Riccardo Berton wins at Italian Job Race 2015
The 2015 edition of the The Italian Job Race was held this past weekend at IBR Padova in Italy featuring the usual turnout of local talent and internationally experienced drivers. In the 1/8th Pro Nitro Buggy class it was TLR’s Alex Zenchettin who took the qualifying honours with his RB-powered buggy from the UK front runners Elliott Boots (Kyosho/Reds) and Darren Bloomfield (Agama/Bullitt). Alexander Stocco (TLR/Novarossi) and Renaud Savoya (HB/Team Orion) rounded out the top 5 result while other international pro drivers such as Lee Martin in 8th and Robert Batlle in 11th were found further down the field.
At the start of the 60 minute A-main Elliott Boots got the hole shot and he was able to open a gap on Alex Zanchettin, who had Darren Bloomfield, Marco Barufollo, Robert Battle and Riccardo Berton in tow. The latter was on a good pace and started to chase on the front pack with Zanchettin running into mechanical trouble with his TLR buggy which caused him to have an additional pitstop. Another driver hitting issues in the opening stages was Darren Bloomfield who was struck by electrical problems. Some 14 minutes into the final Boots and Berton found themselves in a fight for the lead with the better end for Berton who ultimately found a way past Boots in the tight left hand corner before the straight. At the 25 minute mark Berton was still in the lead with Boots behind while Martin Wollanka, Robert Battle and Alexander Stocco fought for the 3rd place. Three minutes later Battle and Stocco collided and in a gesture of good sportsmanship Battle waited for Stocco before resuming the chase on Wollanka. Up front Riccardo Berton had extended his lead on Boots to 12 seconds while around mid-race Renaud Savoya was in a battle with fourth placed Alexander Stocco. With 15 minutes to go in the final Berton and Boots had lapped the field twice while Wollanka, Batlle, Stocco were still battling for the final podium spot. In the final lap Robert Batlle ran out of fuel making way for Wollanka and Stocco with the better end for Wollanka who finished 2 laps down on winner Riccardo Berton and runner-up Elliott Boots.
Final result:
1. Riccardo Berton – Kyosho/Team Orion/Pro-Line
2. Elliott Boots – Kyosho/Reds/Pro-Line
3. Martin Wollanka – Xray/FX/Pro-Line
4. Alessandro Stocco – TLR/Novarossi/Pro-Line
5. Robert Battle – Mugen/Novarossi/Procircuit
6. Renaud Savoya – HB/Team Orion/Sweep
7. Lee Martin – Mugen/Beat/Pro-Line
8. Fabrizio Teghesi – Kyosho/O.S./AKA
9. Davide Ongaro – Mugen/Novarossi/Procircuit
10.Jack Embling – Mugen/Reds/AKA
11.Alex Zanchettin – TLR/RB/Pro-Line
12.Marco Baruffolo – RB/RB/RB
13.Darren Bloomfield – Agama/Bullitt/Beta
Source: RCRevolution [rcrevolution.net]
