Christian Merli wins the Salita del Costo

Christian Merli had gone to the 30th Salita del Costo only to see whether his Osella FA 30 Zytek LRM was ready for the European championship. The Scuderia Vimotorsport driver dominated both practice and race on the 9.910 km track from Cogollo del Cengio to Bramonte with its ten hairpin bends. The event was contested in a single race run and was the first round of the northern Italy hill climb trophy, the TIVM Zona Nord.

Christian, a great test
“I would have settled for this result beforehand. We worked very hard on our Osella in the last two weeks to adapt it to the new Italian regulations, where it is now mandatory to have 30 kgs of ballast and more ground clearance. I’m really happy, because we were able to take the overall win in a long race with hairpins, where we usually have a hard time. On Wednesday we’ll be leaving for the first round of the European championship in France.”

Practice
In the first official practice session Christian Merli finishes first in 4’34”03, 22”68 ahead of Faggioli (Norma M20 FC). In the second run the European champion shaves 32” off his time. Faggioli is 4”20 behind.

The race
Merli takes the overall win at Costo, with Faggioli 1”23 behind.

The podium
1st Merli (Osella FA 30 Zytek LRM), 2nd Faggioli (Norma M20 FC) 1”23 behind, 3rd Degasperi (Osella FA 30 GEA) 11”85 behind.

Ruth Scheithauer