2004 CIK-FIA WORLD CUP 125 SUPER ICC – 100 ICA EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP - MARIEMBOURG (BELGIUM) – SEPTEMBER 3rd/4th/5th

FOR THE 8TH YEAR IN A ROW, BIREL HAS CONFIRMED ITS POSITION AT THE TOP OF WORLD CLASS 125 SUPER ICC

THANKS TO GANDOLFI, THE BIREL–TM DUO WINS ITS 6TH WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP IN A ROW IN THE CLASS S.ICC (IN 2002, ONLY THE EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP TOOK PLACE, WON BY LAUDATO). LANCASTER IS ON THE PODIUM FOR THE EUROPEAN ICA CHAMPIONSHIP.

Another memorable weekend for the Birel colours. Another success. After the victories of Laudato (European S.Icc) and Coletti (European Junior), in Mariembourg it was the turn of Ennio Gandolfi to reap further honours in 2004 for the manufacturer of Lissone: the victory in the World Cup Super Icc. Birel-Tm’s supremacy in the classes equipped with speed gears has now been going on for 8 consecutive years and is bound to go down in the history of this sport. In fact, the only victories missing in this lapse of time are those of the World Championships of the years 2001-2002, when no equivalent races were run. However, during the Belgian weekend the Birel Team did not reap rewards only in the S.Icc. In the European Finals of 100 Ica, only a high fever was able to stop Risitano, while Lancaster gained a brilliant second place. In the 125 Icc, on the other hand, excellent Erik Janis won Race 1 and dominated also the 2nd round before his withdrawal during the last lap.

WORLD CUP 125 SUPER ICC
GANDOLFI AT THE TOP OF THE WORLD

Ennio Gandolfi’s history is a very peculiar one: this talented driver has gained much less success than he would have deserved. Among the former youngest World Champions in the Junior class, he had not yet succeeded in winning the international rewards everyone was expecting. He himself in the first place. With a great number of good placings, a few team changes with ups and downs, he was finally almost resigned to end his career at the top with a personal prize record full of second places, but with the only victory in the Junior World Championship. Last season he ended up competing for Birel and the spell was finally broken: Mariembourg gave him the reward he had pursued for such a long time, right when he was considering his possible retirement from racing. Very probably, the success achieved will convince him to go in also for 2005 and defend the title conquered. Above all in consideration of the great competitiveness shown by the Birel-Tm duo, which seems to have the makings of carrying on this brilliant sequence of successes also in the future. Last year, the particular track of Carole had redressed imbalances in the skills brought to bear, but a technically demanding race course like Mariembourg highlighted the potentials of the Birel-Tm duo once again. On the eve of the race, the decision is taken to equip the 4 drivers of the Team Motorsport with different tyres (Vega for Laudato and Gandolfi – Bridgestone for Cesetti –Dunlop for Quintarelli), so as to avoid possible variables due to the performance of the very tyres. Already during the qualifiers, the most effective of the Birel drivers seems to be Gandolfi himself, who is denied the pole position only in consequence of a traffic problem during his best lap. Thus, the best time is recorded by Wouters, who precedes Renaudie, Gandolfi, Kievitbosh and Toninelli. Laudato is 9th ahead of the excellent Solgat, Gloudemans and Cesetti. Due to some problems and the obvious difficulty of recovering affinity with the 125 (he has not driven it for 2 seasons), Quintarelli ranks only 35th. After the preliminary rounds, Birel’s supremacy appears clear: Gandolfi and Laudato conquer the 1st row, Solgat is 3rd and Cesetti 5th. Quintarelli is going to start from the 25th position. The supremacy is then also confirmed in the pre-finals: Gandolfi wins ahead of Laudato, Dirks and Cesetti. However, Quintarelli performs very well climbing up from the 25th to the 13th place. The race for the title seems a private matter of Birel and particularly between Gandolfi and Laudato. Both are very fast, but Gandolfi seems to have a steadier pace. And the expectations are confirmed by the race: Gandolfi forces the first few laps running record times, he keeps control of his team-mate up to the finishing line. Toninelli manages to precede Kievitsbosch and wins the 3rd place on the podium. Robert Dirks, on the other hand, conquers the 5th place sprinting past Cesetti, while Piccini and Wouters (7th and 8th, respectively) are the first drivers of Tony and Crg to cross the line. Quintarelli’s race is conditioned by a detour on the grass after the start to by-pass a competitor unable to sprint. The Veneto-born driver is still able to finish ranking 16th overtaking Forè as well as Renaudie in the final rush. Satisfaction reigns at Birel’s also because of the excellent performances by Solgat (13th), Gloudemans (14th) and Pieter Carette, eleventh right after the big ones.

100 ICA – EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP
THE TITLE GOES TO ESTRE. LANCASTER IS 2ND, RISITANO 5TH

It should and could have been Nicholas Risitano’s great day. After his sweeping victory in the qualifiers and a season as the leader of all the events contested, the Latium-born driver was awaited with great expectations for the most important race. And yet, the unpredictable occurred and the young talent of the Birel team started the weekend with a physical handicap that conditioned him deeply: a very high fever. His physical troubles did not allow him to do his best during the free tests and forced him into disastrous results as he achieved only to rank 26th. It was up to Mustonen (Birel-Parilla) to take care of proving Birel’s potential, conquering a brilliant pole position ahead of Waldschmidt and Birel MGM team driver Christodoulou. Lancaster ranked 10th. During the qualifying rounds, Risitano was able to recover somewhat thanks to the medicines, managing to attain the 12th place at the start of the pre-finals. The first row was conquered by Waldschmidt and Mancinelli, instead, preceding Estre and Lancaster. Waldschmidt won the pre-final ahead of Breysse and Estre by 4”. Mancinelli was 4th ahead of Lancaster, whereas Risitano was 7th. In the finals, Waldschmidt and Lancaster block each other’s way thus favouring Estre, who runs an excellent race winning the victory as well as the title right in front of the talented young Englishman of the Birel Team. Waldschmidt ends 3rd preceding Mancinelli, while Risitano is 5th in the final results. Among the Birel drivers, positive performances also by Paulessen (Birel –GKS), who ranks 9th, Pizzuti (11th) and Forsman (12th).

125 ICC EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP
THE TITLE GOES TO VAN DER ENDE, BUT ERIK JANIS DOMINATES IN BELGIUM

The Belgian weekend in Mariembourg also hosted the 3rd and last round of the 125 Icc class. Van der Ende was already leading the results, and with a 2nd place in Race 1 and a victory in Race 2 he was crowned Champion succeeding Italian Manuel Cozzaglio, who won the 2003 title along with his Birel-Tm. The 2004 laurels could have been still Birel’s if only Janis or Mambretti had shown a more regular performance; and, above all, if luck had been more on their side. Particularly Erik Janis, who showed an enormous potential in Belgium controlling both races (even if he had to withdraw in race 2 at the last lap). But there is going to be a recovery in 2005, where the target will be that of expanding the long list of Birel’s victories in the 125 class even further.