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| June 25, 2012 |
| SPEED EuroSeries: Bellarosa Takes Imola Win |
 | Ivan Bellarosa extended his championship lead with the race one win of the Imola doubleheader
(Photo: SPEED EuroSeries) |
Ivan Bellarosa continued his run of form in the SPEED Euroseries on Saturday (June 23), scoring the win at Imola. Series returnee Davide Rigon and Yann Zimmer completed the post-race podium.
16 cars from the 18 car entry lined-up on the grid for race one of the Imola doubleheader successfully got away from the rolling start in Italy. Bellarosa seemed destined to pull away, but Rigon and then Zimmer were on his tail. Through the first few turns, they were nose to tail, until Minerale when the Wolf ran a little wide on the exit allowing Rigon to get a run up the inside, the car seeming to have more drive on the run out of the corner. Zimmer quickly followed, and it was clear that the race was very much on.
There was high drama soon to follow. In race control screens were showing a car heading towards a marshal post at turn 10 with smoke billowing from the rear end and flames shooting skywards. Through the smoke it was hard to identify the car but as the driver leapt out and the marshals bravely set about the flaming machine with their extinguishers, it soon became apparent that it was the Tiga, with Stirling at the wheel. The fire was out within a few minutes, but the car was very much out of the race with, fortunately, no harm to the driver, but much damage to the chassis from a fire caused by a suspected oil fire. Drama indeed.
Back on the track, there was more going on. The No. 8 Luchini of Ranieri Randacchio had spun at Aqua MInerale on lap one, and shortly afterwards retired with an overheating problem – understandable given the conditions! Less comprehensible was the retirement after three laps of the early season contender, the Juno of Burke and Williams. Plagued by debilitating vibration problems which Burke has miraculously driven around to keep the car in contention to date, he was forced to retire when it returned despite the efforts of the team, which set about the car overnight to attempt to fix the problem.
With all that going on, it was easy to forget that there was racing on track, but racing there was. Rigon was pulling out a lead. The Tatuus seemed to have the edge over the Wolfs and by lap four was nearly five seconds in front of Zimmer who was fighting to hold Bellarosa behind him. Vecchi, Reader, and Gandon in the Norma followed up. Reader, in the Juno, was soon out of contention. The car was another to suffer overheating issues and the team decided to retire it from the action rather than risk damaging the engine. A broken water pipe was diagnosed as the cause of the problem afterwards.
With 30 minutes of the 90 gone, the pit lane window was open for single drivers – which included the front three. Bellarosa was in straight away from third on track, but confusion at the pit garage caused the team to wave the car back out onto the track after just 13 seconds of the mandatory 45 stationary. Meanwhile Tatuus made their stop with a move that surprised everyone. A clever interpretation of the rules had indicated to them that whilst refuelling in the pit lane was prohibited under the regulations, they could refuel the car in the garage. The weight advantage had allowed the car to get past the Wolf at the start. It was a shrewd move.
Race control issued an immediate 32 second time penalty to Bellarosa to make up the shortfall of the short stop. The time penalty put Bellarosa back behind Zimmer on track but when the latter pitted, Bellarosa was back in the lead. With 20 minutes remaining, Bellarosa lead Rigon and Zimmer with Gandon, Pittori, and Belotti following and that is how it remained until the flag.
The race showcased some exceptional talent and engineering and not a small amount of sporting gamesmanship. The excellent Tatuus PY-012 proved its promise and was set for a maiden race win before the pit stops and Rigon is the consumate racer. Zimmer in the Line Race Wolf underlined both his talent and the professionalism of the team making just their second appearance in the series.
The SPEED EuroSeries doubleheader at Imola in Italy continues on Sunday (June 24), with Round Six. |
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