Torelli wins on home soil at Monza

The first meeting of the Clio Cup Europe, Clio Cup Italia and Clio Cup Mid-Europe calendars at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza welcomed competitors to a wet Friday. Gabriele Torelli was fastest in practice in the rain before Fernando Navarrete (Chefo Sport) took over on a drier track, but the Italian reclaimed the lead in both qualifying sessions.

When the lights went out, Gabriele Torelli held on to the lead despite the pressure of David Pouget and Cristian Ricciarini in an unchanged top three. Fourth on the grid, Jacopo Giuseppe Cimenes (Essecorse) was caught by Tomas Pekar (Carpek Racing), Mattia Lancellotti, Luca Franca and Giacomo Trebbi (MC Motortecnica). After an eventful opening lap with 49 drivers at the start, Alex Lancellotti (Faro Racing) retired, resulting in the first safety car period of the race.

At the restart, Gabriele Torelli resisted the attacks of David Pouget, nestled in his slipstream. Further back, Mattia Lancellotti got the better of Tomas Pekar at the chicane before Luca Franca and Gabriele Trebbi got in between the two men before the second safety car intervention caused by an incident at the Parabolica between Federico Danova (Essecorse) and Fernando Navarrete (Chefo Sport). 

The action resumed at the beginning of lap eight. David Pouget attacked Gabriele Torelli once more without success. Meanwhile, Luca Franca found an opening on Mattia Lancellotti to slot into fourth place. The rest of the field was just as lively until Marc Fleurance (T2CM) made a mistake at the Variante Ascari and sent Jerzy Spinkiewicz (Uniq Racing) off. After this safety car period, Gabriele Torelli fought off the chasers in a final sprint that was cut short by an incident between Lionel Viguier (T2CM), Quinto Stefana (Milan Compétition) and Ludovic Longoni (MC Motortecnica).

Leader from start to finish behind the safety car, Gabriele Torelli sealed his victory on home soil ahead of David Pouget and Cristian Ricciarini. Luca Franca won in the Racers Cup and crossed the finish line in fourth place ahead of Challengers Mattia Lancellotti, Giacomo Trebbi and Jacopo Giuseppe Cimenes. Frenchmen Nicolas Milan (Milan Compétition), Anthony Jurado (Milan Compétition) and Julien Baziret (Baziret Sport) completed the top ten.

CLIO CUP EUROPE

Gabriele Torelli also won the opening race of the season for Clio Cup Europe on Saturday, beating David Pouget and Cristian Ricciarini. Fourth, Luca Franca won among the Racers, as did Mattia Lancellotti in the Challengers Cup ahead of Jacopo Giuseppe Cimenes and Julien Baziret.

CLIO CUP ITALIA

Among the competitors in Clio Cup Italia, Cristian Ricciarini led from start to finish to take the lead in the general classification ahead of Racer Luca Franca and Challenger Mattia Lancellotti. Giacomo Trebbi and Jacopo Giuseppe Cimenes completed the top five in this first race of the season.

CLIO CUP MID-EUROPE

Clio Cup Italia defending champion Gabriele Torelli started his first Clio Cup Mid-Europe campaign perfectly with a clear victory ahead of Anthony Jurado and Julien Baziret. The latter won the Challengers Cup ahead of Nikola Miljkovic (Tempo Racing Team) and Guillaume Maio (GM Sport), while Rene Steenmetz (Chefo Sport) took top honours in the Racers Cup.

The competitors will return to the track tomorrow for race two at 1:35 pm. After dominating the qualifying sessions on Friday, Gabriele Torelli will again start on pole, this time ahead of Anthony Jurado and Luca Franca. The action will be streamed live on the Renault Clio Series Facebook page and YouTube channel.

Collective tests 1 - Collective tests 2 - Qualifying - Starting grid - Race