After a thrilling opening encounter, the Clio Cup Series competitors were back in action this morning for the second qualifying session. Jerzy Spinkiewicz (Uniq Racing) claimed his first pole position of the season with a session-best time of 1:49.680s. The Pole lined up on the grid ahead of David Pouget, Anthony Jurado, Nicolas Milan and Gabriele Torelli (Rangoni Corse), who was fifth in his first outing of the weekend following his wedding on Friday.

The Clio Cup Middle East title-holder Jerzy Spinkiewicz was surprised at the start by David Pouget and Anthony Jurado before Nicolas Milan followed in his countymen’s footsteps. A few corners later, Gabriele Torelli and Adrian Schimpf (AST Competition) also made their presence felt to push the poleman out of the top five after a clean opening lap.

In an incredibly compact leading group, the battle for victory became more lively from lap three onwards. Anthony Jurado overtook David Pouget for the lead while Gabriele Torelli tried to take advantage of the extremely small gaps at the sharp end of the field to get the better of Nicolas Milan. The Frenchman remained vigilant, however, before the safety car came out after Damiano Puccetti (Rangoni Corse) went off the track. After an ultra-fast intervention by the marshalls, Anthony Jurado kept control of the field but the battle was short-lived as Alex Royo (Team VRT) suffered the same fate as Damiano Puccetti at the same corner.

Although Anthony Jurado kept his composure once more at the restart, the situation escalated on lap eight. David Pouget tried to surprise the leader on the outside, but slight contact between the two sent the GPA leader wide. Nicolas Milan took advantage of it to get in between the two before a third safety car period caused by the stoppage of Adrian Schimpf, who was in fourth place at the time.

The race resumed for a two-lap sprint, in which Anthony Jurado once again kept the lead and eventually won ahead of his teammate Nicolas Milan. Under threat from his pursuers for a time, David Pouget caught up to the two leaders and joined them on the podium. Gabriele Torelli and Jerzy Spinkiewicz completed a top-five covered by less than two seconds under the chequered flag. Sixth-placed Alejandro Schimpf won among the Challengers, followed by Guillaume Maio (GM Sport) and Racers’ winner Lionel Viguier. Ivan Hernandez (Chefo Sport) and Stephan Polderman rounded off the top ten after Jordi Palomeras (Milan Compétition) and Jérémy Bordagaray (Milan Compétition) retired in the final laps.

Anthony Jurado’s fourth win of the season keeps his Clio Cup Series title hopes alive although David Pouget remains firmly in control ahead of Nicolas Milan and Gabriele Torelli, the only two drivers who could deny him the crown he could already secure at the next meeting.

CLIO CUP EUROPE

Anthony Jurado also won in Clio Cup Europe ahead of Nicolas Milan and David Pouget, who finished ahead of his closest rival in the general classification, Gabriele Torelli, who now trails by 58 points. In the Challengers Cup, Alejandro Schimpf took advantage of his twin brother’s retirement to score his first win of the season on home soil ahead of Guillaume Maio and Julien Baziret (Baziret Sport). Despite his misfortunes, Adrian Schimpf still holds an advantage of over 50 points over his main rivals in the category. In the Racers Cup, Lionel Viguier took a dominating victory ahead of Stephan Polderman and Rene Steenmetz (AST Competition) to seal his double win in Valencia and now trails Rene Steenmetz by three points and is just 17 adrift of leader Luca Franca.

CLIO CUP ESPAÑA

Alejandro Schimpf inherited the lead and secured his maiden win of the season ahead of Ivan Hernandez and Alejandro Romero (Team VRT). With the win, the Spaniard takes command of the Clio Cup España with a lead of 21 points over Jérémy Bordagaray. He also won in the Challengers Cup over Ivan Hernandez and Lydia Sempere (AST Competition), both of whom finished on the podium for the first time. Lastly, Alejandro Romero claimed his first victory in the Racers Cup, beating Joaquin Rodrigo (Team VRT) and Jean-Louis Carponcin (Teamalcar) to become the closest challenger to category leader Jérémy Bordagaray.

The next round of the Clio Cup Series, the tenth of the 13 on the 2023 calendar, will take place at the Circuit Paul Ricard. The Castellet circuit will host competitors from Clio Cup España, Clio Cup France and Clio Cup Italia at a meeting where the first titles of the year could be decided.

Results - Clio Cup Series - Clio Cup Europe - Clio Cup España