Race Report

EUROPEAN SERIES, Rounds 4/5/6
ITALIAN CHAMPIONSHIP, Rounds 10/11/12
Formula Abarth

Circuit: Misano (I), Length 4,226 km, 6^th/7^th/8^th July 2012
www.misanocircuit.com

JENZER MOTORSPORT 2012:
Samin Gomez (VEN), Kevin Joerg (CH) and Gregor Ramsay (GB)

Joerg on the podium in Misano

The Racing Weekend event took place on the Misano World Circuit near Rimini (I). This time out the Formula Abarth races counted towards both the Italian Championship and the European Series. It was very hot, with temperatures rising above 35°C during the day.

Qualifying

Saturday, 07/07/12, 10.05 – 10.40, Weather: Sunny, 33°C

The rules of the championship allow for two qualifying sessions, each 15 minutes long, with a break of just ten minutes in between. Results from Qualification One determine the grid for Race One, while results from Qualification Session Two determine the grid for Race Two; the grid for Race Three is based on the results of Race One, with the first six finishers starting in reverse order.

The first session went well and Samin had a great run that netted her 4^th place on the grid for Race One, while Kevin was 5^th and Gregor 9^th.
The second session had to be red flagged after an accident. Until that happened all our drivers were inside the top five. After the restart the action unfolded once more, and others moved up the order. Kevin was again 5^th in the end, Samin 8^th and Gregor 9^th for Race Two.

Formula Abarth European Series & Formula Abarth Italian Championship

Race One (22 minutes + 1 lap)

Saturday, 07/07/12, 14.15, Weather: Sunny, 35°C

Urrutia and Zonzini managed to move up a few places at the start at the expense of Samin and Kevin who fell back to positions 6^th and 7^th respectively. Gregor was able to hold on to his starting position and then overtook Branger, but soon after had to give way to Roda. That put Gregor back to 9^th. Samin meanwhile edged closer to Urrutia, but could not get close enough to attack. Kevin had damaged his car slightly in the mix up at the start, but still managed to defend his position from Roda while Samin set some very good lap times and secured pole position for Race Three on Sunday by finishing 6^th in this race. Kevin finished in a good 7^th, and Gregor came home in 9^th after a solid race.

Formula Abarth European Series & Formula Abarth Italian Championship

Race Two (30 minutes + 1 lap)

Sunday, 08/07/12, 09.00, Weather: Sunny, 29°C

Another day of cloudless skies saw temperatures begin to rise early and by the time the race started it was already 29°C. Ghiotto failed to get off the line at the start, and most of the others managed to avoied the stalled car. Unfortunately Gregor saw it too late and crashed right into it. Luckily Gregor was unharmed, but the car was badly damaged and the Safety Car had to be deployed until all the debris could be cleaned away. Kevin was 4^th, but at the restart Zonzini managed to overtake him. Kevin was able to close the gap on Bonifacio, but could not do anything about him, largely because he spent most of the race battling with a gear-selection problem. Nevertheless he came home in 5^th after an error free drive. Elsewhere Branger overtook Samin under yellow flags, and Samin then immediately reclaimed the place, which led to the officials hitting both drivers with a 25 second penalty. That pushed Samin down to 8^th in the final results.

Formula Abarth European Series & Formula Abarth Italian Championship

Race Three (15 minutes + 1 lap)

Sunday, 08/07/12, 18.00, Weather: Sunny, 36°C

Given the program the youngsters had to be very patient as they waited for the last race. It was not easy to endure the heat of the day and then deliver one more top perfomance at the end of the day. Ghiotto again failed to get off the line at the start, and this time it was Beretta who was unlucky enough to crash into him. The Safety Car was deployed and took the field over for two laps until all was cleaned away. Samin restart well, but was sandwiched in the first corner by Urrutia and Zonzini. Her car sustained damage, and its handling was no longer the best, but she still hung on to finish this sprint race. Kevin quickly overtook Samin, leaving her to hang onto his gearbox and they were 4^th and 5^th when the leader Urrutia was handed a 25 second time penalty for pushing Zonzini off at the start. That promoted Kevin to 3^rd and Samin moved up to 4^th. The positions stayed the same all the way to the flag and Kevin was happy to take the third place trophy. Gregor got away well this time and also drove a flawless race, taking the chequered flag in 6^th, a very good result to end the weekend with.

Championship Standings

Formula Abarth European Series 2012 after 12 out of 24 races:

1^st Bruno Bonifacio (I), 140 points; 2^nd Nicolas Costa (BRA), 140 points; 3^rd Luca Ghiotto (I), 121 points; 4^th Santiago Urrutia (URU), 100 points; 5^th Emanuele Zonzini (I), 95 points; 5^th Kevin Joerg (CH), 93 points; 7^th Samin Gomez (VEN), 60 points; 9^th Gregor Ramsay (GB), 40 points

Championship Standings

Formula Abarth Italian Championship 2012 after 6 out of 18 races:

1^st Bruno Bonifacio (I), 81 points; 2^nd Nicolas Costa (BRA), 68 points; 3^rd Emanuele Zonzini (I), 56 points; 4^th Santiago Urrutia (URU), 54 points; 5^th Luca Ghiotto (I), 51 points; 6^th Kevin Joerg (CH), 47 points; 7^th Samin Gomez (VEN), 29 points; 9^th Gregor Ramsay (GB), 16 points

2012 FORMULA ABARTH RACE CALENDAR

2012 FORMULA ABARTH EUROPEAN SERIES & ITALIAN CHAMPIONSHIP

Read more:

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