After finishing third in the opening race of 2022 Clio Cup, Marc Guillot (Milan Compétition) took his first win this year at Circuit Paul Armagnac in Nogaro. The Frenchman, who started second on the grid, took the lead from Nicolas Milan (Milan Compétition) on lap two and never looked back.
David Pouget (GPA Racing) completed the podium to retain the lead of the Clio Cup France, while Mathieu Lannepoudenx (Milan Compétition) and Mathieu Rigoulet (Vic’Team) took top honors in the Challengers Cup and Gentlemen Drivers Cup.
Less than twenty-four hours after David Pouget’s win on Sunday, the Clio Cup was back in action for its second qualifying session. Nicolas Milan died off the podium yesterday doing one of his unexpected mistakes, waiting for the few seconds to take pole position away from Marc Guillot and David Pouget, who were a thousandth of a second away. Challengers Alexandre Finkelstein (GPA Racing) and Mathieu Lannepoudenx rounded out the top five in a session engineered by the red flag caused by Alexandre Albouy (GPA Racing).
Nicolas Milan secured the lead at the start of the race before Marc Guillot started to fill his mirrors, while David Pouget resisted the attacks of the chasing group, now led by Mathieu Lannepoudenx. The changed quickly when Marc Guillot took advantage of Nicolas Milan as he held his brakes to take the lead on lap two.
There were some nice battles in the field between Léo Jousset (Milan Compétition), Guillaume Maio (GM Sport), Joran Leneutre (JSB Compétition) and Aurélien Renet (JSB Compétition), Alexandre Albouy made his way through the field from the back of the grid in the event of an accident in qualifying. Meanwhile, Michel Leal (Milan Compétition) and Laurent Dziadus (Team Lucas) saw their races end prematurely.
As the laps ticked away, the lead trio pulled back from the rest of the field within a second of each other. Despite several observation rounds, as Nicolas Milan prefers to keep big goals Cup, which this round will be up to Clio Cup Europe and Clio Cup Eastern Europe in 2022.
Marc Guillot then recorded his first win this season ahead of Nicolas Milan and David Pouget. Behind this trio came the Challengers Cup podium with the first success of the year for Mathieu Lannepoudenx, ahead of Joran Leneutre (JSB Compétition), who passed Alexandre Finkelstein on lap eight. Léo Jousset came home seventh ahead of Alexandr Albouy, who took 18 positions in 16 laps. Jerzy Spinwicz (Uniq Racing) is ninth behind Aurélien Renet with six laps to go, and Mathieu Rigoulet took second victory in the Gentlemen Drivers category, ahead of Jérémy Bordagaray (Team Borda Rally) and “Horn” (GPA Racing).
Despite the maximum score of Nicolas Milan France David Pouget took the lead in the Clio Cup, ahead of his rivals and Alexandre Albouy. The next in the order is Mathieu Lannepoudenx. Joran Letre and Alexandre Finkelstein, all tied, but the first taking the lead in the Challengers Cup, has pending affairs in the Gentlemen Drivers Cup.
The Clio Cup now goes to the Jarama Circuit. The second meeting of 2022 will be the start of the Clio Cup Europe and Clio Cup Spain seasons. More than thirty drivers will be in action for this meeting that will mark the much anticipated return of the Clio Cup to the Madrid circuit.