RICCI (ELK) WINS IN SPAIN AHEAD OF NUNES (MINARDI/GP) AND ANDERSEN (G-TEC)
The 2007 season of Euroseries 3000 ended in style in Barcelona with the second win of the year for Giacomo Ricci(Elk Motorsport), who also clocked the fastest lap as in race-1.
Ricci's win wasn't easy. For more than half of the race Andersen led the group but on the tenth lap the G-Tec driver had to slow the pace, suffering from a problem with his arm - letting Ricci and Nunes through.
Poleman Jimmy Auby (ASR) led the final race of the championship for the first lap. The South-African touched with Nunes, who was following him, and had to stop allowing Andersen to take the lead, followed by Razia, Rigon, Nunes and Ricci.
At the eighth lap contact between the Minardi drivers forced Rigon to end his race prematurely. Luiz Razia (Elk Motorsport) held the second place behind Andersen for a long time, but then lost a couple of positions due to a spin.
At the 13th lap Andersen, in crisis, lost the lead to Ricci and Nunes. At the end the Italian preceeded the Brazilian by 1"8, while Andersen saw the chequered flag 14"7 after the winner. On the points in Spain also Razia (Elk), Martini (RC) and Leal (Durango).
The final classification of the championship sees Rigon win with 108 points, ahead of his team-mate Nunes at 77. Third is Razia with 57, followed by Martini (39), while Ricci is fifth overall with 37 points.
Waiting for the official confirmation of the 2008 calendar, which will anyway feature three races in Spain (Barcelona, Valencia and Jerez), the next event for this category will take place on the 27th and 28th of November in Magione with the promotional tests for the young drivers looking to know this car. A F.3000 will also go on track in Rabat for a demo run on a city circuit, waiting for a race in Morocco to be held in the following future.
Giacomo Ricci (Elk Motorsport): "I thank the team for giving me a perfectly balanced car. Just in the end I had to deal with a very slippery car. I overtook Kasper Andersen at the end of the main straight: I went out of the chicane very fast, then I took his slipstream and I passed him on the outside. I can confirm that, after a year, I didn't lost my confidence with the Lola-Zytek."
Diego Nunes (Minardi/GP Racing): "After a good start, at the eighth lap there was a contact with Rigon. Unfortunately Davide spun and his race ended in that moment, while I came out of the accident unhurt. I could also win this race, but Ricci was good to beat me and Andersen."
Kasper Andersen (G-Tec): "This podium is very valuable. Throughout the weekend I had a physical problem, with arm ache. I held the lead for more than half of the race, then I had to slow down, because I could not keep Ricci and Nunes behind me anymore and they overtook me."
RACE 2 – BARCELONA1. Giacomo Ricci (Elk Motorsport) in 32’51”0402. Diego Nunes (Minardi/GP Racing) at 1”8443. Kasper Andersen (G-Tec) at 14”7144. Luiz Razia (Elk Motorsport) at 15”1425. Oliver Martini (R.C. Motorsport) at 15”9116. Omar Leal (Engineering Durango) at 24”6987. Francesco Dracone (2G Racing) at 1’15”2138. Mehdi Bennani (Elk Motorsport) at 9 laps9. Davide Rigon (Minardi/GP Racing) at 12 laps10. Jimmy Auby (ASR) at 19 laps11. Vladimir Arabadzhiev (ASR) at 19 laps12. Giuseppe Chiminelli (2G Racing) n.s.
Fastest lap: Giacomo Ricci in 1’36”824 (173.077 Km/h)
