Race Report

EUROPEAN SERIES, Rounds 5 & 6
ITALIAN CHAMPIONSHIP, Rounds 9 & 10
Formula Abarth

Circuit: Spa-Francorchamps (B), Length 7,003 km, 5^th/6^th/7^th August 2011
www.spa-francorchamps.be

JENZER MOTORSPORT 2011:
Patric Niederhauser (CH) and Robert Visoiu (ROM)

Victory for Niederhauser in Spa

The “Superstars Series” event took place at the legendary Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium. This time out, the Formula Abarth races counted towards the Italian Championship as well as the European Series. There were 19 entries for this event.

Qualifying

Friday, 05/08/11, 16.05 – 16.35, Weather: Cloudy, 21°C

The rules of the championship only allow for one qualifying session, with each driver’s fastest lap determining their Race One grid positions. For Race Two the top eight are simply reversed, with the 8^th fastest driver starting from pole, the 7^th fastest starting from 7^th, and so on. From 9^th place on, the positions are decided according to the results of Race One.
For a long time there was uncertainty as to whether it would rain, but in the end it stayed dry for the entire session, and a fierce fight for positions unfolded, with incredibly close times being posted given that the circuit is over 7 km in length.

Formula Abarth European Series + Formula Abarth Italian Championship

Race One (28 minutes + 1 lap)

Saturday, 06/08/11, 13.00, Weather: Overcast, 23°C

The start went well with Patric 2^nd behind Heche as they arrived at the first corner (La Source). After Eau Rouge he launched his attack, but Heche put up a strong defence to hang onto his lead. However, both cars were somewhat unstable and lost momentum, Heche recovering to hang onto his lead, while Sirotkin and Costa slipped past Patric on the inside. That saw Patric demoted to 4^th at the end of the first lap and looking to try and at least reclaim 3^rd. He was just coming out of the first corner, when Kuroda, who was in 6^th place at this stage came flying out of nowhere, apparently not braking at all, hitting Patric side-on and taking both of them out of the race, leading to a two lap Safety Car period. Robert made a good start and immediately made up two places, but at the restart Barrabeig took him by surprise and had to let him past. That put Robert 9^th, from where he drove a great race, attacking Ghiotto on the final lap and overtaking him. He finished a hard race in an excellent 8^th position as reward for his efforts. We were lucky; the rain started to fall as a light drizzle during the final lap, but just as the race finished it really came down.

Formula Abarth European Series + Formula Abarth Italian Championship

Race Two (28 minutes + 1 lap)

Sunday, 07/08/11, 14.00, Weather: Cloudy, 18°C

Patric made a good start and this time managed to avoid any first lap tangles, though that didn’t stop him quickly starting to make up places. His first target was Sirotkin, and then Marasca. After that it was Camplese though that took a little longer, but in due course Patric managed a clean overtaking manoeuvre to go through for 4^th just behind Heche. Heche’s luck ran out when he made a small mistake at the chicane, and Patric didn’t hesitate; he was through. That only left Costa and Kuroda. These two had already fought a long battle which Kuroda had just won on the previous lap, but there Patric was in no mood to show mercy and on top of the hill after Eau Rouge he kept his foot on the throttle for as long as it took to pass Costa. His final target was Kuroda, and he didn’t hesitate to attack and overtake him during the penultimate lap of the race. Patric drove a flawless final 7 km of the race on this legendary circuit and after an impressive performance he came home to a well-deserved victory. Robert had started well too and made up a place immediately, getting into a fight with Agostini, and when he attempted an attack he ended up with a damaged front wing. The car’s performance deteriorated considerably and Robert decided to call in to the pits to have the part changed. Robert rejoined the race, setting some very good lap times and crossing the finish line in 17^th place.

Championship Standings

Formula Abarth European Series 2011 after 6 out of 14 races:

1^st Sergey Sirotkin (RUS), 73 points; 2^nd Gerrard Barrabeig (E), 53 points; 3^rd Patric Niederhauser (CH), 49 points; 4^th Michael Heche (CH), 39 points; 5^th Robert Visoiu (ROM), 37 points; 6^th Lorenzo Camplese (I), 32 points

Championship Standings

Formula Abarth Italian Championship 2011 after 10 out of 14 races:

1^st Patric Niederhauser (CH), 103 points; 2^nd Michael Heche (CH), 97 points; 3^rd Sergey Sirotkin (RUS), 88 points; 4^th Gerrard Barrabeig (E), 87 points; 5^th Nicolas Costa (BRA), 67 points; 6^th Robert Visoiu (ROM), 50 points

2011 FORMULA ABARTH RACE CALENDAR

2011 FORMULA ABARTH EUROPEAN SERIES

2011 FORMULA ABARTH ITALIAN CHAMPIONSHIP

Read more:

• www.acisportitalia.it/ABARTH_IT
• www.acisportitalia.it/ABARTH_EU
• www.italiaracing.net