Torelli doubles up at Mugello

Defeated by a whisker in qualifying the day before, Gabriele Torelli exacted his revenge by winning the pole on Sunday morning by 0.024s ahead of Joran Leneutre (JSB Compétition). Fourteenth after his comeback in race one, Nicolas Milan was third, followed by David Pouget (GPA Racing) and Jerzy Spinkiewicz (Uniq Racing). Meanwhile, Felice Jelmini (PMA Motorsport) had several of his times deleted for not respecting the track limits, forcing the Clio Cup Italia leader to settle for 36th place on the grid.

Nicolas Milan took advantage of a collision between Joran Leneutre and David Pouget and then of Gabriele Torelli's slipstreaming on lap one to move up from fourth to first place. However, the safety car soon came out after Guillaume Maio (GM Sport) was hit by Damiano Puccetti (PMA Motorsport) and rolled onto the passenger side of his car but managed to walk away from the scene. When the race resumed on lap three, Gabriele Torelli reserved the same fate for Nicolas Milan as for David Pouget on the previous day by taking the lead at turn one as Alexandre Albouy (GPA Racing) looked on, trailed by Jerzy Spinkiewicz and Alexandre Finkelstein. The safety car came out again to allow for the removal of Laurent Dziadus’ car (Team Lucas) from the gravel after contact with William Mezzetti (Progetto E20 Motorsport).

Heading to the second restart, Gabriele Torelli controlled the pace of the field and waited for the last moment to accelerate to prevent any attack from Nicolas Milan. Meanwhile, Alexandre Finkelstein overtook Jerzy Spinkiewicz, then Alexandre Albouy, to move up to third place. The battles continued throughout the field, with Nicolas Milan attacking the leader shortly before a third safety car period caused by Francesco Cosentino (Scuderia Costa Ovest) and Benjamin Cauvas (GPA Racing).

The race resumed for a final one-lap sprint. Gabriele Torelli used the same tactics on the restart to keep the lead and seal his second win at Mugello ahead of Nicolas Milan and Alexandre Finkelstein, who claimed his first overall podium and won among the Challengers. Alexandre Albouy, Joran Leneutre and Styve Juif (GM Sport) completed the top six. After Jerzy Spinkiewicz's spin in the last corner caused by Léo Jousset (Milan Competition), who was penalised after the race, Cosimo Papi (Scuderia Costa Ovest), Cristian Ricciarini (Essecorse), Alessandro Brigatti (Progetto E20 Motorsport) followed in that order, while Felice Jelmini closed the top ten after gaining twenty-six positions in only five laps of green flag racing. Pierre Monmaneix finished 14th overall and first among the Gentlemen Drivers.

CLIO CUP ITALIA

The undisputed leader in Clio Cup Italia, Gabriele Torelli scored his second consecutive win ahead of Cosimo Papi and Cristian Ricciarini to further reduce his deficit in the general classification to Felice Jelmini, fourth on Sunday. Second at the finish, Cosimo Papi took his first win of the season in the Challengers Cup ahead of Cristian Ricciarini, who now leads the category, and Alessio Alcidi (Tudor Motorsport) after the penalty handed to Damiano Puccetti for his part in the incident with Guillaume Maio. In the Gentlemen Drivers Cup, Quinto Stefana (Milan Competition) sealed his double victory by beating his closest rivals, Due (Oregon Team) and Daniele Pasquali (Tuder Motorsport).

CLIO CUP FRANCE

Nicolas Milan took the lead at the start and made the most of the situation, as David Pouget had to make do with the points for thirteenth place. While David Pouget remains in the lead in Clio Cup France, his rival is now right behind him thanks to this victory over Alexandre Finkelstein, who won for the first time in the Challengers Cup ahead of Alexandre Albouy and Joran Leneutre. Despite his penalty, Léo Jousset still has a narrow lead before the final rounds of 2022. Pierre Monmaneix won again in the Gentlemen Drivers Cup ahead of Lionel Viguier (T2CM) and Mathieu Rigoulet (Vic'Team), who retains the lead in the class.

The Clio Cup now heads off for its summer break before returning to Hockenheim (Germany), where the Clio Cup Europe, Clio Cup Eastern Europe and Clio Cup France will share the bill from 2 to 4 September. The Clio Cup Italia will be back in action at the Red Bull Ring (Austria) the week after.

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