On Sunday morning, the action was expected to be just as intense as the previous day, with extremely small time gaps in qualifying. Luca Franca set the pace on the Austrian track to claim pole position ahead of David Pouget and Tomas Pekar.

Thirty-four drivers saw at least one of their times deleted for abusing the track limits. Several frontrunners got caught out, and with several competitors keen to bounce back as quickly as possible, the action was intense from the moment the lights went out. David Pouget was the first to strike, immediately taking the lead from Luca Franca while Tomas Pekar held off Nikola Miljkovic, sixth on the grid and fourth at the first corner. Behind this quartet, the field was just as lively, with many heated battles.

Anthony Jurado and Gabriele Torelli were among the most vengeful of the protagonists, making one overtake after another after a complicated qualifying session. The Frenchman made up 20 places in four laps to move up to seventh place before taking the lead of the chase group one lap later. Meanwhile, the Italian cleared 28 rivals in five laps to position himself just outside the top ten. However, his brilliant drive through the field was tarnished by an incident with Guillaume Maio (GM Sport), who had been running strongly in the top ten up to that point.

At the front, David Pouget, Luca Franca and Tomas Pekar were all within a second of each other and began to pull away from Nikola Miljkovic, but the safety car appeared on lap ten. Battling for seventh place with other rivals, Alejandro Schimpf (AST Competition) and Cristian Ricciarini (Essecorse) collided. The Italian subsequently lost control after putting two wheels in the gravel, leaving Julien Baziret (Baziret Sport) and Francesco Savoia (Progetto E20 Motorsport) no chance of avoiding him.

The clock ran out while the damaged cars were being removed from the track. The race ended behind the safety car, but the hierarchy continued to evolve after the chequered flag with the several track-limits penalties.

David Pouget remained at the head of an unchanged quartet to seal his victory over Racer Luca Franca and Tomas Pekar. Fourth-placed Nikola Miljkovic also held on to his win in the Challengers category, followed by Anthony Jurado thanks to his 22-position recovery and Jacopo Giuseppe Cimenes (Essecorse). Thirty-ninth on the grid and seventh at the finish, Gabriele Torelli was penalised five seconds for abusing track limits and 15 seconds for his role in the incident with Guillaume Maio to be demoted to 27th place.. With Adrian Schimpf (AST Competition) and Alejandro Schimpf also penalised, Leonardo Arduini inherited seventh place, followed by Nicolas Milan (Milan Compétition) and Giacomo Trebbi (MC Motorsport). Damiano Puccetti (Rangoni Corse) completed the top ten.

With five wins and 14 podiums from 16 starts, David Pouget extends his lead at the top of the Clio Cup Series. His pursuers Gabriele Torelli and Nicolas Milan are more than 250 points behind, the equivalent of five wins with ten races remaining. The Frenchman could take his first step towards the title in Valencia, where the Clio Cup Europe and Clio Cup España will be in action from 22 to 24 September.

CLIO CUP EUROPE

David Pouget also scored an excellent win over Luca Franca and Tomas Pekar in Clio Cup Europe, as the Frenchman took advantage of his second success to move five points ahead of Gabriele Torelli, who finished 20th on Sunday. Nikola Miljkovic, victorious for the second time in the Challengers Cup ahead of Jacopo Giuseppe Cimenes and Leonardo Arduini, made up some of the ground lost to leader Adrian Schimpf, whose lead is now 26 points after his sixth place in the category. Lastly, Luca Franca once again won the Racers Cup, beating Stephan Polderman (AST Competition) and Alex Lancellotti (Faro Racing) to relegate his closest rival Rene Steenmetz (AST Competition) to 44 points.

CLIO CUP ITALIA

Luca Franca used his fifth consecutive Clio Cup Italia win over a trio of Challengers to extend his lead over Mattia Lancellotti (Faro Racing) to 78 points. The Italian also won ahead of Alex Lancellotti and Alessandro Alcidi (Tuder Motorsport) in the Racers Cup, where his closest pursuer Due (Oregon Team) is now 77 points back. Meanwhile, Jacopo Giuseppe Cimenes won the Challengers Cup battle against Leonardo Arduini and Giacomo Trebbi, who slightly increased his lead ahead of the next meeting at the Circuit Paul Ricard ( 6-8 October).

CLIO CUP MID-EUROPE

Tomas Pekar led from start to finish to keep his slim title hopes alive with his maiden Clio Cup Mid-Europe win of the season ahead of Nikola Miljkovic and Anthony Jurado. The latter took advantage of his fine comeback drive to catch up with leader Gabriele Torelli despite an unfavourable worst score to be dropped. Meanwhile, Nikola Miljkovic won the Challengers Cup ahead of Damiano Puccetti (Rangoni Corse) now the only man in a position to deny him the crown, and Sweden’s Filip Sandstrom (Carpek Racing) in his first appearance of the season. Lastly, Stephan Polderman scored a crucial victory in the Racers Cup, where he will battle for the title with his teammate and countryman Rene Steenmetz in their home turf at Zandvoort ( 13-15 October).

Qualifying - Starting grid - Race - Clio Cup Series - Clio Cup Europe - Clio Cup Italia - Clio Cup Mid-Europe