

Following the final pre-season collective tests at Circuit Paul Ricard, dominated by Isack Hadjar (R-ace GP), the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine certified by the FIA begins its season this week, supporting the Formula 1 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

More than thirty Renault-powered single-seaters will be in action at Imola. The races are scheduled for Saturday at 16h25 and Sunday at 12h15.

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Photo 1: Driveland
Photos 2 & 4: Actualfoto
Photo 3: DPPI / Renault Sport

Source: Media Groupe Renault