Eurocup Clio
A new car, new teams, new drivers and a packed schedule: Eurocup Clio has been given a makeover for the 2013 season, though the philosophy of the category remains unchanged. Three weeks before it joins up with World Series by Renault at Spa-Francorchamps in early June, the Eurocup Clio field gets down to action with two races at Imola in Italy on 11-12 May.
Some 38 Nouvelle Clio Cups are expected at the Enzo e Dino Ferrari circuit for the opening round of 2013. The fourth generation of the Clio Cup, the new car boasts all the features of the Nouvelle Clio Renaultsport 200 EDC, with a 1.6L direct-injected turbo engine delivering 220bhp and a constant torque of 270Nm and hooked up to a sequential gearbox with steering wheel-mounted paddle shifts. As the collective testing sessions held at Motorland Aragon at the end of April showed, the model is several seconds a lap faster than its predecessors.
Nicolas Milan (Team LMV CL Brakes) and Oscar Nogues (RMS Engineering), both of them former Eurocup Clio champions, will be back on the grid this season and must be considered among the favourites.
Joining them in a highly competitive field are a host of drivers with national championships under their belts: Argentinian champion Facundo Della Motta (Milan Competition); Stephane Lemeret (Team Lompech Sport), a winner in Belgium; Spanish champion Gonzalo Martin de Andres (SMC Junior Motorsport); and Massimiliano Pedala (Composit Motorsport) and Cristian Ricciarni (Composit Motorsport), both of whom have won titles in Italy.
As well as Massimiliano Pedala and Christian Ricciarini, two other Italian drivers will be in action on home soil at Imola: their Composit Motorsport team-mate Sebastiano Ciato and Michele Puccetti (RMS Engineering). Also driving for Italian stable Composit Motorsport will be the Romanian Salvatore Arcarese and Stefano Zanini of Monaco, while Spain’s Oscar Nogues will be gunning for victory for fellow Italians RMS Engineering.
Massimiliano Pedala was the fastest man in the pack at last month’s collective testing at Motorland Aragon, topping the timesheets from Nicolas Milan, Salvadore Arcarese, Antonio Martinez and Gonzalo Martin de Andres. Fifth and ninth respectively in last year’s Eurocup Clio, Eric Tremoulet (Vic Team) and Thomas Fjordbach (Polar Seafood Racing) are among the other drivers to watch at the season’s opening races, staged in conjunction with the Clio Cup Italia and the Formula Renault 2.0 ALPS.
Schedule
Friday 10 May
10:40-11:10: Collective testing 1
14:50-15:20: Collective testing 2
Saturday 11 May
14:40-15:10: Qualifying
Sunday 12 May
9:00-9:27: Race 1 (25 minutes + one lap)
14:15-14:42: Race 2 (25 minutes + one lap)
Official Renault Sport Press Release.