OPEN MASTERS CHAMPIONSHIP - 1st Trial – Lonato (Brescia) – March 26th/27th, 2005

RAIN HAMPERS THE 1ST ROUND

BAD WEATHER MARKED THE FIRST TRIAL OF THE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP THAT TOOK PLACE IN LONATO. AMONG BIREL DRIVERS, THOSE WHO DID BEST WERE LAUDATO AND GLOUDEMANS IN THE ICC, PIC IN THE JUNIOR CLASS, AND BOSCA IN THE ICA. IN FA, BOTH CESETTI AND ANTONUCCI HAD BAD LUCK.

The international racing season was officially opened by the 1st trial of the Open Championship that took place in Lonato during the Easter weekend. As expected from the outcome of the winter tests and the first races, which took place earlier in the season in Parma and on the same Lonato track, Birel drivers confirmed their high degree of competitiveness in all classes. This aspect is extremely significant, because it proves the great potentials of Birel 2005 chassis regardless of engine set-up and tyre set used. Unfortunately, the Lonato race was marked by bad weather, which prevented drivers from fully performing according to their potentials and distorted many technical parameters, above all. Despite these conditions, however, Birel drivers delivered excellent performances, which led a representative of the Lissone-based manufacturer to the podium in every class, FA excluded, where Sauro Cesetti was once again an unlucky protagonist. The Marches-born driver was forced to withdraw one lap before the end, while fighting for victory. The first live broadcast race taking place in Lonato was that of the 100 Ica. After the preliminary heats, Englishman Calado won the pole, ahead of Alessandro Bosca wearing the colour of the Birel Team. Jaime Croxford, Mathew Bell and Nicolas Risitano started from a few positions behind, the latter having been held back by some problems during the first heat, but greatly determined to make up for the delay during the race. At the start, Englishman Calado managed to sprint first, but Bosca was hot on his heels during the race’s early stages. Behind them, Todisco caught up very well, while Risitano was still dogged by misfortune: the Latium-born driver was bumped during the 2nd lap while running in 6th position, and forced to withdraw. Behind the leaders, in the meantime, Croxford and Bell were performing very well, struggling for the 6th position behind Alguersuari and Brenna. Towards the end, Todisco managed to get into Bosca’s slipstream and overtook him 5 rounds before the end, while the combat between Birel teammates Croxford and Bell ended with a contact slowing down the latter. The first to take the chequered flag was Calado, followed by Todisco and Alessandro Bosca. Spaniard Alguersuari ended up 4th before Croxford and Brenna. Among the Birel drivers winning some points, there was also Landmann (10th), Chukanov (11th) and Karlen (12th). The 2nd Final of the afternoon, also live broadcast by Italian network RAI, was that of the 100 Ica/Junior. Rain was pouring at the start and the Birel drivers, who have always shown a great potential on a dry track, were among the most penalised. Actually, at the start the predicted protagonists Costa and Merhi were both in the centre of the pack, while Dane Christensen held the pole. The best among Birel drivers was Frenchman Charles Pic, who qualified on the first row before his teammate. After the start, Christensen took the lead followed by Pic, Sorensen, Gromar, Mengersdorf and GSk Birel Team driver Laurenz Vanthoor. There were many contacts within the pack caused by the bad track conditions, and Spaniard Merhi was among the most penalised scoring no point. On the contrary, Dane Melker caught up very well with the leading group, first overtaking Pic to reach the 2nd position, and then taking the lead. After 24 pressing laps, it was the very Dane to take the flag first ahead of Christensen and Pic, who was likely to be one of the top protagonists of the Junior season. Thanks to Marco Sorensen, Birel won also a 4th place, while Mengerdorf, Gromar and Vanthoor followed him. With an aggressive race, Albert Costa managed to move up to the 10th position, scoring some crucial points in the Championship. In FA, the favourite of the Birel Team was Sauro Cesetti (starting 3rd), although high potentials were shown all through the weekend also by Lancaster (later delayed by a technical failure during the last heat), Christodoulo, Antonucci and Fanetti. Waldschmidt and Ardigò started from the second row, whereas Foré was next to Cesetti. At the green light, Waldschmidt took the lead followed by Ardigò and Cesetti, who had some grip problems in the early laps, though, and dropped back into 5th place. Antonucci had an excellent start and finished the first lap right after the 10th; unfortunately, however, a contact forced him into a 180° spin and he restarted from the last position. His pursuit was furious and recording extraordinary times he quickly managed to catch up with the centre pack. In the meantime, leading Waldschmidt gained some ground on Ardigò and Forè, while Cesetti started a recovery that eventually enabled him to overtake both Tony Kart drivers. However, the finish was once more unlucky for the Birel Team driver: only two laps from the end, while he was recording the fastest round and runs right behind Waldschmidt, his chain failed. Due to this withdrawal, the Marches-born driver loses 20 points for the Championship results, but he can still be satisfied with the excellent potential shown. An excellent potential was also displayed by Francesco Antonucci, who succeeded in catching up from the very last to an excellent 10th position. Among Birel drivers, Christodoulo performed very well, too, (5th), whereas Lancaster was not able to score any point due to a set-up problem. In the 125 Icc, Piccini and Gloudemans started from the first row, while behind them not only Laudato, but also Janis and Profico stood out among the Birel drivers. After the start of the race, Dirks was the fastest ahead of Gloudemans, Laudato, Profico, Leijtens, Renaudie and Janis. After a bad start, Piccini found himself in the middle of the pack. During the early stages of the race, a duel between teammates Gloudmans and Laudato helped Dirks in taking the lead. Actually, when the Campania-born driver succeeded in overtaking his teammate, Dirks had already a 4 seconds’ lead. From then on, the gap between Laudato and Dirks stayed basically the same up to the finishing line. The desperate struggle worsened by the rain cost Janis dearly, instead: a contact broke his back bumper and the clerks of the course forced him to stop. Profico was unlucky, too, and had to withdraw at the 6th lap. Therefore, Dirks took the flag ahead of the Birel couple Laudato – Gloudmans, while the 4th place was conquered by Benedetti, ending before Kieivitbosch and Renaudie. Among Birel drivers, Sulzer (13th) and Frasnelli (14th) won some points, too. RAI Sport Sat and DTTB will air a re-run of the two 100 ICA and ICA Junior finals on Monday, March 28th, at 10:30 p.m. The recording of the two Formula A and 125 ICC finals will be broadcast on Tuesday, March 29th, at 4:30 p.m. by Rai Sport Sat and DTTB. On Sunday morning, in the course of the very event, Angelo Corberi, the 68-year-old owner of the South Garda Track of Lonato passed away. Birel SpA would like to express their heartfelt sympathy to the Corberi family.