As soon as qualifying for the last round of the Porsche Carrera Cup Italia ended, calculations began in the Imola paddock of the possible combinations for which Ten Voorde could close the deal for the title already today in race 1.
Although the Dutch driver is clearly the favorite and with pole for race 2 he would have already secured a further 2 points and increased his advantage over Quaresmini, Agostini and the other challengers, there are still numerous possibilities to keep in mind.
Certainly game 1 represents the first concrete match point for Ten Voorde. The varied group of Italian pursuers, in any case, does not want to give up and starting with the reigning champion Quaresmini has a clear objective: “The important thing is to be able to keep the championship open today and get to Game 2 tomorrow with the possibility of playing it, even remotely. Clearly it’s not easy because so far Larry fully deserves everything he’s achieved, but as long as the math is there it’s hope, I don’t give up”.
In qualifying the driver from Brescia of the Dinamic team qualified fourth behind poleman Klein, Iaquinta and the Dutchman from EF Racing, ahead of his other direct rivals Agostini and Bertonelli.
On the race 1 grid, however, due to the penalty that Iaquinta must serve, the top-5 will be Klein-Ten Voorde-Quaresmini-Agostini-Iaquinta with Bertonelli sixth. A truly tantalizing intrigue…
Quaresmini, however, had a really tough time in qualifying when he ended up in the Rivazza gravel halfway through the session and was lucky enough to be able to restart and subsequently set the time which earned him the second row: “On that lap with my first set of new Michelins – he says -, when braking I found a slower competitor and to avoid him I had to go off-piste and it went well, it was a thrill and then a stroke of luck”.
It should be underlined that already in race 1 all the top protagonists could play for the last set of new “joker” tires left available. This could prove to be a further technical-strategic variant, also because someone could also take a risk and focus on race 2 hoping for some favorable episode today.
In any case, much of the fate of this season will depend on today’s final result in Ten Voorde. The championship leader already knows he can start from pole position in race 2 and could also decide not to fit new Michelins today, pending events.
The Dutchman had this to say about this morning’s qualifying, which was very close until the checkered flag and ahead of race 1: “I had a lot of fun, it was quite hectic with so many cars on the track and you actually had to fight to find a clean lap. In the end I was quite happy, I managed to find two good passes, it wasn’t the best lap of my life but ultimately the third time isn’t bad. I thank the team, we have the task of scoring as many points as possible. The championship is still open, we’ll see everyone’s positions at the finish line and then we’ll do the calculations. As for me, I just have to push and do my best”.
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