OPEN MASTER CHAMPIONSHIP - 3rd Trial - MURO LECCESE (LECCE)

BIREL AND TM BACK ON TOP IN FA, TOO

Muro Leccese (Lecce), May 29th, 2005 - After the official explanations on the day before, Birel and Tm gave the most adequate response to the alleged tensions in relation to the engines developed for the FA category, scoring a series of victories in the top class, too. And to Birel, having shown a high competitiveness in Muro Leccese, the race of their unlucky World Championship 2004, has an even greater significance. In addition, the Lecce track will host the last race of the European Championship 2005, so the work done during the weekend of the Open Championship can be considered even more valuable from this point of view. The same holds true for Nicolas Risitano, too, who tried out many solutions in the 100 Ica , in view of the continental Finals scheduled for August 20th. In the 125 Icc, Laudato was forced to withdraw as a consequence of an accident with Cozzaglio, but across the weekend he confirmed the great competitiveness of the Birel-Tm combination, also emphasised by the superb 3rd placing of Martin Frasnelli. In the Junior class, once again Charles Pic (2nd) proves to be among the most reliable drivers of the category, as he missed the victory only because of a tiny mistake.

THE RACES

100 JUNIOR
Frenchman Charles Pic proves to be the top driver of the Birel team in the Junior class. The Frenchman basically held sway during the race at Muro Leccese, keeping the lead for 17 laps out of 20. Unfortunately, however, three laps before the end, a small mistake enabled Italian Genini to come close again and take the lead of the race. During the final stage of the race, Pic tried to react, but Genini managed to defend himself winning the victory. Pic ended 5 tenths from his rival and thanks to his second place he is now 3rd in the overall results right after Genini and leader Costa (5th at the finishing line). The 3rd step on the podium went to Barletta, who arrived ahead of Manghisi. Unfortunately, this was another tough weekend for Antolfeld, the driver officially fielded by Birel Motorsport: he ended 19th, consoling himself with the 2nd place among drivers without Parilla engines.

100 ICA
Nicolas Risitano missed the opportunity for winning the qualifiers, after choosing less performing solutions. His recovery during the heats didn’t help him to a particularly favourable starting position anyway; in view of this fact, his 5th placing at the end is a fairly good result, thanks to which, above all, he can still easily run for the title. The Latium-born driver was 3rd in the Championship with 36 points behind his team-mate Bosca (38 points) and leader Parente (52 points). Parente was also the winner of the race at Muro Leccese, supported by his Dunlop tyres, too, which proved to be very effective. Mancinelli and Piccioni joined the Portuguese on the podium. Alessandro Bosca, although not performing at the top of his potential during the weekend (he finished only 10th), is still among the greatest favourites of the Championship, having earned the 2nd place in the overall results so far. The excellent season of Englishman Jordan Oakes goes on very well, too, as he ended 6th right after Risitano. Another good performance is that displayed by Scheer (International Champion of the 100 Easykart): the American made it to a point-winning finish (14th) at his very first test in the Open Championship and on a very technical track he had never raced on before. Curridor and Bortolotti succeeded in winning some points, too.

100 FA
The race of Muro Leccese ended with a definitely positive result for the Birel-Tm team. Sauro Cesetti led the race up to two laps from the end, factually attesting the great job done together with Birel and Tm engineers. On a track where engine performance is crucial, the Marches-born driver succeeded in maintaining a leading position ahead of his competitors, namely mainly Foré and Ardigò, who ran with Vortex engines in Muro Leccese as already in other races of the Championship. And it was Ardigò himself to fight the final duel with Cesetti. Two laps before the end, the Birel driver made a small mistake at the hairpin bend at the beginning of the circuit. Ardigò seized the chance to get back into the slipstream of the Marches-born driver and overtook him at the braking before the last bend. Cesetti immediately reacted to the attack, but Ardigò closed the trajectory during the following straight. Cesetti hit back when he got to the small hairpin, but there was a contact between the two drivers, which Gaggianesi capitalized on and won. Cesetti ended up 2nd, coming back into play for the Championship, where he earned the 6th placing with 25 points. Ardigò had to be content with the 3rd step of the podium, while Forè ended 4th, without actually having ever been able to fight for the victory. As to Birel’s placings, the performance of Englishman Jon Lancaster is worth mentioning, too; after an excellent qualifier, he was forced to withdraw at the 1st heat by a multiple accident at the start. He made up for it in the 2nd heat, not sufficiently, however, to be included directly in the final. Thus, he had to run the repechage (which he won) and starting from the back of the grid he ended 13th still scoring some points. Antonucci, instead, suffered two accidents (1st and 2nd heat), thus having to give up all ambitions prematurely. Still talking about Birel, Christodoulo (Birel/Parilla) did very well, instead, finishing his race with an eleventh placing.

125 ICC
Manetti returned to the fray in the 125 Icc winning the 3rd trial in the Open Championship. He took advantage of Laudato and Cozzaglio, who collided at the first lap of the Final, thus having to quit the race. The Salerno-born Birel driver showed an excellent competitiveness all through the weekend and might have strengthened his leadership in the Championship, but after this stop he leaves the first place in the provisional standings to Dirks (8th at the finishing line), even if just by 2 points. Anyway, Birel’s excellent Martin Frasnelli succeeded in partially making up for it ending third right after Manetti and Benedetti. For the South-Tyrolean driver, this is the 1st podium in the Open Championship. Roberto Profico, too, performed once again at an excellent level earning a 7th-place finish.