The re-arranged Spa round that was postponed from Spa due to fog, was run at Monza on Sunday morning. The grid saw Danilo Dirani line up in 10th position, Charlie Hollings in 14th and Steven Kane in 15th.
Once again getting a storming start, Danilo Dirani sprinted in to 7th position by the end of the first lap and was soon on the tail of 6th placed James Walker, passing the Fortec driver at the Ascari Chicane on lap 3.
With the now usual slipstreaming battles going on, positions changed several times each lap and Danilo was in the thick of the action, finding himself in 4th position on lap 8. Going in to the first chicane, Danilo locked his brakes and was forced to go straight on at the first corner. Losing a position to Carlin Motorsports Dallara of Christian Bakkerud, the Lola was then apparently brake tested by the Dane as they went in to the Variante Roggia chicane, causing Danilo to lose control and collect the innocent Fortec Dallara of Mike Conway.
“He (Bakkerud) braked under the bridge which is about 20 metres earlier than you usually brake,” said Danilo. “This caused me to lock up my brakes in avoidance and I went in to Conway who was just to my right. It was a strange move by Bakkerud and I do not understand at all why he would do that. The only drivers that I can race cleanly with and have a fair fight in this series are Asmer and Conway.”
Conway who also retired on the spot with Dirani also backed up Danilo’s thoughts on the incident.
Steven Kane put in another fine drive, coming through the field from 15th to 7th.
“It was a pretty boring race considering all that was going on around me,” said Kane. “I managed to take a few cars and then just concentrated on individual lap times as by then the rest of the field had broken free. We have to look forward to Silverstone where I will start from pole for the other Spa race.”
Charlie Hollings started the race from pole position after securing the quickest time at Spa back in April. The Promatceme Lola-Dome driver lost the lead at the beginning to rival Salvador Duran but was back in front within a lap as he made an audacious move around the outside under braking for the first chicane. From there Charlie’s slipstream soon fell back in to the clutches of the pack and he diced with Duran and ADR’s Jonathan Kennard before Kennard went off in the later stages and he went back in to 2nd place.
On the last lap, Team SWR’s Josh Fisher got in to Charlie’s tow and managed to snatch second place but the Yorkshireman enjoyed the intensity of the battling on the famous 5.7 kilometres circuit.
“It was very intense out there all weekend but I am disappointed not have held on to second place. We were bumper to bumper for most of the race and I went from pole to 3rd and back again. It was a pretty exhilarating battle.”
Lola’s Formula Three teams and drivers are next in action at the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit, once again sharing the bill with the Le Mans endurance Series on August 13/14. The second of the delayed Spa events will take place at the home of the British motorsport on this weekend.
