Jelmini wins on home soil at Misano

Gabriele Torelli, Nicolas Milan, Felice Jelmini and Giacomo Trebbi resumed their battle from Saturday in qualifying on Sunday morning. Gabriele Torelli claimed his second pole position of the weekend by more than three-tenths of a second ahead of Nicolas Milan while Felice Jelmini and Giacomo Trebbi shared row two once again.

Gabriele Torelli made a perfect launch to keep the lead at the start, but Nicolas Milan was on the inside from turn eight. After an unsuccessful attempt, the Frenchman kept attacking in the following corners but Felice Jelmini made the most of this fierce duel to briefly claim the lead before contact with Gabriele Torelli, who was already back at the sharp end of the order.

The action was just as lively in the crowded field at the Mugello World Circuit. Row three starters, Alessandro Alcidi (Milan Competition) and Cristian Ricciarini (Essecorse) retired after a collision on lap two. Alessio Alcidi (Tuder Motorsport) took advantage to move up to fifth place, despite having started outside the top ten. 

Meanwhile, the battle for victory was raging and intensifying. Gabriele Torelli was under increasing pressure from Felice Jelmini, who, in turn, was followed like a shadow by Nicolas Milan. After several hard-fought laps, the leader paid dearly for a small mistake as he locked up the brakes at Tramonto on lap nine, leaving room for Felice Jelmini and Nicolas Milan to get past. Felice Jelmini was now leading the race, followed closely by Nicolas Milan, but the Frenchman soon dropped behind Gabriele Torelli and Giacomo Trebbi after a spectacular save.

Determined to reclaim the lead, Gabriele Torelli dogged Felice Jelmini, but his attacks allowed Nicolas Milan to rejoin the battle in the waning minutes of the race. Felice Jelmini finally managed to pull away to take the win as Gabriele Torelli and Nicolas Milan made contact in the last corner. Giacomo Trebbi made the most of the situation to finish runner-up, 0.018s ahead of Frenchman, who edged out Gabriele Torelli to complete the race two podium.

Alessio Alcidi put in a solid drive to finish fifth ahead of Damiano Puccetti (PMA Motorsport), who won his duel with Gianalberto Coldani (MC Motortecnica) throughout the race. Eighth place overall, Quinto Stefano won the Gentlemen Drivers Cup, ahead of Sandro Soubek (Mair Racing Osttirol) and Cosimo Papi (Scuderia Costa Ovest) into the top ten, as fellow Gentlemen Due (Oregon Team) and Daniele Pasquali (Tuder Motorsport) after Luciano Gioia (Essecorse) rolled.

With his fourth consecutive Clio Cup Italia victory, Felice Jelmini extends his lead over Gabriele Torelli and Giacomo Trebbi in the general classification. The latter also consolidates his advantage in the Challengers Cup, with an 18-point lead over Cosimo Papi and a 25-point advantage over Cristian Ricciarini. Quinto Stefana did the same in the Gentlemen Drivers Cup, Daniele Pasquali and Luciano Gioia are now 33 and 37 points adrift of the leader.

Next week, Clio Cup Spain heds to the Ricardo Tormo Circuit in Valencia (10-12 June). Clio Cup Europe, Clio Cup France and Clio Cup Eastern Europe will be in action the week after at Zandvoort (17-19 June). Mugello will host round three of Clio Cup Italia (15-17 July).

Qualifying 2 - Starting grid - Race 2 - Clio Cup Italia