Even in collective testing Eurocup Clio was all-action.
The thirty-nine Clio Cup cars got straight down to business drying out a Spa-Francorchamps track still damp from the previous session. Composit Motorsport's Cristian Ricciarini set the fastest time of the morning with his first flying lap, while the the afternoon saw Harders Plaza Racing's steal the thunder from Milan Competition team's drivers who for a long time were the guys to watch. T
he Netherlander Robert Van den Berg set the fastest lap of the day in Eurocup Clio, ahead of Milan Competition's Marc Guillot and Thibaut Bossy. Friday morning at Spa-Francorchamps, and Eurocup Clio opened the action for this second meeting of the World Series by Renault. The thirty-nine drivers were greeted by a damp track that continued to dry as the laps went by.
The favourites wasted no time in making their presence felt, with Milan Competition's Nicolas Milan setting the pace before Cristian Ricciarini took his turn at the top of the time sheet.
The Italian would nevertheless have to contend with the ambitions of Equipe Verschuur's Mike and Sheila Verschuur.
With the track drying rapidly, the leaderboard continued to change even though a succession of yellow-flags prevented the drivers from doing what they do best. Cristian Ricciarini, Mike Verschuur and sister, Sheila, changed places with each passing lap before Sheila Verschuur took control of the morning session on her last attempt with a time of 2'51''590.
Her brother immediately pulled out all the stops to end his session with a lap of 2'51''587. The Verschuurs seemed to have had the last word, but Ricciarini still had an ace up his sleeve. Pushing hard, the Italian finished the session ahead of the Verschuur siblings in 2'51''018.
In the afternoon, the track conditions were ideal, as was reflected by the lap-times. Ricciarini's fastest lap from the morning session was very soon lying in tatters as Marc Guillot set a new fastest lap of 2'48''772 early in the session.
The Milan Compétition drivers monopolised the top of the leaderboard with Guillot ahead, followed by Thibault Bossy, Nicolas Milan, Michaël Novalak and Jean-Philippe Lamic. The competition soon staged a comeback with the Dale Gas team's Jose-Manuel de los Milagros, who got his first taste of the circuit today hot on the heels of the Milan boys.
Despite his best efforts, he finished the session in sixth. In the end it was only in the closing seconds that it became clear who was top dog. With a 2'48''751 lap, Robert Van den Berg bested the compeition, with Madeno Racing's Stephan Polderman sliding in behind the Milan Competition drivers in fourth place.
Quotes
Nicolas Milan: "It's a good effort for my team, we're well happy, but we need to give a repeat performance in qualifying. We were inseparable throughout the session, and the slipstreaming really helped. I think everyone will be playing that game in qualifying"
Sheila Verschuur: "I'm very pleased with my time. After three years in Dutch Clio Cup, it's very exciting to drive at European level. It's great fun, but the fight won't be easy as the level of competition is very high. I'm aiming for the top-ten."
