The second-to-last Clio Cup Series meeting of 2023 began on Friday with collective testing, dominated by David Pouget in gusty conditions, then Adrian Schimpf (AST Competition) in the rain. On Saturday morning, Gabriele Torelli took over in a session marked by red flags caused by collisions between Eduardo Miranda (Uniq Racing) and Quinto Stefana (Milan Compétition) as well as between Adrian Schimpf and Michel Faye (GM Sport).

Gabriele Torelli, who set the benchmark time of 1:54.167s, lined up on pole ahead of Guillaume Maio (GM Sport) and David Pouget. Surprised by Guillaume Maio when the lights went out, the Italian regained the lead in the opening sequence while David Pouget took advantage of the battle to move into second place. Sixth on the grid, Nicolas Milan tried to follow in his countryman’s footsteps before the safety car intervened after an incident that eliminated Andreas Stucki (Stucki Motorsport) and Knut Eirik Knudsen (TF Performance) at turn one.

At the end of lap two, the race was red-flagged to allow for the evacuation of the damaged cars. The race restarted behind the safety car for one lap before the race resumed. Gabriele Torelli held onto the lead, but Nicolas Milan and Anthony Jurado found an opening on Guillaume Maio on the next lap whilst there were more and more overtakes throughout the field.

Tension was also mounting in the duel for victory between Gabriele Torelli and David Pouget. Taking advantage of Gabriele Torelli’s slipstream on the banked section, David Pouget pressured the race leader. Attempting to overtake his rival at turn one on lap eight, the Frenchman slightly touched the Italian and retired with a front-left puncture. Nicolas Milan inherited second place before losing out to Anthony Jurado so that his teammate could preserve his Clio Cup Mid-Europe title.

Alone at the front, Gabriele Torelli ultimately won by a margin of four seconds over Anthony Jurado and Nicolas Milan. Alejandro Schimpf started ninth to finish fourth and win amongst the Challengers ahead of his twin brother Adrian Schimpf (AST Competition), who also made a strong comeback, and Jerzy Spinkiewicz (Uniq Racing). Guillaume Maio won the battle for seventh place, getting the better of Jacopo Giuseppe Cimenes (Essecorse) and Tomas Pekar (Carpek Racing) late in the race. Julien Baziret (Baziret Sport) completed the top ten ahead of Stephan Polderman, winner amongst the Racers.

Despite retiring from the race, which reduced his lead over Nicolas Milan to 250 points, David Pouget (GPA Racing) nevertheless secured the Clio Cup Series super-winner title as his rival will only be able to match his points tally but will not be able to overtake him in the number of victories.

CLIO CUP EUROPE

Gabriele Torelli also won ahead of Anthony Jurado and Nicolas Milan in the Clio Cup Europe to close the gap on David Pouget to eight points. Fourth-placed Alejandro Schimpf won the Challengers Cup ahead of Adrian Schimpf and Guillaume Maio to reduce his deficit to his twin brother to 47 points. Stephan Polderman claimed his second European win of the season in the Racers Cup ahead of Rene Steenmetz (AST Competition) and Lionel Viguier (T2CM) to reignite the title race in a category in which the top four are now covered by just 18 points.

CLIO CUP MID-EUROPE

By also winning the Clio Cup Mid-Europe, Gabriele Torelli took a significant step towards the crown, as the Italian will enter the regional group final race 44 points clear of Anthony Jurado, with just 50 points still available. Challengers Cup winner Guillaume Maio completed the podium ahead of Julien Baziret and Damiano Puccetti (Rangoni Corse), who will have to win tomorrow to deny Nikola Miljkovic the category crown. Lastly, Rene Steenmetz sealed his Racers Cup title on home soil by finishing second behind his rival and teammate Stephan Polderman.

The Clio Cup Series competitors will be back in action on Sunday for the second qualifying session from 9:00 a.m. before the final confrontation of the weekend at 11:55 a.m. The race will be streamed live on the Renault Clio Series Facebook page and YouTube channel.

David Pouget : "Even if today’s race left me a little bitter with this puncture caused by slight contact, I’m extremely pleased with this title as it’s my first since Clio Cup Espana in 2019. I’m delighted, and it rewards the team’s hard work. It was a big season, and we were almost always on the podium. We still have the European and French titles to go for, so that will be our goal at the end of the season !"

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