After a spirited first encounter at Zandvoort on Saturday, the Clio Cup Series competitors were back in action for qualifying on Sunday morning. Nicolas Milan took pole position in cold and rainy conditions ahead of Clio Cup Mid-Europe title contenders Anthony Jurado (Milan Compétition) and Gabriele Torelli.

The race began behind the safety car following heavy showers at the end of the morning. After an observation lap, the green flag was shown, with Anthony Jurado taking first place from Nicolas Milan at turn one. Gabriele Torelli tried to follow but to no avail. Despite a spectacular and masterfully controlled slide, the Italian overtook Nicolas Milan, then caught Anthony Jurado at the entry of the banking to take the lead.

Already intense, the battle continued to escalate as Anthony Jurado took advantage of a tow from Gabriele Torelli to hit back at the start of lap two, but the two leaders made contact at the entrance to the Tarzan corner, which allowed Nicolas Milan to move into first place. Meanwhile, Anthony Jurado’s race was over, while Gabriele Torelli rejoined the field in seventh place before being penalised with a drive-through penalty for his part in the collision.

The battle for victory remained lively with other protagonists at the front. David Pouget found his way past Nicolas Milan on lap four to take the lead, but the gap between the Frenchmen stabilised at around one second. Behind them, Tomas Pekar (Carpek Racing) and Martijn Kool (Kool Racing) closed in but couldn’t bridge the gap. In the pack, the tricky conditions were the cause of several errors, but Adrian Schimpf (AST Competition) managed to climb from twelfth to fifth place.

Despite a slim lead, David Pouget controlled the race to the finish to win ahead of Nicolas Milan and Tomas Pekar. Fourth in his second Clio Cup Series weekend, local driver Martijn Kool claimed victory in the Challengers Cup ahead of Adrian Schimpf. Jerzy Spinkiewicz (Uniq Racing) held off Guillaume Maio (GM Sport) for sixth place. Jacopo Giuseppe Cimenes (Essecorse) came home in eighth place, followed by Racer Cup winner Quinto Stefana and Mariano Alonso (GPA Racing) after Alejandro Schimpf (AST Competition) was penalised five seconds for an incident with Henrik Seibel (Carpek Racing).

With the title already secured, David Pouget further extends his lead with his eighth win and eighteenth podium in 2023. Nicolas Milan has also distanced himself from Gabriele Torelli, Anthony Jurado and Adrian Schimpf in the battle for second place behind David Pouget.

CLIO CUP EUROPE

Also the winner in Clio Cup Europe, David Pouget took advantage of the tangle between his rivals Gabriele Torelli and Anthony Jurado to extend his lead in the general classification. The Frenchman was joined on the podium by Nicolas Milan and Tomas Pekar. In the Challengers Cup, Martijn Kool won while Adrian Schimpf finished second ahead of Guillaume Maio to stretch his advantage to 59 points over his closest challenger in the category, Alejandro Schimpf. Lastly, Quinto Stefana scored his first Racers Cup victory of the year ahead of Benjamin Cauvas (GPA Racing) and Rene Steenmetz (AST Competition), still the class leader with a nine-point margin over Lionel Viguier (T2CM).

CLIO CUP MID-EUROPE

Tomas Pekar took advantage of the incident between Gabriele Torelli and Anthony Jurado to take the lead and score his second Clio Cup Mid-Europe win this season ahead of Challengers Guillaume Maio and Julien Baziret (Baziret Sport). Despite the collision with his rival, Gabriele Torelli secured the Clio Cup Mid-Europe title, as did Rangoni Corse in the team category. In the Challengers Cup, Damiano Puccetti (Rangoni Corse) retired and came up short of Nikola Miljkovic in the race for the category title. Lastly, Racers Cup title-winner Rene Steenmetz claimed victory on home soil, beating teammate Stephan Polderman.

The next round of the Clio Cup Series will take competitors to Imola (Italy), the venue for the penultimate meeting of the Clio Cup Europe season and the Clio Cup Italia season finale.

Results - Clio Cup Series - Clio Cup Europe - Clio Cup Mid-Europe