Christian Merli 2nd in Abruzzo

Second overall. Behind the wheel of his Osella FA 30 Zytek LRM, Christian Merli has taken part in the 58th edition of the Svolte di Popoli hill climb near Pescara in Abruzzo in central Italy. He had raced there last ten years ago. Two race heats on the 7.530 km track, with a difference in height of 475 metres. Merli dominates both practice runs and finishes second in each of the two race heats.

Christian’s comments on the Abruzzo event
“That’s just how it went today. I’m not happy with the time gap. Perhaps we got some choices wrong. After practice I thought I had a few seconds up my sleeve, but in Race 1 I skidded a lot. In Race 2 I pulled out all the stops and ended up with a few oversteers. I don’t know what more I could have done. We probably got something wrong. But we’re still leading the championship standings and we’ll see how the next event in Sardinia goes.” In fact, after six race heats, all of which count individually, Merli is leading the championship table with 55 points, followed by Faggioli (50).

Practice
Saturday, after the first official practice session on the 7.350 km track, Merli tops the timesheet with Faggioli 3”38 behind. After the second session, the Team Blue City Motorsport leader is again first, just 0”78 ahead of Faggioli.

The race
In Race 1 Faggioli smashes the hill record and finishes first, with the Trentino driver 3”38 behind. In Race 2 in the afternoon Faggioli wins again, with Merli 2”06 behind.

The podium of Race 1
1st Faggioli (Norma M20 FC), 2nd Merli (Osella FA 30 Zytek LRM) 3”38 behind, 3rd Cubeda (Osella FA 30) 6”98 behind.

The podium of Race 2
1st Faggioli (Norma M20 FC), 2nd Merli (Osella FA 30 Zytek LRM) 2”06 behind, 3rd Cubeda (Osella FA 30) 5”98 behind.

The calendar of the 2020 Italian hill climb championship CIVM
30 Aug: 58th Cronoscalata Svolte di Popoli (Abruzzo), 13 Sep: 59th Alghero – Scala Piccada (Sardinia), 4 Oct: 43rd Cividale – Castelmonte (Friuli–Venezia Giulia), 25 Oct: 62nd Monte Erice (Sicily), 15 Nov: 25th Luzzi – Sambucina (Calabria)

Ruth Scheithauer