Vincenzo
Tirella was victorious in today’s first race of the Vodafone Maserati Trophy.
It was a hard-fought, exciting event, especially during the opening laps,
and it was only towards the end that the Swiss driver managed to impose
himself.
The clear skies and the temperature hovering around twenty degrees, made race conditions ideal. The Barcelona stands were packed with lively supporters.
The start set the scene for the spectacle to follow: four cars headed into the first curve side-by-side. Bonaldi, starting from the pits, negotiated the first bend unaffected and took the lead. Behind him were Cerrai, Alessi, Tirella, Smurra and Luglio. This group were constantly overtaking one another, adding to the thrills of the occasion.
Alessi could have profited from the duel for first between Bonaldi and Cerrai but the Roman preferred to avoid potential problems and was content to oversee the situation.
The battles were not only for the top spots but also the other places too. Rota was involved in a crash with ‘Gedol’ and damaged his car. He managed to get going again but only to pull into the pits and retire from the race. The enthusiasm of the drivers led to some spectacular incidents like the collision between Bozzetto and De Megni. The Trofeo of the man from Veneto was left stranded in the middle of the track at La Caixa, badly damaged, while the other car was a little further ahead at Banc Sabadell. The race officials had no option but to send on the safety car.
On the third lap then, while the safety car slowed the field down and the track was cleared of debris and potentially hazardous oil lost from Bozzetto’s car, Bonaldi was in front, followed by Cerrai, Alessi, Tirella, Smurra, Luglio, Colombo, Panacci and Thurn Und Taxis.
Audebert entered the pits for the first of his two stops while the safety car was on. As soon as the safety switched off its lights, three drivers raced for the first curve: Bonaldi, Cerrai and Alessi. Going into the turn and coming on the outside of Bonaldi, Alessi was able to go past the other two. The Roman, though, had to cope with the aggression of Bonaldi who closed off the inside channel, sending Alessi onto the sand and into third, just ahead of Smurra. On the eighth lap Bonaldi was hit with a drive-through by the race directors, a penalty which he paid three laps later. Owing to a misunderstanding with the officials, what was only a short penalty was interpreted by Bonaldi as being the end of his race.
The battle between the four leading drivers was jolted by a dangerous re-entry to the track by Romeo, entering from the pit lane. Alessi profited from the confusion and moved into the lead, ahead of Cerrai, Smurra and Thurn Und Taxis, who had moved up the field.
Bonaldi was in the pit lane due to his penalty, so, the tenth lap saw Alessi in command with a 1"145 lead over Cerrai, 1"462 over Smurra, 3"378 over Thurn Und Taxis, 4"173 over Panacci and 8"144 over Luglio.
While the 1"30 stops for the single drivers were taking place, Alessi was setting a cracking pace which the others just could not keep up with. On lap eleven he set the fastest lap with a time of 1"59"803, stretching his lead over Cerrai to 8"312 and Panacci to 11"6. But his race was to end shortly after when he was forced to retire due to a broken radiator, caused by a stone kicked up by a car he had been tracking.
Now Zonca took the lead, with Tirella, Colombo and Barisone on his tail. His lead was always going to be a temporary one as the number 12 had still to make a pit stop; and it was at this stage that the race was decided. Tirella, once he moved into the lead, drove with authority in closing out Colombo’s efforts at overtaking.
In the main pack the excitement continued and saw Luglio involved in a crash that wrote off his Trofeo. And even in the final acts the action did not abate: Barisone, having raced well throughout, allowed himself to be overtaken by Cerrai on the very last corner. Cerrai thus completed his remarkable comeback in snatching third, ousting Barisone from the podium.
Tirella took the chequered flag that brought to an end the opening Vodafone Maserati Trophy race. Colombo took second 6"281 back with Cerrai a further 1"06"897 behind. Then came Barisone, Smurra and Mountain-Wilson, the pair that had started from pole. At the end of the race the officials relegated Romeo to twelfth place (he finished ninth) after applying a ten-second penalty.
