Emanuele Moncini, from Brescia, yesterday won the first of the two races held at the German circuit of Oschersleben within the framework of the fifth round of the Trofeo Abarth 500 Europe. He finished ahead of fellow countryman Manuel Villa and Portuguese Jorge Rodrigues. Thanks to his second place, Villa increases his lead over his closest rival in the Trophy's standings, Frenchman Benoît Perret, who finished fourth.

After having set pole position, Moncini managed to keep in the lead all the way through the race, widening the gap gradually and achieving the fastest lap time in the process.

In this first leg, his team-mate Villa and Portuguese Rodrigues could do nothing against him. They maintained second and third respectively for the entire 12-lap race. Rodrigues was then involved in the hottest battle of the race together with Perret. Starting from the sixth spot of the grid, the French managed to climb back up to fourth place, before fighting hard with Rodrigues through the last laps. However, the Portuguese withstood the attacks and prevented Perret from clinching the last step of the podium.

The race also proved positive for youngsters Simone and Erika Monforte. After having made a good start, the first mentioned finished sixth, while his sister Erika was classified eighth.

This morning (Sunday 6 September) the second and final Trofeo Abarth 500 Europe race at Oschersleben this weekend will be flagged off at 8:30am. Having posted the fastest lap time in the first race, Emanuele Moncini will start again from pole position.

Trofeo Abarth 500 Europe, Race 1 classification: 1. Emanuele Moncini (I), 12 laps in 21min53.375s - average speed 121.57 kph; 2. Manuel Villa (I) + 5.792s; 3. Jorge Rodrigues (P), + 7.300s; 4. Benoît Perret (F), + 8.089s; 5. Eric Neve (CH), + 17.119s; 6. Simone Monforte (I), + 26.848s; 7. Strahinja Ivosevic (CZ), + 35.543s; 8. Erika Monforte (I), + 1min11.750s; Fastest lap by Emanuele Moncini: 1min48.122s at an average speed of 123.06 kph.

Trofeo Abarth 500 Europe, provisional championship positions: 1. Manuel Villa (I), 103 points; 2. Benoît Perret (F), 97; 3: Jorge Rodrigues (P) and Emanuele Moncini (I), 91; 5. Simone Monforte (I), 72; 6. Lucas Guerrero (E) and Freddy Nordström (S), 43; 7. Peter Fulin (CZ), 38; 8. Enrico Fulgenzi (I), 37; 9. Erika Monforte (I), 35. 10. Pedro Marreiros (P), 34.