CIK –FIA SICC WORLD CUP - ICC (ROUND 3) AND JUNIOR (FINAL) EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP - SARNO (ITALY), SEPTEMBER 2nd/3rd/4th, 2005

BIREL AND LAUDATO WORLD CHAMPIONS

FRANCESCO LAUDATO IS CROWNED WITH SUCCESS IN THE SICC WORLD CUP AFTER AN EXTRAORDINARY SEASON. FOR THE BIREL COLOURS, THIS MEANS THE CONTINUATION OF AN ALMOST TEN-YEAR LONG SUPREMACY MADE MORE PRECIOUS BY THE EUROPEAN ICC TITLE WON BY JANIS. IN THE JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP, VICTORY OF CHRISTENSEN WITH PIC (MGT –Birel) ON THE PODIUM.

Francesco Laudato succeeds team-mate Gandolfi in the list of the prizewinners of the World Cup Sicc, the most prestigious title restricted to the gear box categories. The driver of Cava dei Tirreni adds yet another prestigious success to the list of victories of Birel Motorsport, carrying on a tradition full of great achievements in the 125 class that has no equal in history. Since 1997, a season won by Gianluca Beggio, the Birel colours have dominated the World Championship in the 125. For the past three years, when the Cik-Fia initiated the Word Cup Sicc, the success has always gone to Birel: Robert Dirks has prevailed in 2003, Ennio Gandolfi in 2004 and Francesco Laudato in this year’s edition. This success in the World Cup completes Laudato’s grand slam, who had already won the European category title and the Open Icc Italian Championship of the current season, confirming the Birel-Tm duo’s domination position. And Birel might have achieved an even greater success in the weekend in Sarno if technical problems had not slowed down Gandolfi and Cesetti. The title holder was badly placed on the starting grid because of set up problems and an accident during the heats, while Cesetti was excluded from a heat due to a contact with another vehicle and also reported a failure of the radiator in the pre-final that forced him to stop a few laps away from the end. But in the Finals both drivers confirmed Birel’s high technical potential by running an excellent race: Gandolfi ended 7th, achieving record timings and overtaking one opponent after the other, while Cesetti ranked 10th. A further and definite exploit for the Birel colours came also from the Icc category, where Erik Janis conquered the European Title already in race 1 arriving second. The Czech driver also climbed the podium in race 2, thus crowning his exceptional season. In the Junior continental Finals, on the other hand, Charls Pic made it to the podium’s third step at the conclusion of a race he had run among the main competitors from the very beginning, while the victory went to Christensen, followed by Melker.

REPORT ON THE RACES: