Renn Report

EUROPEAN SERIES, Rounds 3 & 4
ITALIAN CHAMPIONSHIP, Rounds 5 & 6
Formula Abarth

Cisrcuit: Misano (I), Length 4,226 km, 4^th/5^th June 2011
www.misanocircuit.com

JENZER MOTORSPORT 2011:
Patric Niederhauser (CH), Sergey Sirotkin (RUS) and Robert Visoiu (ROM)

Visoiu wins in Misano

The “Superstars Series” event took place at Misano World Circuit near Rimini (I). This time out the Formula Abarth races counted towards the Italian Championship and the European Series, with 21 cars lining up to compete in hot summer weather.

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Qualifying

Saturday, 04/06/11, 11.45 – 12.15, Weather: Sunny, 25°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 Patric was the fastest man on track, but then Barrabeig, Ghiotto, Heche and Camplese all improved considerably. Patric did well to snag 2^nd place on the grid for the first race (7^th for the second race). Sergey and Robert both ran well too and were in the top eight for most of the session, finishing 6^th and 7^th in the end, which translated to 2^nd and 3^rd on the grid for race two.

Formula Abarth European Series + Formula Abarth Italian Championship

Race One (28 minutes + 1 lap)

Saturday, 04/06/11, 18.00, Weather: Sunny, 27°C

Barrabeig got a good start to claim the lead and Patric slotted in in second, with Sergey, Heche, Robert and Camplese behind him. Patric never lost touch with the leader and soon started to pile on the pressure, outbraking Barrabeig on lap two to claim the lead. He soon managed to open up a small gap to Barrabeig, who now was being attacked by Ghiotto anyway. Heche meanwhile was pressuring Sergey, but his attack failed when he ran wide, presenting Robert, who had been following the two very closely, with the opportunity he needed to slip past. Sergey closed in on Ghiotto, and soon launched his attack, getting alongside and refusing to back down; that meant he was positioned just right at the next corner and was able to pull through. Robert followed suit and was able to go through on the inside as well. Now the order was Niederhauser from Barrabeig, Sergey and Robert, but Heche recovered and was not about to give up, setting about trying to force a mistake from Robert. Ahead of the pair Sergey had closed in on Barrabeig and was formulating a plan of action. However, the race was almost at an end and he ran out of time. Heche took a different approach and tried everything he could think of, managing to take Robert by surprise in one of the last corners. Despite that all our drivers shone in a super race and contributed a lot of exciting manoeuvres to the race. At post-race scrutineering however Patric‘s car was found to be underweight and he was disqualified. The team immediately found the engine had lost most of its oil, which meant that the engine was broken just to add to Patric’s woes. That’s how fine the line between luck and misfortune often is in motorsport!

Formula Abarth European Series + Formula Abarth Italian Championship

Rcae Two (28 minutes + 1 lap)

Sunday, 05/06/11, 14.30, Weather: Overcast, 24°C

Robert made the best start and shot into the lead, followed by de Beer, Sergey, Camplese and Heche. Patric overtook Ghiotto for 6th, while Sergey had a grassy moment after he tried to overtake De Beer and it didn’t quite work. With that his tyres covered in dirt, he fell back to 6^th, moving Patric up a place. Patric was determined to overtake and was soon up in 4^th with a fastest lap of the race to his credit as well. When Camplese, who was just ahead, left his braking too late, the two touched and Patric was pushed into a spin. He managed to rejoin in 11^th, and set about working his was back up the order, taking the checquered flag in 8^th, demonstrated that he remains a force to be reckoned with. Robert managed his lead superbly, and in spite of de Beer closing on him in the last stages of the race he never made any mistakes. In his 4^th ever race weekend in a single seater he could be proud of his well-deserved win. Sergey finished a very good race as well in an excellent 5^th place, bringing a difficult weekend to a successful end.

Championship Standings

Formula Abarth European Series 2011 after 4 out of 14 races:

1^st Sergey Sirotkin (RUS), 50 points; 2^nd Patric Niederhauser (CH), 35 points; 3^rd Gerrard Barrabeig (E), 35 points; 4^th Robert Visoiu (ROM), 34 points; 5^th Lorenzo Camplese (I), 22 points; 6^th Michael Heche (CH), 22 points

Championship Standings

Formula Abarth Italian Championship 2011 after 6 out of 14 races:

1^st Patric Niederhauser (CH), 64 points; 2^nd Sergey Sirotkin (RUS), 51 points; 3^rd Michael Heche (CH), 49 points; 4^th Gerrard Barrabeig (E), 46 points; 5^th Nicolas Costa (BRA), 39 points; 6^th Robert Visoiu (ROM), 37 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