Christian Merli at the 44th Buzetski Dani in Croatia
Christian Merli will be racing his Nova Proto NP01 powered by a naturally aspirated Cosworth engine at the final round of the European hill climb championship, the 44th Buzetski dani in northern Istria in Croatia. On the 5.001 km track there will be two practice runs on Saturday and two race runs on Sunday. This season, the Scuderia Vimotorsport driver has won in Portugal, the Czech Republic, Italy, Poland and Switzerland.
Christian, the last chance on overall victory
“It’s going to be a complicated race for me, and I'll also need a bit of luck. Let me explain.
As of this year, the European championship groups are no longer based on cylinder capacity. Instead, a performance factor is calculated for each car based on various parameters, and cars are then categorised in Groups P1 to P4, with the most powerful ones being in P1. In each race, the winner of each group, P1, P2, P3 and P4, receives 25 points, or 12.5 if there are less than 3 participants in a group. This means that even a driver in a group with less powerful cars can win the overall championship classification.
I've always competed in Group P1 and over the course of the season I've achieved both victories and placings in close fights with my adversaries. In P2, Fausto Bormolini has won all the races he took part in by a clear margin, except one where he finished third. As per the regulations, he is leading the championship ranking by 1.5 points ahead of me. My only chance of winning the European championship is therefore to score more points than him in the last race.
So I have added weight to my car and limited the maximum engine speed to 9000 rpm. This reduces the overall performance of the car and allows me to enter it in Group P2. There I can compete directly against my championship rival, in the hope that he doesn't change groups. If there were less than 3 participants in Group P2, I’d get half the points.
It was a difficult decision, because I can imagine that the championship is also very important for Fausto after so many years of racing. Because we are friends, I’ve called him and let him know what I’m planning to do. To be honest, I don't like these regulations at all. They force us to make uncomfortable decisions that create tension between us drivers. I’d really prefer it if each group had its own championship or if the championship was decided based on the points from the overall classification of each race.
Many people have helped me financially throughout the season or supported me at my side and so I have to at least try. At the end of the day, it's motorsport and we won't know the result until Sunday evening; anything can happen.”
Translation by Ruth Scheithauer