Nicolas Milan wins Clio Cup race one at Misano

The Clio Cup contenders gathered on Friday to kick off a triple-header beginning at Misano (Italy) before heading to Valencia (Spain), then Zandvoort (Netherlands).

Felice Jelmini dominated the first collective test, but Gabriele Torelli (Faro Racing) responded in the following session before taking pole position by more than six-tenths of a second ahead of Nicolas Milan and Felice Jelmini. Challengers Giacomo Trebbi and Gianalberto Coldani (MC Motortecnica) completed the top five while Gentleman Driver Quinto Stefana put in a fast run to qualify sixth.

When the lights went out, Nicolas Milan was side by side with Gabriele Torelli and took the lead after a hard-fought duel in the opening corners. Felice Jelmini and Giacomo Trebbi took advantage of this battle to move up to slot between the front-row starters whilst Alessandro Alcidi (Milan Competition) surprised in his first start this season to beat Gianalberto Coldani and Lorenzo Nicoli (Progetto E20 Motorsport) for fifth.

Clio Cup Europe and Clio Cup France regular Nicolas Milan, who is not eligible to score points in Clio Cup Italia, soon saw his rearview mirrors full of his Italian rivals. Gabriele Torelli got past Giacomo Trebbi to join Felice Jelmini as they closed the gap to the race leader in just a few laps.

On lap six, Felice Jelmini seized on a slight error from Nicolas Milan to take the lead, but the Frenchman quickly replied. One lap later, Nicolas MIlan was back on the offensive, as was Gabriele Torelli. The trio entered the Curvone corner three-wide, and Nicolas Milan got through cleanly while his two rivals overshot the apex and drifted on their way back. Nicolas Milan then had to defend his lead from Felice Jelmini, whereas Giacomo Trebbi overtook Gabriele Torelli for third place as Alessandro Alcidi looked on.

In a group still as compact as ever in the final minutes of the race, Gabriele Torelli found an opening on Giacomo Trebbi but the race was red-flagged after Pietro Blumetti's (PMA Motorsport) accident on the start-finish straight.

The final classification was frozen at the conclusion of lap eleven. Nicolas Milan sealed his victory ahead of Felice Jelmini and Giacomo Trebbi, while Gabriele Torelli and Alessandro Alcidi completed the top five. After overtaking Lorenzo Nicoli (Progetto E20 Motorsport) before he retired, Gianalberto Coldani and Cosimo Papi (Scuderia Costa Ovest) were sixth and seventh ahead of William Mezzetti (Progetto E20 Motorsport) and Cristian Ricciarini (Essecorse), who started from 16th place on the grid. Alessio Alcidi (Tuder Motorsport) rounded out the top ten. Quinto Stefana dominted the Gentlemen Drivers Cup ahead of Diego Cassarà (Faro Racing) and Daniel Pasquali (PMA Motorsport).

With Nicolas Milan ineligible for points in Clio Cup Italia, Felice Jelmini maintained his perfect record since the start of the season and increased his lead over Gabriele Torelli. Giacomo Trebbi led from start to finish in the Challengers Cup and now leads the category by one point over Cristian Ricciarini while Quinto Stefana is the new leader in the Gentlemen Drivers Cup.

Clio Cup will be back in action tomorrow at 9.00 am for qualifying before race two at 2.20 pm, streamed live on the Renault Clio Series Facebook page and YouTube channel.

Collective tests 1 - Collective tests 2 - Qualifying 1 - Starting grid - Race 1 - Clio Cup Italia