The Clio Cup Series made its first visit to the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve a spectacular one. Nicolas Milan (Milan Compétition) scored his first win of the year after a race full of twists and turns on Saturday before his countryman Anthony Jurado (Rangoni Corse) reclaimed the lead in the general classification with victory the following day. After the second round of the season, the Frenchmen and Gabriele Torelli (Rangoni Corse) are one step ahead in the title fight going into the next round at Hockenheim (10-12 May).
29 April 2024
For the first appearance of the fifth generation Clio Cup in Portimão, 34 competitors competed at this new stop for the Clio Cup Series, Clio Cup España and Clio Cup France calendars.
Race 1: Milan, winner and mechanic!
Pierre Brédeaux (Comte Racing) drew first blood in private practice on Thursday, but Adrián Schimpf (AST Competition) took over in the drizzle on Friday morning before Gabriele Torelli set the pace in the dry a few hours later. The Italian continued his fine form on Saturday morning in qualifying to become the third different pole winner in as many sessions this season.
When the lights went out, Nicolas Milan leapt to the inside of Gabriele Torelli, but David Pouget (GPA Racing) made the most of their duel at turn one to take the lead before the three were involved in a chain reaction contact. Anthony Jurado and Adrián Schimpf took advantage of the incident to move ahead, but Nicolas Milan quickly regained the lead in an intensely animated group at the front as the battle for third place between Gabriele Torelli and Adrián Schimpf reshuffled the order.
The race was red-flagged after a spectacular accident that led to the retirement of Mauro Polderman and Rene Steenmetz, with both AST Competition drivers fortunately unharmed. The race resumed after the two cars were evacuated and an observation lap behind the safety car. After working hard during the break to repair the damage to the front left of his car, Nicolas Milan held on to first place, followed by Anthony Jurado and Pierre Bordeaux. Behind them, David Pouget pipped Nikola Miljkovic (Tempo Racing) for fouth place. The two men then surprised Pierre Bredeaux on lap six before the battle for victory intensified with Anthony Jurado’s first move on Nicolas Milan, who replied on lap nine.
The duel allowed David Pouget to catch the leaders as the top ten was now covered by less than five seconds. Despite a final attack from Anthony Jurado, Nicolas Milan held off his former teammate and David Pouget to take the win. Pierre Bredeaux finished fourth at just over a second to Nicolas Milan and took top honours in the Junior category. Alexandre Finkelstein (GPA Racing) rounded off the all-French top five. Initially in sixth place, Nikola Miljkovic was penalised for abusing track limits. Gabriele Torelli, Alejandro Schimpf (AST Competition), Adrian Schimpf (AST Competition) and Florian Venturi (GM Sport) were promoted ahead of the Serbian, who still won the Challengers category. Stephan Polderman (AST Competition) finished 18th overall and first in the Gentlemen category.
Race 2: Jurado passes Torelli on the last lap
Gabriele Torelli repeated the feat in qualifying on a dry track on Sunday to become the first driver to win two poles this season, beating David Pouget, Anthony Jurado, Alexandre Finkelstein, Pierre Bredeaux and Nicolas Milan.
The Italian driver successfully defended his position against David Pouget at the start. Behind, Alexandre Finkelstein and Pierre Bredeaux surprised Anthony Jurado. The battle intensified with contact between Pierre Bredeaux and Alexandre Finkelstein, who made a superb save shortly before the safety car intervened to enable the removal of the car of Andrea Chierichetti (MC Motorsport) from the gravel trap after his incident with Gaël Rostant (GPA Racing).
Gabriele Torelli quickly got away at the restart, with David Pouget going wide at the final corner. Pierre Bredeaux and Anthony Jurado took advantage of the situation to overtake the title holder before engaging in a duel won by Anthony Jurado. Further back, David Pouget regained the advantage over Pierre Bredeaux thanks to a bold move, which earned him a drive-through penalty, as did his rival for his part in the collision with Alexandre Finkelstein.
The safety car was back on track after Gaël Rostant’s exit, and the race resumed for the final lap, where Anthony Jurado found his way past Gabriele Torelli. Despite his teammate’s counterattack, the Frenchman became the season’s first two-time winner, taking the Rangoni Corse team to a one-two finish. Alexandre Finkelstein joined them on the podium, ahead of Nicolas Milan in a quartet less than six-tenths of a second apart. After Adrián Schimpf was penalised for track limits, Florian Venturi finished fifth and first Junior, followed by Guillaume Maio (GM Sport), who won in the Challengers category. Alejandro Schimpf, Nikola Miljkovic, Damiano Puccetti (Rangoni Corse) and Jack Byrne (GPA Racing) completed the top ten after an intense battle in a field in which Stephan Polderman won again in the Gentlemen category.
CLIO CUP SERIES
While Nicolas Milan took the lead with his victory on Saturday, Anthony Jurado regained the lead in the general classification thanks to his win on Sunday. The Montpellier native leaves Portugal with an 11-point lead over his rival, who has the same advantage over Gabriele Torelli. Fourth-placed Guillaume Maio is now the sole leader in the Challengers category after sharing the wins with Nikola Miljkovic. Jack Byrne and Mickaël Carrée (T2CM) remain in the lead in the Junior and Gentlemen categories, respectively, despite the double successes of Alejandro Schimpf and Stephan Polderman.
CLIO CUP FRANCE
As in Nogaro, Nicolas Milan and Gabriele Torelli each claimed victory in Clio Cup France, but the Frenchman is now the sole leader with a six-point margin over the Italian. Third overall, Florian Venturi still leads the Junior category after sharing the honours with Pierre Bredeaux. In the Challengers category, Calvin Comte (Comte Racing) is taking advantage of his two podium finishes in Portugal to head the points table, despite Manuel Fernandes’ (Milan Compétition) double victory on home soil. Mickaël Carrée, who won twice this weekend in the Gentlemen’s category in France, is running away with the lead in this class.
CLIO CUP ESPAÑA
Portimão also hosted the second round of Clio Cup España, where Alejandro Schimpf dictated the pace with two wins. The Spaniard moves to fourth place in the general classification, still led by Damiano Puccetti (Rangoni Corse) thanks to his pair of second positions this weekend. The Italian is 35 points clear of his nearest challenger, Gaël Rostant, who retains the lead in the Gentlemen category despite the victories of Samuel Chaligne (T2CM) and Andrea Chierichetti (MC Motortecnica).
The competitors will soon head to Hockenheim for round three of the Clio Cup Series and Clio Cup France calendar from 10 to 12 May. The Clio Cup Mid-Europe will kick off its season in Germany while the Clio Cup España contenders will meet again the following week at Misano.
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