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Victory and record for Christian Merli in France

Christian Merli dominates both practice and race at the first round of the European Hill Climb Championship. With his Osella FA 30 Zytek LRM the Scuderia Vimotorsport driver wins the 48th edition of the Col Saint-Pierre hill climb on the 5.080 km track at St. Jean du Gard north of Montpellier in France, contested over two race heats. The European championship classification is based on accumulated times.

Christian, victory and record at the first event in Europe
“A great weekend at a race we like. The package – car, engine, tyres – worked perfectly. In the second race heat, at higher temperatures, we set a new outright record. We’re more than happy.”

Practice
In the first practice run the champion from Trentino with his Osella FA 30 Zytek LRM finishes first in 2’17”477, followed by the two French Nova NP01 drivers Sébastien Petit and Billy Ritchen (7”279 and 7”693 behind, respectively).
The ranking remains unchanged in the second practice session. Improving his time by two seconds, Merli sees the clocks stop at 2’15”730, or 6”366 ahead of Petit and 6”472 ahead of Ritchen. In the evening he briefly comments, “I’m glad to see the car is working well. I felt comfortable immediately. Let’s see how things go with new tyres on Sunday.”

The first race heat
The pattern stays the same, with Merli first at 2’14”373, or 2”777 ahead of Ritchen and 6”100 ahead of Petit.

The second race heat
Merli posts the best time in 2’13”459, a new track record. Ritchen is 4”424 behind and Garcia (BRC BR53) from Spain is 7”045 behind.

The podium on accumulated times
1st Merli (Osella FA 30 Zytek LRM), 2nd Ritchen (Nova NP01) 7”201 behind, 3rd Garcia (BRC BR53) 14”015 behind.

The European Hill Climb Championship calendar
10 April: Col Saint-Pierre (France), 8 May: 41st Rampa Internacional da Falperra (Portugal), 15 May: 50th Subida al Fito (Spain), 29 May: 41st Ecce Homo Sternberk (Czech Republic), 3 July: 71st Trento – Bondone (Italy), 31 July: 13th Hill Climb Limanowa (Poland), 21 August: 77th Course de Côte de Saint Ursanne (Switzerland), 4 September: 28th GHD Ilirska Bistrica (Slovenia), 18 September: 41st Buzetski Dani (Croatia).

Ruth Scheithauer

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