On a soaking wet track washed by the continuous rain, Diego Alessi led from start to finish during the second round of the Audemars Piguet Trofeo Maserati Europa held at Silverstone yesterday. Behind him filed in Alberto Cerrai and Maurizio Fabris. The overall Trofeo classification now sees Cerrai having extended his series lead over Fabris by 45 points to 36. Andrea Demegni finished the race in fourth place, gaining a position overall to move into third on 26 points. As Diego Alessi did not have his usual partner, Francesco Ravasio, alongside him, he did not score any championship points.

QUALIFYING

Twenty two year-old Oliver Jarvis who won the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award and the Formula Renault UK in 2005 claimed pole position. At Silverstone he was sharing the drive of the number 26 Trofeo with an English journalist from Autosport magazine. Jarvis is familiar with the Silverstone circuit and this showed as he distanced the rest of the pack, stopping the clock at 2'14"602. Rain fell heavily throughout the session and had a notable effect on the gaps between the drivers’ times. It wasn't a real surprise that there was nearly two seconds between the time set by the young English driver and that of Alessi (1"934). “I felt at home in the Trofeo GranSport and yesterday’s result in free practice was pleasing," said Jarvis after grabbing pole position. "It was tough driving today in the rain but I have to say that I found a good feeling in these conditions in this car. Obviously, tomorrow I will try to get a good result and it would be great to make the podium. The race will be interesting as I think that Alessi, a very quick driver, will not be happy to see a young guy ahead of him."

Alessi, driving alone as Francesco Ravasio was absent (and wouldn't earn championship points), erred by sitting in the pit lane while his adversaries were out setting their quick laps. The track was very wet when he came out and this put paid to his chances of lowering his fastest time. Alessi though edged out Alberto Cerrai (2'17"078) and Maurizio Fabris (2'21"522). Fifth came Andrea Demegni, the last of the drivers to dip under the 2'22" barrier (2'21"774.)
 

Alongside him on the grid was the De Martini and Panacci crew (2'22"218). The drivers were forced to drive cautiously though because of the conditions. However, the performance of Bartocci, making his series debut in tenth (2'22"918), had to be applauded. The guest crews also fared pretty well: Andruet and Hales, in the Audemars Piguet VIP car, were twelfth fastest (2'24"818,) Wood and Giordanelli were thirteenth in the Toora entry (2'24"944) while Coulomb and Kidd were sixteenth (2'28"660.)

RACE

The 50 minute race began at 10.05 on Sunday morning. The format was a mini-endurance race with an obligatory pit stop of 1'30". It was during this stop that Alberto Cerrai, owing to the Monza result, would have to wait an extra 12 seconds and Maurizio Fabris eight, while Carlo Romani will benefit from an eight second bonus.

Starting from second spot on the front row, Alessi moved straight into the lead by overtaking the youngster on pole, Oliver Jarvis. He, in turn, did well to fend off Cerrai. On lap four, however, the winner of the 2005 Trofeo Maserati Europa swept past Jarvis into a second place he held until the finish. Alessi, meanwhile, was cruising to victory. Following up the lead group were Fabris, Andrea Demegni and Antonio Andolfato. A little further back the fans could enjoy a duel between Philip Burgan, Simone De Martini and Niccolò Oddi for eighth place. This trio enlivened the early part of the race and often swapped positions. The obligatory pit stops took place between laps ten and fifteen, disturbing the race order somewhat.

Following the stops, behind the distant Alessi and Cerrai came a group led by Andolfato, Giorgio Bartocci, Edd Straw (who had replaced Jarvis) and Niccolò Oddi, who had crept ahead of Burgan. More thrills came at the end of the race when Fabris overtook Demegni and then when supermodel Jodie Kidd ran off the track in the Maserati West Europe car on lap 17. Kidd had taken over in the driving seat from Jean Coulomb. As it was impossible to remove her car from its position in the middle of the straight, race officials waved the red flag, interrupting proceedings.

Andruet and Hales, in the Audemars Piguet VIP car (11th) bettered Wood and Giordanelli (13th in the Toora car.) The rules state that the first three finishers are hit with a time penalty for the next Trofeo Audemars Piguet Maserati Europa race while the last three are awarded bonus seconds. The next round will be held at Brno (Czech Republic) on 28 May and Alessi, Cerrai and Fabris will have to contend with 12, 8 and 4 second penalties, respectively. Pizzicannella, Coulomb and Marquard, on the other hand, will benefit from 4, 8 and 12 second bonuses.