Merli 1st in Croatia, now participating in Trentino Rallye
Last Sunday Christian Merli won the 5th edition of the Hillclimb Monsters event dedicated to Hungarian driver Istvan Kavecz, who was known as “Bongo”. It was held on the track of the Nagrada Grada Skradina hill climb in Croatia. Racing his Nova Proto NP01 Cosworth, the 2025 European champion dominated all practice and race runs and established a new track record. Now he is getting ready to take part in the 3rd edition of the Trentino Rallye. He will be racing the Skoda Fabia RS, with Massimo Furlini as his co-driver.
The hill climb in Croatia
“The event was dedicated to Kavecz, the Hungarian driver known as Bongo. He is much missed, and so we took part in the 5th edition of the memorial event with our Nova Proto NP01 Cosworth. The track is situated between Zadar and Split, about 400 km from Trieste. It’s a beautiful place, and the organisers were very hospitable. Friends and fans had asked us to be there. There were three practice runs on Saturday and three race runs on Sunday, with the two best times retained for the final classification. The track is 3.385 km long and has quite a few medium-slow bends with straights to be taken in sixth gear. We’re very happy to have won and established a new record.”
The podium
1st Merli (Nova Proto NP01), 2nd Noll (Osella PA 30) 5”872 behind, 3rd Hin (Osella FA30) 6”751 behind.
3rd Trentino Rallye
“I’ve asked Massimo Furlini to be my co-driver in the Skoda Fabia RS, and we mostly want to have fun. Of course that doesn’t mean that we won’t try to do well. Once the green light comes on, you push. And to be honest I wouldn’t mind repeating the result from last year, when we finished fourth overall. I’m also very happy that we’ll be going more downhill in the special stages, because I go uphill all year. As for our opponents, I think Daprà is the favourite, if you look at his results this year.”
The programme
ACI Trento and Scuderia Trentina have received 88 entries for the third edition of the Trentino Rallye this weekend. The event begins on Saturday at 16.28, when the start will be given to the first special stage, the Ala – Sant'Antonio, called "Metalcenter" and 2.8 km long, then at 16.59 the Brentonico – Avio, called "Le Cont" and 9.8 km long, will start. Both will be repeated at 19.28 and 19.49, respectively. On Sunday there will be three more, Volano – Punto Camper (7.6 km), Ronzo Chienes – Consorzio Vallagarina (7.37 km) and Valle San Felice – Zuccari (6.36 km). The respective second runs are scheduled at 14.14, 15.25 and 15.49. The rallye consists of 361 km in total, of which 68 km will make up the ten special stages.
Translation by Ruth Scheithauer