Salvatore Tavano and Nicola Baldan claimed a victory each in the two 20-lap races held on the circuit of Magione, in the Italian region of Umbria, where the fourth round of the hotly contested Trofeo Abarth 500 was taking place last weekend. Baldan achieved the highest points score by finishing second in race one, while Tavano finished third in race two, right on the heels of Denis Babuin.

Tavano still leads the Trofeo Abarth 500 championship with five wins to his credit in eight races, while his closest rival, Baldan, has recorded two victories. In the Under-23 category, Campani won race one to keep leading the standings of the Trophy, ahead of Tobias Tauber.

Around 30 drivers participate in the Trofeo Abarth 500 which features the high-performance Abarth 500 Assetto Corse which had proved extremely spectacular during the first three rounds (each one made up of two races) on the most demanding Italian circuits: Monza, Mugello and Imola. It was not a coincidence therefore that the clear leader in the standings of the Trofeo Abarth 500 going into last weekend's races at Magione was an expert driver of the calibre of Tavano who won the two races held at Mugello and Imola, while Baldan and Manuel Villa won at Monza and were lying second and third in the championship respectively.

The programme of the event at the Magione circuit at the weekend, which was held within the framework of the ACI-CSAI championships kicked off on Saturday 6 June with a free practice session at 11:30 am and then the qualifying session at 4:00 pm. Sunday June 7 would see two 20-lap races taking place at 9:00 am and at 2:40 pm.

In race one, Tavano made a good start from pole position, moving towards the inside of the track to maintain first position into the first corner, ahead of Baldan. Further back the field, Parretta was trying to overtake Iorio and Campani but he slid wide in the second turn, losing ten positions or so. While Tavano and Baldan made it to outdistance Iorio, Campani and Babuin were fighting for fourth position. Their duel ended in favour of Campani, who finished first in the Under-23 category. Parretta climbed up to seventh. Baldan set the fastest lap time which earned him to start race two from pole position.

Baldan made the most of it and took the lead in race two, followed by Tavano, while Parretta successfully attacked Iorio and started a duel with Babuin. The two collided in the "S" corner before turn three and provoked chaos in the group of pursuers. The most unlucky were Iorio and Campani who were both forced into retirement. In the 12th lap, Tavano slowed down and Babuin took advantage of that to snatch the second spot.

There is now a long break before next and fifth round of the Trofeo Abarth 500 takes place on Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 September at the Ferrari-owned Mugello track. Meanwhile, there will be five rounds of the Trofeo Abarth 500 Europe, the first of them being held on Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 June at Brno in the Czech Republic.

Trofeo Abarth 500 - Classification, Race 1: 1. Salvatore Tavano, 20 laps in 27min57.702s (average speed: 107.59 km/h); 2. Nicola Baldan +0.768s; 3. Francesco Iorio +10.916s; 4. Alex Campani +18.429s; 5. Denis Babuin +19.028s; 6. Franco Cimarelli +22.514s; 7. Michele Parretta +24.209s; 8. Enrico Fulgenzi +36.052s; 9. Manuel Lasagni +36.456s; 10. Gabriele Larini +39.593s; 11. Giovanni Mancini +43.333s; 12. Andrea Carboni +1min07.004s; 13. Paolo Scudieri +1min08.154s; 14. Giuseppe Casillo +1min27.186s; 15. Simone Monforte + 1 lap; 16. Giovanni Ciraso + 1 lap; 17. Tobias Tauber + 4 laps; 18. Andrea Rizzoli + 5 laps. Fastest lap: Baldan, 1min23.146s (average speed: 108.546 km/h).

Trofeo Abarth 500 - Classification, Race 2: 1. Nicola Baldan 20 laps in 28min08.938s (average speed: 106.87 km/h); 2. Denis Babuin + 2.282s; 3. Salvatore Tavano +9.303s; 4. Michele Parretta + 9.674s; 5. Manuel Lasagni + 15.960s; 6. Franco Cimarelli +24.823s; 7. Enrico Fulgenzi +33.775s; 8. Tobias Tauber + 34.892s: 9. Gabriele Larini +35.350s; 10. Alessandro Frigerio + 36.080s; 11. Andrea Carboni + 37.408s; 12. Giovanni Mancini + 38.589s; 13. Patrick Gobbo + 44.848s; 14. Andrea Maneo + 45.471s; 15. Giovanni Ciraso + 57.966s; 16. Paolo Scudieri +59.389s; 17. Giuseppe Casillo +1min08.115s; 18. Andrea Rizzoli + 1 lap. Fastest lap: Tavano, 1min23.411s (average speed: 108.202 km/h).

Trofeo Abarth 500 provisional standings (after 4 rounds & 8 races): 1. Salvatore Tavano 157 points; 2. Nicola Baldan 134; 3. Manuel Villa 79; 4. Denis Babuin 69; 5. Andrea Rizzoli 68; 6. Raffaele Giammaria 56; 7. Francesco Iorio 54; 8. Alex Campani 42. Under-23 category: 1. Alex Campani 137 points; 2. Tobias Tauber 121; 3. Simone Monforte 106; 4. Gabriele Larini 88; 5. Enrico Fulgenzi 78; 6. Patrich Gobbo 62.