Fulvio Mussi finally broke his Michelin Ginetta G50 Cup duck at Knockhill in Scotland , Saturday, 15th August, by taking his maiden category podium during an action-packed - and fairly controversial - 18th round of the 2009 season.
Driving for Wednesbury-based Total Control Racing, the 23-year-old from Colchester produced excellent pace during this afternoon's 16-lap encounter to seal a fantastic second place finish and also lap within just two 10ths of a second of the brand new Ginetta G50 lap record at the Fife track.
While Mussi and the TCR mechanics were delighted with his tremendous performance and result, for championship contending team-mate Carl Breeze the first of the weekend's races was far less enjoyable as he saw his own bid for the runner-up spot snatched away following contact from rival Frank Wrathall on the final lap.
The latter did receive a 15-point championship penalty post-race. Although unable to finish round 18, Breeze remains in touch in the title battle and will be going all out to make amends in Sunday's two rounds. TCR's Danish racer Joachim Ritter, meanwhile, improved markedly throughout and took a competitive seventh place finish to consolidate his top 10 placing in the driver standings.
Reflecting on round 18, TCR team principal Lee Brookes commented: "Today's race was certainly a bit of a push and shove effort and instead of taking a second and third place result with Carl and Fulvio we've had a second, which is great, and a DNF which is obviously very disappointing. "(Frank) Wrathall did get a 15-point deduction after the race for his part in the incident with Carl but we don't feel the punishment fitted the crime. Carl was on for second place at the time, so he's lost a minimum of 30 points through no fault of his own."
Brookes added: "Obviously, the whole team is delighted for Fulvio. It's fantastic he's finally achieved the podium he's been after all season and we're sure there will be more to come now. He raced very well and he's been getting quicker and quicker all of the time. The same can be said for Joachim, he's improved throughout the weekend so far and his pace has been strong."
In the qualifying session, which took place on a drying track, Mussi was the fastest of the TCR drivers with the second quickest lap of 58.097 seconds (78.77mph). Breeze was fourth fastest, four 10ths of a second shy of his team-mate, while Ritter posted the eighth best time.
High winds helped dry the circuit in time for round 18 and although making conditions increasingly tricky for the drivers, all three TCR racers did an excellent job. At the start, Mussi got away from the line better than pole-sitter and series leader Nathan Freke and came close to edging ahead into SEAT Curve but after being forced wide he had no option other than to slip down the order into third. Breeze moved ahead of his team-mate into second position as they headed through Scotsman and the pair, along with Wrathall, fought very hard over second place lap after lap.
On the third tour, Mussi made a bid to pass Breeze at the Real Radio Hairpin and on lap four he was close enough to consider the same move again. On lap nine though, Mussi was forced wide at Scotsman and dropped four places which appeared to call time on any chance of a podium finish. On the 16th and final lap though, Wrathall's contact with the rear of Breeze's car at Carlube pitched the multiple race winner into a spin out of second position and gave Mussi the opportunity to scythe past both to take a well deserved podium.
Speaking on his maiden rostrum in Ginetta G50, Mussi said: "It's a big relief to finally take my first G50 podium - it's the longest I've ever gone without one! Last year we had a 95 per cent podium rate and all of a sudden this year, we've come into G50 Cup and it's been tough. Everything is coming together now though and we definitely have the pace to challenge for wins."
Ritter enjoyed his own entertaining battle with Julien Draper and Benji Hetherington throughout the encounter. Moving ahead of Draper at Scotsman on lap seven to take seventh position after his rival ran wide, Ritter then looked for a way past Hetherington into the top six.
In the meantime, Draper recovered and on lap 14 he managed to edge back ahead into seventh place. TCR's Michelin Ginetta G50 Cup squad will be back on track at 09.55 this morning, Sunday, 16th August, for round 19 of the 2009 championship. The 20th round of the campaign, which will be screened live on Freeview, digital satellite and cable channel ITV4, will begin at around 14.00. Provisional 2009 Michelin Ginetta G50 Cup Standings (after Rd18 - Rd11 yet to be rescheduled): Drivers: 2nd Carl Breeze, 446pts; 5th Fulvio Mussi, 281pts; 10th Joachim Ritter, 186pts
Teams: 1st Total Control Racing
