Carrera Cup Italia | Imola, towards race 2: revenge in a thousandth?

Noses in the air in the paddock of the fourth round of the Porsche Carrera Cup Italia in Imola. Rain is threatening on the Santerno circuit and at the moment the sky is cloudy. Wet weather is feared for race 2 at midday, even though the forecast continues to indicate that the worst should arrive a few hours later. We’ll see.

At the moment, the only certainty is the starting grid for the second challenge of the weekend. If the times that decided the qualification of race 1 were close, what can we say about the single thousandth that decided the fate of today’s front row?

Lirim Zendeli is holding on to that thousandth of a second for a possible rematch, in the sense that the German from Ombra Racing had also obtained pole for race 1, but a penalty for impeding had relegated him to the third row (then fourth at the finish line, the best of the Rookie), effectively preventing him from fighting for the top.

This time at Imola the opportunity presents itself to him by a thousandth of a second over yesterday’s winner, Marvin Klein (who had “inherited” his first pole), in turn engaged with Keagan Masters (who starts 3rd) in the chase for the absent championship leader Larry Ten Voorde. And the front row line-up is completed by Francesco Braschi (another one looking for revenge after yesterday’s retirement), Alberto Cerqui (also looking for his first podium), Oliver Gray and Simone Iaquinta.

In short, a nice package of scrum that could make today’s race even more hard-fought than yesterday’s already very tight race. Rain permitting, of course. Zendeli is in any case a driver who always gets off to a very good start (and he did it yesterday too).

He himself dwells on this theme, expanding it and providing a key specifically in view of the second departure: “I start on pole so I just have to make one of my starts. I don’t think anyone has gotten off to a good start this year, I just need to be more relaxed in the first 4-5 laps. I still have to learn. In the first lap I push a lot and I’m really fast, but then in the second or third lap the more experienced riders are able to make better use of the tyres. We’ll see what happens, but I’m confident that it will be a good race.”.

A similar hope also goes to Cesare Brusa. The Prima Ghinzani driver obtained the double pole position of Michelin Cup in qualifying (and with a margin), but yesterday he was unable to go beyond sixth place among the various brawls created during the race.

Race 2 offers the driver from Bergamo a second chance just as the fight for the category title heats up even more, with the reins once again in the hands of Alberto De Amicis, winner yesterday and new leader but with only a one-point advantage over Francesco Fenici.

Finally, on today’s grid, it is worth mentioning the 8-position penalty inflicted on rookie Matteo Segre for the episode that saw him spin at the end of race 1 at Tamburello, involving the innocent Steven Giacon, who was hit and also ended up in the gravel with consequent retirement (but the Paduan will regularly start today).

Below are the times and gaps that decided the qualification for race 2, which takes into consideration the second best times obtained by each driver during the single session on Saturday morning.

Qualifying for race 2