David Pouget was fastest in the tests and kept the momentum going in qualifying, taking the pole for both races at Circuit Paul Ricard, each time ahead of Nicolas Milan. Kévin Jimenez and Anthony Jurado shared row two after setting an identical time down to one-thousands of a second while Marc Guillot (Milan Compétition) completed the top five.

Collective tests 1 - Collective tests 2 - Qualifying 1 - Qualifying 2 - Starting grid

While David Pouget held on to the lead ahead of Nicolas Milan and Kévin Jimenez after a relatively clean start, the poleman was surprised by his two rivals at the Chicane Nord. Kévin Jimenez then passed Nicolas Milan for the lead while David Pouget fell to sixth place after a spectacular battle with Anthony Jurado, Marc Guillot and Thibaut Bossy (TB2S).

Nicolas Milan used the slipstream on lap two to reclaim the lead of the race, but Kévin Jimenez countered at the same braking zone one lap later as Anthony Jurado looked on. The fight between those behind the leaders continued with several position swaps between Marc Guillot and Thibaut Bossy for fourth place.

The action intensified on lap five as Anthony Jurado found an opening on Kévin Jimenez, then took the lead from Nicolas Milan. Meanwhile, the order was reshuffled in the chase group when Thibaut Bossy made a mistake under braking. Marc Guillot and David Pouget quickly caught up to Kévin Jimenez and surprised him, but the latter didn’t give up, including against Thibaut Bossy, who was already back in the fight.

Nicolas Milan and Anthony Jurado continued their duel, exchanging the lead three times in as many laps while David Pouget took third place before an exciting final sprint up and down the order.

Anthony Jurado’s decisive move came with three laps to go and his efforts to resist the attacks of Nicolas Milan took him to his second Clio Cup Europe win of the season. Second ahead of David Pouget, Nicolas Milan retakes the lead of the general classification by one point. Thibaut Bossy was fourth after getting the better of Kévin Jimenez and Marc Guillot.

Seventh and eighth, Mathieu Lannepoudenx (Milan Compétition) and Alexandre Albouy (GPA Racing) complete the Challengers Cup podium, won for the eighth time this year by Kévin Jimenez. Jordi Palomeras (GPA Racing) and Alejandro Schimpf (Cota Automocion) round out the top ten.

Lastly, Florent Grizaud won in the Gentlemen Drivers Cup in his first race in Clio Cup Europe. After overtaking Javier Cicuendez (Team VRT) on the opening lap, the Frenchman went on to take the victory ahead of the Spaniard and Dutchman Stephan Polderman (Chefo Sport).

Race 1 - Clio Cup Europe standings

The Clio Cup Europe will be back in action tomorrow morning, still supporting the French Grand Prix. David Pouget will start from pole ahead of Nicolas Milan and 36 other drivers at 10h25.