M-Sports Ford Fiesta Rally3 has been around for some time, with the Junior WRC class has been formed around the manufacturer’s concept where the company runs the series on behalf of the FIA and the WRC Promoter. Until now, there has been no competitor in the class, but today Renault presented parts of the plans with its new Renault Clio Rally3, which has been tested for some time.
On 15 January, the car will have an official display and presentation at the Pas de la Casa Circuit in France. The process of getting the car homologated has started and in April the car is expected to receive approved papers from the FIA and the car will be free to use in rallying.
The car is developed in Viry-Châtillon, France, where Alpine and its Formula 1 team BWT Alpine F1 Team run parts of their development. With Alpine as the developer, the car has gone 22 days with 250 miles on asphalt and nearly 200 miles on dirt roads in tough conditions.
Eight different drivers have participated in the tests, most of the drivers come from the Clio Trophy series on asphalt and grave, a driver used to the car model and the surface is Jean-Baptiste Franceschi who has been selected as the lead tester. The car is expected to be a contender in the ERC and WRC classes for Rally3, but also national marque cups in France, Italy, and Spain in particular are in the works.
