Jelmini takes Clio Cup Europe victory at Monza 31.10.2021: Saturday’s fallen victor, Felice Jelmini (PMA Motorsport) bounced back with the win in race two from the Clio Cup Europe weekend at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza. On home soil, the Italian beats Nicolas Milan (Milan Competition), who takes a big ste

Saturday’s fallen victor, Felice Jelmini (PMA Motorsport) bounced back with the win in race two from the Clio Cup Europe weekend at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza.


On home soil, the Italian beats Nicolas Milan (Milan Competition), who takes a big step towards the title. Challengers Cup winner Filippo Berto (Oregon Team) completes the podium while Alessandro Sebasti Scalera (Milan Competition) wins the Gentlemen Drivers Cup.



Felice Jelmini, who set the fastest time on Friday, started from pole ahead of Federico Scionti (Scuderia Costa Ovest), Filippo Berto and William Mezzetti (Progetto E20 Motorsport). Behind the Italian quartet, Nicolas Milan was the highest placed title contender on the grid.

His rivals Marc Guillot (Milan Compétition) and David Pouget (GPA Racing) started 10th and 15th respectively. The latter was the victim of a misunderstanding between Felice Jelmini and Nicolas Milan, which caused a chain reaction in a field in search of the draft during Q1.



Like on Saturday, the race began in wet and tricky conditions, as Anthony Jurado (Milan Competition) could testify by seeing his race stopped during the installation lap. When the lights went out, Felice Jelmini was overtaken by Federico Scionti while Nicolas Milan was between the two Italian drivers. However, the fallen poleman took advantage of an attack of Nicolas Milan on the new leader at the Variante Ascari to retaliate and regain his advantage.



This three-way battle did Mathieu Lannepoudenx a lot of good, as he tried to get into the fight before retiring on lap three. The safety car appeared in the aftermath to evacuate his Clio and Henrik Seibel’s (Carpek Services) that was stuck in the gravel.



At the restart, Felice Jelmini resisted the pressure of Nicolas Milan, who was himself exposed to Federico Scionto. The Italian wasn’t any more comfortable as he was followed closely by Marc Guillot, Filippo Berto and David Pouget. However, there was about to be a real turning point in the race. After passing nine cars in three opening laps before the safety car, David Pouget spun after a contact on lap seven and rejoined in 14th position.



The end of the race was just as intense. Filippo Berto took advantage of the mistakes of Federico Scionti and Marc Guillot to move up to third place. The order also changed in the chase group with a huge battle between Alexandre Albouy and Marc Guillot ahead of a tight six-car pack.



Felice Jelmini went on to win the race, nearly three seconds ahead of Nicolas Milan. Third overall, Filippo Berto won the Challengers Cup ahead of Alexandre Albouy and Marc Guillot. Sixth-place finisher Antonio Herrerias (Chefo Sport) completed the Challengers podium.



Nicolas Abella (Chefo Sport) was seventh, followed by Federico Scionti. Alessandro Sebasti Scalera took top honours in the Gentlemen Drivers Cup after Andrea Argenti (SI Racing Team) was penalised for gaining an advantage outside the track limits while David Pouget completed the top ten.



With his second place, Nicolas Milan has eliminated Marc Guillot from the race for the title. The Frenchman now has a 29-point lead over his rival David Pouget. In the Challengers Cup, Alexandre Albouy consolidates his second position behind Kévin Jimenez, while Lionel Viguier (TB2S) is still gaining ground on Horn (GPA Racing), who still leads in the Gentlemen Drivers Cup.




Group A


Like on Saturday, Felice Jelmini won in Group A, this time ahead of Filippo Berto and Marc Guillot, who secured the title yesterday. Filippo Berto, who clinched the Challengers Cup crown the day before, was joined by Giacomo Trebbi (MC Motortecnica) and William Mezzetti on the category podium.



Lastly, Alessandro Sebasti Scalera celebrated his crown with another victory over Pietro Bacchi (PMA Motorsport) and Quinto Stefana (Oregon Team) after Andrea Argenti’s penalty.



Group C


Crowned in Groups A and C this weekend, Marc Guillot celebrated his title with a double. The Frenchman won this time in front of Nikola Miljkovic (Tempo Racing Team), victorious in the Challengers Cup ahead of Paul Cocaign (TB2S) and Jerzy Spinkiewicz (Uniq Racing), who already clinched the title.



Lionel Viguier also ended his Group C campaign with another victory in the Gentlemen Drivers Cup.




Group D


Leader from start to finish, Nicolas Milan continues to pull away in Group D by also taking advantage of David Pouget’s misfortunes. Following his triumph on Saturday, the Frenchman won ahead of Alexandre Albouy, who widened the gap at the top of the Challengers Cup classification, and Antonio Herrerias. Nicolas Abella completed the podium in this category.



Lastly, the Gentlemen Drivers Cup looks more competitive than ever after a weekend to forget for Stephen Polderman. After a second win this weekend for Rene Steenmetz (Chefo Sport) ahead of Horn and Joaquin Rodrigo (Vearsa Sport), Horn leads by just one point heading to the season finale in Barcelona !



The 2021 Clio Cup Europe season will conclude in less than two weeks at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya (12-14 November). More than forty competitors are expected for this European finale which will also see Groups B and D crown their winners in all their categories !





 


Renault Sport Racing- also photo