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| Race report by Alexander Hagberg |
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| The first ever Hot Race Cup for electric cars was held at the beautiful AXA circuit, located close to the seaside in Rome, Italy. The race saw some 60 entries in stock and modified classes. XRAY team Italy was partly present along with me. The race featured a relaxed format, with open practice starting on Friday. In close work together with Alessio Menicucci and Alessandro Brunelli, we managed to dial in our cars on Friday. I set the quickest lap times from all drivers present, including stars from the ETS series, Ronald Völker and Marc Rheinard. |
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| The qualifying started on Saturday, with 4 rounds to be run, and 2 allocated sets of tires, with 1 additional set for the finals. The tires used were the Hot Race 32, same as will be used at the upcoming World Championships in the US. Thanks to a good tire strategy I managed to take the overall TQ position, and setting the fastest overall qualifying time as well as quickest lap time. I would start the triple A-finals from the 1st place on this tight and twisty course, where passing is very difficult. |
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| In the first final, I was in a close battle with Ronald for the entire race, where Ronald eventually took the win after a late pass in the hairpin corner after the straight. The 2nd final proved to be even more eventful, with myself being the only one starting on used tires. I held up the field quite well for the first 3 minutes, where eventually a small contact between myself and Ronald sent him down the order. Menicucci would go in front followed by Brunelli, and I had to settle for 3rd. This left the race wide open for A3 where three drivers could still be crowned winner. I was able to win A3 closely followed by Ronald, with Meniccuci in 3rd. This meant that Ronald took the overall win due to the tie break of the quickest time, where he won A1 on new tires, compared to my A3 win on used. Menicuccis A2 win helped him to finish 3rd overall in this strong level of competition. Diego Macchioni and Alessio Valentini also made the A-final with their XRAY T4 cars. |
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| In the stock finals, local XRAY driver Alessandro Rossi was fighting for the win, but eventually had to settle for 3rd place overall after a good drive. |
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| Modified result: |
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1. Ronald Völker
2. Alexander Hagberg â“ XRAY T4
3. Alessio Menicucci â“ XRAY T4
4. Alessandro Brunelli â“ XRAY T4
5. Nicola Marrone
6. Diego Macchioni - XRAY T4
7. Marc Rheinard
8. Lucas Urbain
9. Alessio Valentini â“ XRAY T4
10. Eric Dankel
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| Stock result: |
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1. Valter Cola
2. David Loppini
3. Alessandro Rossi â“ XRAY T4
4. Andrea Efficace
5. Giordano Bonfatti
6. Andrea Attura
7. Luca De Vincentis
8. Giancarlo De Caro
9. Davide Morgagni â“ XRAY T4
10. Pierluigi Manni
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