The Clio Cup Series competitors gathered this past weekend at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix circuit for their first summer meeting of the year. Welcomed by scorching conditions, the drivers took to the track on Friday for two free practice sessions, with Gabriele Torelli and Cristian Ricciarini (Essecorse) setting the pace. Defending champion Gabriele Torelli continued his momentum the following day, setting the best time in both qualifying sessions.

Race 1 : Torelli unassailable

In slightly cooler conditions after the storm that hit the Autodromo di Imola, Gabriele Torelli pulled away from the trio of Giacomo Trebbi (MC Motortecnica), Alex Lancellotti, and Mattia Lancellotti (Rangoni Corse) as soon as the lights went out on an almost completely dry track.

After a clean first lap, Mattia Lancellotti was the first to make a mistake, ending his race in the gravel trap at turn one. While Gabriele Torelli gradually extended his lead, Alex Lancellotti found an opening on Giacomo Trebbi at Acque Minerali on lap four. In an extraordinarily compact and lively chase group, Gaël Castelli (Milan Compétition) followed suit a lap later after getting the better of Nicolas Milan (Milan Compétition). Anthony Jurado, Cristian Ricciarini (Essecorse) and David Pouget (GPA Racing) also joined the battle before the safety car came on track as Ben Jenkins (LDR Performance Tuning) got caught out by a kerb at Variante Alta.

Despite seeing his lead erased, Gabriele Torelli controlled the restart and took advantage of the thrilling and intense duels between his pursuers to take the win. Challenger Alex Lancellotti held on to second place, while Gaël Castelli was disqualified for being one kilogram under the minimum weight allowed during post-race scrutineering. Nicolas Milan inherited third place after passing Giacomo Trebbi. David Pouget finished fifth ahead of the best Gentleman, Cristian Ricciarini. Anthony Jurado claimed eighth place ahead of Junior Mauro Polderman (AST Competition). 2021 Alpine Esports Series winner Jaroslav ‘Jardier’ Honzík (GM Sport) scored his best overall result in ninth place, while Ronnie Stefani (Rangoni Corse) rounded out the top ten.

Race 2 : Jurado returns to the top step of the podium

On Sunday, Gabriele Torelli got off to a flying start and immediately pulled away, taking advantage of Damiano Puccetti’s (Rangoni Corse) spinning tyres. Behind them, Anthony Jurado and Nikola Tošić (Rangoni Corse) overtook their teammates, Ronnie Stefani and Mattia Lancellotti, in the Rangoni Corse sextet that had dominated Q2.

After a short safety car due to the retirement of Rolando Bordacchini (Rangoni Corse) on the opening lap, Gabriele Torelli controlled the attacks of Damiano Puccetti, who was surprised by Anthony Jurado and Nikola Tošić in the next two laps. Further back, David Pouget held off Gaël Castelli and even found an opening on Mattia Lancellotti just before another safety car period following an incident that eliminated Mauro Polderman. At the restart, Gabriele Torelli kept the lead ahead of an increasingly nervous field as the safety car returned to the track after Damiano Puccetti rolled in his duel with Nikola Tošić.

At the start of the final sprint, Gabriele Torelli lost out to Anthony Jurado and Nikola Tošić as contacts became more frequent throughout the field. Once in the lead, Anthony Jurado kept his cool to claim his first win of the season ahead of Junior Nikola Tošić, who secured his maiden Clio Cup Series podium finish. Gabriele Torelli held off David Pouget to complete the Rangoni Corse sweep of the top three.

Ronnie Stefani won his fierce battle with Challenger Mattia Lancellotti and Gaël Castelli to come home fourth. Ben Colburn (Westbourne Motorsport), Jaroslav Honzik and Filip Kunčer (Milan Compétition) avoided the pitfalls to finish in the top ten. Further back, Laurent Dziadus (Team Lucas) was the highest-placed Gentleman after Stephan Polderman (AST Competition) was penalised for his role in an incident with Andreas Stucki (Stucki Motorsport). Starting last after rolling his car several times in qualifying, Daire Flock (Westbourne Motorsport) made up 22 positions despite three safety car periods.

Clio Cup Series

Missing out on the podium for the first time this year, David Pouget sees his lead reduced to less than 100 points over Saturday’s winner, Gabriele Torelli. Sunday’s winner, Anthony Jurado, moves up to third place in the general classification at the expense of Ben Colburn, who still leads the Challengers category, where the Lancellotti cousins shared the honours. On the strength of his first overall podium finish and his first category victory of 2025, Nikola Tošić also regained ground on Mauro Polderman in the Juniors class. In the Gentlemen category, Laurent Dziadus made a big move with his Sunday win, while Navajo (MC Motortecnica) had won the day before.

Clio Cup Italia

Leading the Clio Cup Italia before Imola, Alex Lancellotti consolidated his lead over Giacomo Trebbi with a victory on Saturday and a top-five finish on Sunday. The Italian also remains at the top of the Challengers table, where he shared the wins with Mattia Lancellotti. In his first appearance this season, Ronnie Stefani claimed his maiden Clio Cup Italia overall victory on Sunday, and his double win in the Juniors category puts him just ten points behind leader Damiano Puccetti. Lastly, Cristian Ricciarini and Stephan Polderman were victorious in the Gentlemen category, which the Dutchman still leads as the season approaches its halfway point.

Clio Cup España

Gabriele Torelli extended his lead in Clio Cup España after the third round on the calendar. The Italian won both races at the weekend, finishing twice ahead of Nicolas Milan and Loïc Labeda (GM Sport), his closest rival and double winner in the Challengers category. Junior driver Stefan Stojkov (Rangoni Corse) and Challenger Yokeshwaran Krishnavelu (GPA Racing) completed the top five in both races.

Many of the competitors in Emilia-Romagna will be back in action in less than two weeks at Misano (18-20 July), where the Clio Cup Series, Clio Cup France, and Clio Cup Italia will reach the halfway point of their seasons.

Imola results - Clio Cup Series - Clio Cup Italia - Clio Cup España