Round five of the Clio Cup Series calendar featured 25 competitors battling at the Hungaroring. Gabriele Torelli dominated the two collective test sessions on Friday and continued his impressive form in qualifying Saturday morning as the Clio Cup Europe and Clio Cup Mid-Europe leader extended his unbeaten run with a fifth pole position in as many sessions contested in 2023.

Although Gabriele Torelli lined up ahead of Anthony Jurado and Jerzy Spinkiewicz (Uniq Racing) on the grid, Anthony Jurado pulled level with him as soon as the lights went out and took the lead under braking. Meanwhile, David Pouget moved up to third place before taking advantage of the duel between Anthony Jurado and Gabriele Torelli to lead briefly before his countryman replied. Behind this trio, Jerzy Spinkiewicz and Nicolas Milan (Milan Compétition) fell down the order after contact at turn two caused by Adrian Schimpf (AST Competition) while Tomas Pekar (Carpek Racing) made the most of this incident to move up from eighth to fourth.

The tension between the leaders continued to build on lap four. Ever closer together, Anthony Jurado, David Pouget and Gabriele Torelli continued their heated battle, using all their talent to avoid a chain reaction. Further back, Adrian Schimpf snatched fourth place from Tomas Pekar to head the chase group. Nikola Miljkovic (Tempo Racing Team) followed in the Spaniard’s wake before a safety car period due to the retirement of Lionel Viguier (T2CM), who had been leading the Racers class until then.

After a controlled restart, Anthony Jurado - the European title-holder - fought off the last attacks of his rivals in the final sprint to claim his second victory of the season ahead of David Pouget and Gabriele Torelli. Fourth-placed at the finish, Adrian Schimpf received a 25-second penalty for his responsibility in the incident at the start and was demoted to last place. After passing Nikola Miljkovic four laps from the chequered flag, Tomas Pekar inherited fourth place, while the Serbian driver claimed the win in the Challengers Cup. In a field still bunched at the chequered flag, Pierre Bredeaux was sixth, followed by Nicolas Milan and Jerzy Spinkiewicz in a top ten completed by Jacopo Giuseppe Cimenes (Essecorse) and Andreas Stucki (Stucki Motorsport). Twelfth-placed Luca Franca won the Racers Cup.

With his seventh podium in nine races, David Pouget consolidated his lead in the Clio Cup Series ahead of Nicolas Milan and Gabriele Torelli. Anthony Jurado’s win sees him leap to fourth place, equal on points with Alexandre Finkelstein.

CLIO CUP EUROPE

Anthony Jurado won his second Clio Cup Europe race in a row, beating David Pouget and Gabriele Torelli. The Italian still leads the general classification with a 30-point advantage over David Pouget, himself one point ahead of the day’s winner. Fifth-placed Nikola Miljkovic is back in title contention with his maiden victory in the Challengers Cup ahead of Pierre Bredeaux and Jacopo Giuseppe Cimenes. Meanwhile, Luca Franca extended his lead at the top of the Racers Cup with his fourth win in five starts over Rene Steenmetz (AST Competition) and Benjamin Cauvas (GPA Racing).

CLIO CUP MID-EUROPE

With his second straight victory in the Clio Cup Mid-Europe, Anthony Jurado moved to within eight points of leader Gabriele Torelli, who finished second on Saturday. The podium was completed by Tomas Pekar, ahead of Nikola Miljkovic, now in command of the Challengers Cup thanks to his victory over Guillaume Maio (GM Sport) and Tim Gabor (GM Sport), who started shotgun on the grid. Lastly, Rene Steenmetz won the Racers Cup ahead of team-mate Stephan Polderman (AST Competition).

The competitors will be back in action Sunday morning for the second qualifying session at 10.25 am, followed by the second race of the weekend at 5.30 pm, which will be streamed live on the Renault Clio Series Facebook page and YouTube channel.

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