Christian Merli wins in Poland
Christian Merli in his Nova Proto with the Cosworth engine prepared by Swiss tuner Heini Maler scored overall victory at the 16th edition of the Hill Climb Limanowa in Poland, the seventh round of the European hill climb championship. It is his fourth overall win in his new sports car this season. He dominated in the practice heats and in the two race rounds, and has now won eight times on this track.
Four wins this season
“We’ve won for the fourth time this season. I’m really happy and I’m getting more comfortable with the Nova Proto NP01 Cosworth. The win has required a lot of work. We found the right set-up straight away. The good weather helped on this surface, which doesn’t have very much grip. Now there is a week of rest and then we’re going to Osnabrück in Germany, where the track is only a few kilometres long and you’re not allowed any mistakes.”
The weekend in Poland
In sunny weather on Saturday, the Scuderia Vimotorsport driver at the wheel of his sports prototype immediately takes the lead in the free practice session, followed by Joseba Iraola Lanzagorta from Spain and Kevin Petit from France, each in a Nova Proto Turbo. The ranking in the first official practice run is the same, with the Spaniard 5”050 behind and the Frenchman 5”874 behind. The order remains identical in the second official practice session and in the following two free practice runs. In the first race heat on Sunday, in the sun, Merli is first; 3”347 ahead of Iraola Lanzagorta and 4”222 ahead of Petit. In the second race heat in the afternoon, Christian tops the timesheet again, with Petit 1”185 behind and Iraola Lanzagorta 1”740 behind. The Scuderia Vimotorsport driver has obtained four victories so far, in Portugal, the Czech Republic, Italy and Poland, and he currently leads the ranking of Category 2, the sports racers.
The podium on accumulated times
1st Merli (Nova Proto NP01 Cosworth), 2nd Iraola Lanzagorta (Nova Proto NP01 Turbo) 5”107 behind, 3rd Petit (Nova Proto NP01 Turbo) 5”405 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