The Renault Clio Rally3 is a rally car developed and built by Alpine Racing (previously known as

Renault Sport Renault Sport () or Renaultsport, was a motorsport, performance and special vehicles division for Renault-badged cars and later a sub-badge of Renault cars managed by Automobiles Alpine, Alpine. The first Renault Sport was officially established ...

) to FIA's

Group Rally3 Group Rally3 is a technical specification of rally car determined by the FIA. It features four-wheel drive and a maximum weight-to-power ratio of 5.6kg/hp. The class is used in the World Rally Championship (WRC) and regional championships. Nat ...

regulations. It is based upon the

Renault Clio The Renault Clio () is a supermini (B-segment) car, produced by French automobile manufacturer Renault. It was launched in 1990, and entered its fifth generation in 2019. The Clio has had substantial critical and commercial success, being consi ...

road car and debuted in 2023.

Development

The Renault Clio Rally3 was revealed in 2022. The car completes the

ladder in relation to the

Groups Rally In international rallying, the Groups Rally are the collective name given to formulae of rally car as defined by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile for use in the World Rally Championship and the FIA's regional championships. The names ...

regulation Regulation is the management of complex systems according to a set of rules and trends. In systems theory, these types of rules exist in various fields of biology and society, but the term has slightly different meanings according to context. Fo ...

with its Rally4 and Rally5 variants, and would be

Renault Renault S.A., commonly referred to as Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English), is a French Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company curr ...

's first

all-wheel drive An all-wheel drive vehicle (AWD vehicle) is one with a powertrain capable of providing power to all its wheels, whether full-time or on-demand. Types The most common forms of all-wheel drive are: ;1x1 : All unicycles Reflects one axle with ...

challenger. The car is the straight rival to the

Ford Fiesta Rally3 The Ford Fiesta Rally3 is a rally car developed and built by M-Sport to FIA Group Rally3 regulations for use at tier 3 of the FIA Rally Pyramid. It is based upon the Ford Fiesta road car and debuted in 2021. Competition history The car was deb ...

M-Sport M-Sport is a motorsport engineering company headquartered at Dovenby Hall near Cockermouth, United Kingdom. It is primarily known for entering the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) since 1997 in partnership with Ford, manufacturing race an ...

, which is only other available Rally3 car for competition. During the period when the car is under development, it was testing in France in 2022. The car launched in the second half of 2023 and is eligible to compete in both

European Rally Championship The European Rally Championship (officially FIA European Rally Championship) is an rallying, automobile rally competition held annually on the European continent and organized by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The champion ...

and

World Rally Championship-3 The FIA WRC3 is a support championship of the World Rally Championship. The calendar consists of the same rallies and stages as the parent series and crews usually compete immediately after WRC2 entrants. Entry into WRC3 is limited to cars that ...

, as well as its junior category. The car passed

Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA; ) is an international organisation with two primary functions surrounding use of the automobile. Its mobility division advocacy, advocates the interests of motoring organisations, the automot ...

homologation Homologation (Greek language, Greek ''homologeo'', ὁμολογέω, "to agree") is the granting of approval by an official authority. This may be a court of law, a government department, or an academic or professional body, any of which would n ...

on 25 April 2023.

Competition history

The car made its

World Rally Championship The World Rally Championship (abbreviated as WRC) is an international rallying series owned and governed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA. Inaugurated in 1973, it is the oldest FIA world championship after Formula One. E ...

debut at the

2023 Rally Finland The 2023 Rally Finland (also known as the Secto Rally Finland 2023) was a motorsport, motor racing event for rallying, rally cars that was held from 3 August to 6 August 2023. It marked the seventy-second running of the Rally Finland, and was the ...

, driven by Markus Manninen. It made its first appearance for

points at the 2023 Acropolis Rally, driven by Efthimios Halkias. The car's debut win in the World Rally Championship-3 was at the 2024 Rally Latvia, driven by Joosep Ralf Nõgene. Mattéo Chatillon gave the car its second win in the category at the

2024 Central European Rally The 2024 Central European Rally (also known as the Central Europe Rally 2024) was a motorsport, motor racing event for rallying, rally cars held from 17 to 20 October 2024. It marked the second running of the Central European Rally, and is set to ...

Development

Competition history

Rally victories

World Rally Championship-3

References

External links