Christian Merli wins in the Czech Republic
Christian Merli claims top spot in his Nova Proto NP01 with a naturally aspirated Cosworth V8 engine at the 44th edition of the Ecce Homo hill climb at Sternberk north of Brno in the Czech Republic, the fifth round of the European championship. The champion from Trentino wins the Czech race for the sixth time; it is his second win this season.
An unexpected victory
“Of course I’m happy with this unexpected victory”, Merli admits. “Competing against the supercharged engines is impossible. It’s an uneven fight. We unloaded the rear wing as much as possible to try and keep up and in the second heat the car spun at 200 km/h. I took a risk and lost a few seconds too. We absolutely have to find a solution, otherwise we won’t be able to hold our own against those cars.”
The weekend in Sternberk
On Saturday morning, in summer weather, the first practice run on the fast 7.800 km track. Christian Merli wins, 1"426 ahead of Frenchman Kevin Petit and 2"125 ahead of Spaniard Joseba Iraola Lanzagorta, each competing in a supercharged Nova Proto NP01. The difference? The turbocharged ones have more torque to help with restarts and about 30 hp more than the car of the champion from Trentino. In the afternoon the second run, where Merli sets the best time, while Petit approaches and is 0"307 behind. Iraola Lanzagorta is third, 3"304 behind. A few drops of rain for the first race run on Sunday. Kevin Petit is fastest, beating Merli by 0"593. Third is Iraola Lanzagorta, 0"869 behind. For the second run in the afternoon the sky is cloudy and the surface is dry. The times of the two race runs will be added together for the final classification. Merli sets the fastest time followed by Joseba Iraola Lanzagorta, Sébastien Petit and his brother Kevin.With the two race runs added together, Merli wins for the sixth time at Ecce Homo; it is his second win of the season.
The podium on accumulated times
1st Merli (Nova Proto NP01 Cosworth), 2nd Iraola Lanzagorta (Nova Proto NP01 Turbo) 1”151 behind, 3rd Kevin Petit (Nova Proto NP01 Turbo) 4”445 behind.
The FIA European Hill Climb Championship programme
13 April: Col Saint-Pierre (France), 27 April: Rechbergrennen (Austria), 11 May: Rampa da Falperra (Portugal), 18 May: Subida al Fito (Spain), 1 June: Ecce Homo (Czech Republic), 8 June: Trento – Bondone (Italy), 20 July: Limanowa (Poland), 3 August: Osnabrück (Germany), 17 August: Saint-Ursanne (Switzerland), 31 August: Ilirska Bistrica (Slovenia), 21 September: Buzetski dani (Croatia).
Translation by Ruth Scheithauer