17th INTERNATIONAL TROPHY ANDREA MARGUTTI - PARMA, 10/11/12 MARCH 2006

THE INITIAL SUCCESS OF SEASON OF THE BIREL TEAM CONTINUES

WITTMANN DOMINATES IN THE 100- ICA, LANCASTER WINS IN FA (BUT IS THEN THE OBJECT OF A CONTROVERSIAL EXCLUSION), WHEREAS ANTOLFELD, VIGANÒ AND STEVENS LEAD IN THE JUNIOR.

The 17th Malgutti Trophy, held in Parma last weekend, gave the top karting leaders the chance to further their preparation in view of the upcoming international season. Once again, thanks to their excellent performances, the Birel Motorsport team and the main junior teams of the firm from Lissone obtained very good results on the track. Starting with the queen of all classes, the “Formula A”, which at Parma saw the Birel-Tm couple drawing attention to itself thanks to both Jon Lancaster and Sauro Cesetti. The Englishman won the race after having also taken the lead in the Pre-Final although, following a controversial measure adopted by the Stewarts at the suggestion of the Referee, he was excluded because of a defensive manoeuvre against Iglesias a few laps from the end. This has considerably irritated Birel’s official driver, as the episode could have just been dismissed as one of the race’s many close duels. But despite the fact that the track was wet and without considering taking alternative measures such as booking with the black and white flag or a time penalty, the Referee decided to exclude him. This does not however change the Englishman’s performance: as well as still being the moral winner of the race, Lancaster is in for a season in which he is going to be an absolute leader. The same goes for Sauro Cesetti who, after having gained the pole position, predominated during the first leg, before a technical problem during the second trial caused him to start at the back in the Semi-final and prevented him from being well placed in the Final, during which he was involved in several contacts due to the scrimmage in the middle of the group. Despite crossing the finishing line in 13th position, he still managed to do it in record times. The Italian driver’s results are in any case very positive, as he commented himself: “our combination of chassis and engine is extremely competitive and our performances so far make us feel very optimistic about the season which is about to begin. The problem we had during the 2nd leg is due to some new things we are trying to fine-tune in terms of reliability, which we will carry on developing during the next trial days. The chassis on the other hand is proving to be highly effective in any situation, the most obvious demonstration of this being the top performance attained in all categories by all Birel drivers.” In the overall classification on the other hand, because of Lancaster’s exclusion, success was attained by Ardigò on Renaudie and Alfano. As far as Birel drivers are concerned, both Antonucci and Neri gave a good performance ending, respectively, on 9th and 10th position. In the overall classification of the 100 ICA the lead of the German Marco Wittmann should be highlighted; the driver - just acquired by Birel Motorsport – won both the Semifinal and the Final and is promising to be one of the most interesting drivers of next season. In the 100 ica Birel’s success should also be quantified in numbers: 9 Birel chassis ended up among the first 15 in the Final. As far as results are concerned, always in the 100 ICA, the performance of Burkhard, who gained an excellent second place, Karlen, who ended in fourth position, and Truelove – sixth – should be highlighted. In the Junior race Peter Antonfeld could have taken the lead, although the German driver of Birel Motorsport went off track while on the lead in the Semifinal. The lead could then have been taken by the British Will Stevens, winner of the Semifinal; after taking the lead during the Final however, the Jpr driver’s performance was affected by tyre problems, which caused him to finish in 4th position. Moore won the race, preceding Camponeschi and Toman. Worth of notice was also the performance of Viganò, who lead the leg but was then obliged to abandon the Semifinal because of a contact. The Margutti concludes the winter preparation programme for karting’s top teams: Birel has more than enough reasons to feel satisfied with the results obtained in all classes. The rendezvous is now fixed for the end of March, at the 1st trial of the Open at Muro Leccese.