David Pouget was the man to beat in Sunday morning’s second qualifying session at the Hungaroring. With a best time of 2:05.044s, the Frenchman ended Gabriele Torelli’s qualifying invincibility, besting the Italian and Anthony Jurado (Milan Compétition), who led a group of seven drivers covered by just 0.109s.

When the lights went out, David Pouget made an excellent start while Anthony Jurado overtook Gabriele Torelli for second place before they made contact at turn two. The Italian dropped back to fifth place, while the Frenchman remained second despite pressure from Tomas Pekar and Pierre Bredeaux (Comte Racing Team) in a field featuring hotly contested battles at all levels.

David Pouget took advantage of the incident to extend his lead over the chase group, with Gabriele Torelli moving up to third place on lap three at the expense of Tomas Pekar. The Czech then came under attack from Pierre Bredeaux and Nicolas Milan (Milan Competition) before Adrian Schimpf (AST Competition) meddled in their duel, culminating in a collision between the two French drivers on lap nine.

Gabriele Torelli continued his comeback, regaining the second position from Anthony Jurado on lap six before chipping away at David Pouget’s lead. The Italian bridged the gap four laps later and launched a successful attack.

From then on, Gabriele Torelli controlled the race and sealed his fourth victory of the year ahead of his French rival. Third at the chequered flag despite a five-second penalty for track limits, Anthony Jurado completed the podium until he received another five-second sanction for his part in the incident with Gabriele Torelli, relegating him to sixth place.

Tomas Pekar inherited third place, followed by Adrian Schimpf, who won the Challengers Cup ahead of Pierre Bredeaux and Anthony Jurado. Initially seventh, Jerzy Spinkiewicz (Uniq Racing) received a ten-second penalty for a jump start. Alejandro Schimpf (AST Competition) lost the same position due to a penalty for his part in a collision. Tim Gabor (GM Sport), Cristian Ricciarini (Essecorse), the Spaniard and Nikola Mikjkovic (Tempo Racing Team) eventually formed the remainder of the top ten. Twelfth on Saturday, Luca Franca achieved the same result on Sunday to seal his Racers Cup double win.

Although David Pouget continues to lead the Clio Cup Series, Gabriele Torelli took advantage of his victory to move back to within 34 points of Nicolas Milan in second place. Anthony Jurado and Adrian Schimpf complete the top five after the tenth race of the season.

CLIO CUP EUROPE

By overtaking David Pouget with two laps to go, Gabriele Torelli also beat the Frenchman in Clio Cup Europe to increase his lead in the general classification to 38 points. Tomas Pekar completed the podium to claim his best result of the season. Fourth place went to Adrian Schimpf, who now leads the Challengers Cup after scoring his second success of the year ahead of Pierre Bredeaux and Tim Gabor. Lastly, Luca Franca now has a commanding lead in the Racers Cup after his fifth victory in six races ahead of Benjamin Cauvas (GPA Racing) and Rene Steenmetz (AST Competition).

CLIO CUP MID-EUROPE

Overtaken by Anthony Jurado at the start, Gabriele Torelli regained the lead on lap six to take his fourth victory in six races and now has a 22-point lead in the general classification. Tomas Pekar and Anthony Jurado completed the podium. Fourth on home soil, Tim Gabor scored his maiden Challengers Cup win over category leader Nikola Miljkovic and Guillaume Maio (GM Sport). Lastly, Rene Steenmetz dominated proceedings in the Racers Cup against teammate Stephan Polderman (AST Competition) to take command of the class.

The Clio Cup Series now turns its attention to its next meeting at Misano on 14-16 July. The Clio Cup Europe and Clio Cup Mid-Europe will resume two weeks later at the Nürburgring.

Qualifying 2 - Starting grid - Race 2 - Clio Cup Series - Clio Cup Europe - Clio Cup Mid-Europe