Race Report Clio Cup Series Round 4 - Mugello July 10-12th

Mugello circuit in Italy was the setting for round 4 of the European Clio Cup Series. 

Free Practice

Our travels to Italy the previous year in July to Imola and Missano meant we expected a warm welcome and true to form the arrival temperature of 38 degrees set the scene for the weekend. 
Mugello being a new circuit to the calendar this year, gave the team the opportunity for an extra day’s testing on the Thursday ahead of the race weekend.
Learning the circuit and combating the extreme heat affecting both car performance and driver fatigue were the priorities, so to see Ben Colburn set second fastest lap in the first session in a strong 36 car grid was motivation to the team to deliver on that promise. Team mate Daire Flock also looked competitive pushing hard again running in the top ten. 
The second session was equally impressive with both drivers improving their times and mastering the extremely fast corners that are the feature of the Mugello circuit. 

Official Test

A later start to the traditional early Friday practice saw the cars roll out on the circuit at 1230, right in the midday sun. Proving the previous day was not beginner’s luck Colburn topped the time sheets setting three laps faster than anyone on the grid. Flock too had mastered the circuit and finished 12th in an extremely close field.
The last test session was dogged by yellow flags with others finding the track just too hot to handle. 

Qualify and Race 1

For qualifying, Colburn and Flock exited the pits together determined to establish a lap without others in their path, knowing that the tyres would only offer two laps of maximum performance, before drop off with the high tyre wear rate. This strategy meant forgoing the tow effect of following the pack, often worth up to 0.5 of second on some circuits. It worked, an impressive P4 for Colburn and P11 for Flock the best team performance of 2026 thus far. 
For the race both drivers didn’t quite achieve their normal lightning starts both losing places on the opening laps. Colburn fought back to recover fourth place but missed the opportunity to fight with the front three, but still the best result of the year and enough to secure 1st place in the Challenger category. 
Flock has a busy race trading places with fellow brits Taylor and Jenkins, but keeping his cool to finish ahead of both in P11. 
Success comes at a price with the technical check to remove the gearbox, clutch and flywheel in the searing heat. All passed as expected but it to until 2300 to get the car back together ready for the next day and super spirited performance by the Westbourne mechanics.

Qualify and Race 2

It had been a late night supporting the England football team in their 2-1 victory over Norway in the quarter finals. 
The 0900 start meant a new learning curve marking the first time on circuit in cooler conditions. 
P7 for Colburn alongside the previous day’s pole sitter Puccetti and 12th for Flock were still great results in the capacity grid. 
The team made changes to both cars determined to finish on a high and make progress early on. Both drivers made better starts with an outstanding first lap for Flock making up four places. 
Colburn too moved up early to sixth before setting his sights on championship leader Puccetti, making a bold move around the outside at turn 5 to take the place. 
Flock had moved up to 7th enjoying the set up improvements that the team had made. Two safety car periods brought a halt to progress and at the second restart disaster struck for Flock when championship newcomer Giacon misjudged his braking into turn 1 colliding heavily with Flock’s rear damaging the rear suspension and causing his retirement. 
Colburn held 5th to the end finishing second in the challenger class to Filip Kuncer. 
An outstanding weekend for Colburn sees him move up the lead the Challenger category and sit 5th overall in the main series standings. 

Next round Spa Francorchamps circuit September 18th to 20th