ITALIAN CHAMPIONSHIP 100 (JUNIOR – ICA-SENIOR) – 3rd Round

BIREL WINS 2 OUT OF 3 TITLES

PATRONO CONQUERS THE TITLE IN THE 100 ICA, CASAZZA IS THE CHAMPION IN THE SENIOR.

CASTELNUOVO BERARDENGA (Siena), 2nd July 2006 – On the eve of the 3rd and last round of the Italian championship of the 100, it was a game of chance in all classes. And in all classes, Birel’s drivers were in the position to aspire to absolute success, following the great results obtained in the first two races. For each category, two finals were raced, each one representing a chance to gain useful points.

In the 100 Junior class the situation was more open. Before the rendezvous in Siena, Mario Turchetto was leading the tables with 50 points (2 victories, both obtained in the first race at Ugento), in front of Lorenzo Camplese, from Pescara, with a gap of only 4 points, then De Conto (Birel) with 34 points, Nazareno Gatto with 30, Di Gangi with 28, and Ceccon (Birel) with 20, all of them standing good chances of winning.
Matteo Beretta won the pre-final, ahead of Ceccon and De Conto, all Birel drivers. The last named was, however, excluded from the race by the stewards, who thought his behaviour was not in conformity with regulations. Di Gangi therefore ranked fourth, Campiese seventh, Turchetto thirteenth and the tables thereafter shrunk even further. The start of the final was a bit confused, so much so that the referee penalized both Piccoli and Turchetto with 10 seconds as they did not maintain their position on the starting grid. Once again Beretta (team Birel Gandolfi) won the race, followed by the Sicilian driver Di Gangi, Ceccon and Gatto. Camplese obtained sixth place and virtually won the title; with the same points as Di Gangi (53), Camplese won the title on account of his placings (one victory). Because of the 10 seconds’ penalisation, Turchetto plunged from eighth position (the 3 points which would have allowed him win the title) to fourteenth, therefore gaining no points. Following careful examination of the footage of the start by the Stewards though, the decision of the referee was overturned and, for reasons not attributable to Turchetto, the driver’s start was deemed legitimate and he was reinstated in 8th place and given the 3 points. The final tables therefore see three drivers – Turchetto, Camplese and Di Gangi - with 53 points each, although Turchetto is given the title of champion on account of his results (two victories against only one victory of Camplese and only a few good places of Di Gangi).

In the 100 ICA too there were moments of true suspense. On the eve of the race in Siena, Angelo Lombardo, from Messina, was leading the tables with 47 points (still no victories but a brilliant series of good placings), followed only 4 points behind by Mattia Gatto, from Lecce, (one victory at Ugento) and 6 points behind by Stefano Bizzarri, from Perugia, (one victory at Ugento). Also aiming at the title are the two winners of the races held at Ottobiano, Chiesa (36 points) and Patrono (Team Birel MGM – 35 points), as well as Sandri, who is sixth in the tables with 22 points.
The pre-final was ruled by the representatives of the team MGM –Birel, the Lombard driver Giacomo Patrono (originally from Taranto), who jumped to the lead in the tables with 4 more points than Chiesa (second) and Bizzarri (fourth), whereas Lombardo (only in eighth position) was ousted from the leadership by 5 points.
Patrono also ruled the final, thus guaranteeing the title with an impeccable race where he was always in the lead. Bizzarri ended in second place, ahead of Chiesa. Sandri and Lombardo ended behind him in sixth and seventh place respectively. In the championship tables, Patrono is therefore in the lead with 75 points, Bizzarri is in second place with 66, Chiesa is third with 63, Lombardo is fourth with 51 and Gatto is fifth with 49.

In the 100 Senior, three drivers competed for this category’s tricolour: Laguardia, from Brindisi, with 65 points (one victory at Ugento), Luca Casazza, from Varese, with 60 points (Team Birel MGM, three victories, one at Ugento and two at Ottobiano) and Massimo Carli, from Bologna, with 51 points, who climbed on to the podium four times in four races. It was Casazza who settled the matter, thanks to a splendid double victory. In the pre-final, Laguardia only came tenth and in the final he did his best to recover although he had to make do with a fourth place. In the championship tables, Casazza is in the lead with 100 points, therefore securing the title, followed by Laguardia with 75 points and Carli with 63. A recording of the event will be broadcast by RAI Sport Sat and digital RAI Sport on Thursday 6th July at 16.00.