On Friday, the Clio Cup Open competitors were back in action on another of motor racing’s legendary circuits with the lone free practice session on the German track just a few hours after those of F1.

As was the case at Castellet, Jack Young led the way early on with a best time of 1:59.003s before going on to dominate qualifying the following day with a more than a 0.6s advantage over James Ross (Bob Ross Racing).

RACE 1 : JACK YOUNG CONVERTS POLE TO VICTORY

Jack Young lined up on the starting grid ahead of James Ross and Ben Colburn (West Bourne Motorsport). The pole winner held on to the lead ahead of his countrymen, while Tomas Pekar (Carpek Service) passed Andreas Stucki for fourth place.

Further back, Kevin Jimenez (GPA Racing) missed his braking point and ran into Brett Lidsey (M.R.M), whose return back on track surprised Guillaume Plubel (GPA Racing) and Kevin Landwehr (ADAC Team Weser-EMS e.V). The safety car was called out to allow for the removal of the German’s damaged Clio Cup.

The race resumed on lap four. Jack Young controlled the action at the front, while Karol Urbaniak (BM Racing Team) got around David Pouget (GPA Racing) for sixth place. The Frenchman quickly answered back and Brett Lidsey followed in his wake.

Race leader, Jack Young was soon clear of James Ross, but the battle for the final step on the podium intensified. Andreas Stucki got the better of Tomas Pekar, but the Czech driver retook the position on lap eight before going on to pass Ben Colburn.

Leaving no hope for his rivals, Jack Young won with a nearly three-second margin of victory from James Ross and Tomas Pekar. Ben Colburn held on for fourth despite the attacks from Andreas Stucki and Brett Lidsey, but the Brit was disqualified post-race for his involvement in the incident at the start of the race.

David Pouget was promoted to sixth place ahead of Karol Urbaniak, who was demoted to 19th place after being penalized for not respecting the track limits. After overtaking James Colburn on the penultimate lap, Szymon Jablonski (BM Racing Team) and Marius Rauer (Team Bleekemolen) finished seventh and eight respectively ahead of Albert Legutko (ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg e.V.). James Colburn completed the top ten after a 30-second penalty to Kevin Jimenez.

RACE 2 : JACK YOUNG MISSES OUT ON THE GRAND SLAM

Set using the second-best times in qualifying, the grid saw the top three from race one on the top three positions. With Brett Lidsey having received a ten-place grid penalty, Andreas Stucki started fourth ahead of Ben Colbrun and David Pouget.

The duel between Jack Young and James Ross was different from the day before. At turn one, the pole man closed the door and his rival had to retire after losing control of his car during a start that also brought the races of Brett Lidsey and Saetta McQueen (Team MC Motortecnica) to an early end.

Following the intervention of the safety car, Jack Young led from Tomas Pekar, David Pouget, Andreas Stucki, Ben Colburn and Kevin Jimenez. The leader was not as dominating as he was in race one, with his rivals tucked in right behind, while further down the order there was an incident involving Tyler Lidsey (M.R.M) and Albert Legutko and a stout battle between Aaron Thompson (West Bourne Motorsport) and Tom Piallat (GPA Racing).

On lap seven, David Pouget accidently engaged his pit limiter. Andreas Stucki and Ben Colburn made the most of it to pass the Frenchman, who was relegated to fifth place. Andreas Stucki then began to pressure Tomas Pekar, who ceded the position two laps from the end, while Jack Young was given a drive-through penalty for not respecting the track limits !

Jack Young was first to cross the finish line, but the conversion of his drive-through penalty to a 30-second time penalty dropped him to tenth place. Andreas Stucki inherited the win ahead of Tomas Pekar. Ben Colburn rounded out the podium thanks to a strong defence from the attacks of David Pouget, who was on the charge after his mistake.

Kevin Jimenez was fifth ahead of James Colburn and Szymon Jablonski. The Pole was followed closely by Marius Rauer (Team Bleekemolen) and Guillaume Plubel, who also received a 30-second penalty for not respecting the track limits, to the delight of Alf Ahrens (Ahrens Racing Team), who was promoted to ninth place ahead of Jack Young.

After this second Clio Cup Open of the year, the competitors from around the world will now return to their national and regional cups before getting their first look at the next generation Clio Cup that will make its competition debut next year !

Full results