F1ItalianSeries GP 15 & 16 – Report

GP 15 and GP 16 of the F1ItalianSeries was held for the first time at the track of Gianni Modellismo in Rome. The track is very narrow, with a very long main straight and a huge and fast corner going out on the straight. With the track being made for nitro races the pit lane area was not very comfortable for the electric racers but at the end everyone had good fun which was further helped by the beautiful Italian Summer weather with temperatures of more than 30°C. In the qualifying of GP 15 all 15 drivers made the Q1 session with the 10 fastest drivers proceeding to Q2 to set the best time and go after the pole position. After a very hard battle Cardelli (RedBull) took the pole with a time of 17.856s. In 2nd came Capuano (Mercedes) in front of 3rd placed Magnocavallo (Ferrari), 4th was Manciocchi (Hesketh) and 5th Cutugno (RedBull).

At the start of the race the Ferrari of Magnocavallo was immediately faster than the others and he was able to overtake both drivers in front of him and from that moment on he never looked back to take the win of the GP 15 round. The 2nd place went to Cardelli (RedBull) while Manciocchi (Hesketh) rounded out the podium but he later was disqualified as he did not show up for the technical inspection and this handed Capuano the 3rd place.

GP15 result:
1. Magnocavallo – Ferrari
2. Cardelli – RedBull
3. Capuano – Mercedes
4. Cutugno – RedBull
5. Morgagni – Renault ING
6. Giorgio – Hesketh
7. Bagagli – Mercedes
8. Nicosanti – Lotus
9. Zanninelli – Super Aguri
10.Barberi – Renault ING
11.Spanu – Marussia
12.Bruschi – Ferrari
13.Bellini – Bar Honda
14.D’Onorio – Williams
DSQ Manciocchi – Hesketh

The qualifying of the GP 16 race had again Cardelli (RedBull) taking the pole position, this time in front of the Ferrari of Magnocavallo while Cutugno (RedBull) had to settle for 3rd. Davide Morgagni had a good qualifying session with his Renault ING which he placed on the 4 spot for the main race. Elsewhere Barberi was in serious problems with the other Renault. The MiniGP that decided the last remaining spots for the GP 16 was very difficult for the drivers as a summer storm made for a wet track and in combination with the nitro residue on the track the cars proved to be pretty much undriveable. But at the end the grid was completed and the GP 16 saw the domination of Cardelli’s RedBull whose win was not without the “help” of Magnocavallo who made some mistakes, denying him to close the gap. With a 2nd place Giorgio (Hesketh) made a great recovery from the back of the grid due to the MiniGP qualification that allowed him to race in the GP. In 3rd Cutugno rounded out the podium with another RedBull. GP 17 and 18 are now fast approaching and with it the end of the season. GP 18 will also count with double points so the championship is still open.

GP 16 result:
1. Cardelli – RedBull
2. Giorgio – Hesketh
3. Cutugno – RedBull
4. Capuano – Mercedes
5. Morgagni – Renault ING
6. Magnocavallo – Ferrari
7. Manciocchi – Hesketh
8. Bagagli – Mercedes
9. Barberi – Renault ING
10.Nicosanti – Lotus
11.Sarra – Jordan
12.Bellini – Bar Honda
13.Bruschi – Ferrari
14.D’Onorio – Williams
15.Zanninelli – Super Aguri

Thanks to Andrea Nicosanti for the report.