Over fifty competitors turned up in Catalonia for round seven on the calendar. The hostilities got underway on Thursday, with David Pouget (GPA Racing) dominating the first practice session before Gabriele Torelli took over Friday morning.

Race 1 : A Torelli masterclass

Nicolas Milan (Milan Competition) led the way in qualifying, taking pole position ahead of Mauro Polderman (AST Competition), who posted his best result of the year. The Dutchman was on the front row ahead of the Rangoni Corse trio of Gabriele Torelli, Damiano Puccetti and Anthony Jurado.

Nicolas Milan saw Gabriele Torelli and Anthony Jurado close on his heels from the start. Meanwhile, Mauro Polderman slipped back to fourth place, followed by Damiano Puccetti and Nikola Miljkovic (Tempo Racing) before the safety car intervened to evacuate the stopped car of Sebastian Gavazza (Sevenhills Motorsport).

Nicolas Milan held on to the lead despite a three-way battle on the restart. Anthony Jurado launched another attack on the next lap, but the leader resisted in an escalating battle. Gabriele Torelli bided his time and took advantage of this duel to get between the two before briefly finding an opening on lap seven. Nicolas Milan countered immediately, but two laps later, the Frenchman was overtaken for good in an incredibly compact and spirited field.

Despite a final counterplay from his rival, Gabriele Torelli won the race in the twilight ahead of Nicolas Milan. Thirteenth on the grid, David Pouget (GPA Racing) completed his comeback by snatching the final podium position from Nikola Miljkovic and Anthony Jurado. Sixth at the chequered flag, Lucas Cartelle (Milan Compétition) was penalised for his part in the collision with Mauro Polderman. Damiano Puccetti inherited sixth place ahead of Mauro Polderman, Lorenzo van Riet (Rangoni Corse), Aurélien Renet (JSB Compétition) and Guillaume Maio (GM Sport).

Race 2 : Torelli withstands two restarts

Gabriele Torelli and David Pouget set precisely the same time in Saturday morning qualifying, but the Italian set it first to claim pole position. Nicolas Milan was third, 0.035s behind the leaders, followed by Anthony Jurado, Nikola Miljkovic, and Lorenzo van Riet.

Gabriele Torelli maintained his advantage at the start over David Pouget. Nicolas Milan ran third despite attacks from Anthony Jurado and Nikola Miljkovic, and Damiano Puccetti soon joined them after his excellent start from ninth place. At the end of the opening lap, the safety car intervened for the first time to allow for the extraction of Rene Steenmetz (AST Competition) from the gravel trap.

Gabriele Torelli showed composure on the restart despite increasing pressure from David Pouget. However, David Pouget lost momentum, and the quartet of Nikola Miljkovic, Anthony Jurado, Nicolas Milan, and Damiano Puccetti took advantage to battle for second place before a second safety car period caused by Nikola Tosic (AKSK Crvena Zvezda) and Knut Eirik Knudsen (TF Performance).

Despite losing his advantage, Gabriele Torelli maintained the lead at the start, but the recovery was short-lived as the safety car returned to the track right up to the chequered flag following an incident between Eduardo Miranda (Uniq Racing) and Ludovico Longoni (MC Motortecnica). Gabriele Torelli and Anthony Jurado sealed another one-two finish for Rangoni Corse. Nicolas Milan completed the podium after Nikola Miljkovic was given a drive-through penalty following his collision with Lorenzo van Riet. Fourth-placed Damiano Puccetti was also penalised for failing to use the escape route after an off-track excursion, allowing David Pouget and Mauro Polderman to each gain a position. Thomas Compain (Milan Compétition), Guillaume Maio, Jack Byrne (GPA Racing) and Giacomo Trebbi (MC Motortecnica) closed the top ten.

CLIO CUP SERIES

With his two victories, Gabriele Torelli has taken a significant step towards the title in the Clio Cup’s flagship competition by extending his lead to 122 points. The Italian could be crowned at the next race at Circuit Paul Ricard. On the podium this weekend, Nicolas Milan, Anthony Jurado and David Pouget are the only drivers who could deny him the crown. His one-two finish with Anthony Jurado on Saturday also gave Rangoni Corse the team title ahead of the season’s last four races.

Leonardo Arduini (MC Motortecnica) kept the lead by two points in the Junior category following the victories of Damiano Puccetti and Mauro Polderman. Third on Saturday, Jack Byrne also remains in title contention. Meanwhile, Nikola Miljkovic and Guillaume Maio shared the wins in the Challengers category, in which Lorenzo van Riet still leads by seven points. Lastly, Mickaël Carrée (T2CM) and Stephan Polderman (AST Competition) shared the honours in the Gentlemen category, where the Frenchman could claim the title next time out at Le Castellet.

CLIO CUP ITALIA

The Clio Cup Italia entered the second half of its season in Barcelona. Alex Lancellotti (GPA Racing), the leader going into the weekend, suffered a significant setback when scrutineering revealed that he did not have the required amount of fuel in his tank after Q1. Among his rivals, Anthony Jurado bounced back with two wins, joined on both podiums by Ronnie Stefani (Essecorse) and Giacomo Trebbi (MC Motortecnica), who scored double wins in their respective categories. Giacomo Trebbi leaves Barcelona leading both the general classification and the Challengers class. Ronnie Stefani moves up to second in the Juniors behind Leonardo Arduini. Cristian Ricciarini (Essecorse) and Stephan Polderman were each victorious among the Gentlemen, where the Italian leads the Dutchman by 30 points.

CLIO CUP MID-EUROPE

For the penultimate round of the Clio Cup Mid-Europe, Challenger Nikola Miljkovic won on Friday ahead of Junior Mauro Polderman, who became the fifth different winner in eight races the following day. Lorenzo van Riet, who finished third and fifth, still has a 44-point lead over Guillaume Maio in the general classification and a 16-point advantage over the same rival in the Challengers category. Runner-up on Saturday, Thomas Compain also remains in the hunt for the title, but the Frenchman conceded the lead to Mauro Polderman in the Junior class, where Jack Byrne, Nikola Tosic and Felix Heiberg (TF Performance) are still in with a chance of title in the season finale at Le Castellet.

CLIO CUP ESPAÑA

Damiano Puccetti, who secured the title at Spa-Francorchamps in June, concluded his campaign in style with two wins in the final round. Among his rivals, the title in the Gentlemen category remained up for grabs. On Friday, Rene Steenmetz won, while Samuel Chaligne took advantage of the collision between Andrea Chierichetti (MC Motortecnica) and Gaël Rostant (GPA Racing) to take control of the category. The Frenchman did not waver the following day, winning ahead of his countryman and the Italian to claim the crown.

After the conclusion of the Clio Cup España, the Clio Cup Series now enters its final sprint. Held at Circuit Paul Ricard (4-6 October), round eight of the 2024 season will also host the Clio Cup France and Clio Cup Mid-Europe finals as well as the penultimate round of Clio Cup Italia.

Results - Clio Cup Series - Clio Cup Italia - Clio Cup Mid-Europe - Clio Cup España