Swiss Team’s Mauro Calamia, scooped yet another win as he closed in on 2014 Maserati Trofeo World Series title. His victory in Race 1 at Shanghai was all the more important as his main rival, Riccardo Ragazzi, was forced to pull out. The action this weekend is taking place in China in what is the penultimate round in the championship.
The race was all about Calamia, Ragazzi and Alan Simoni. The trio battled it out right from the off and held an advantage over the pack. Ragazzi tried to get past his Swiss opponent a few times but, in one of his final attacks towards the end, a clash between the two turned out to be costly for the Italian: he spun and lost touch. In the end, Calamia managed to hold off a last-ditch assault from Simoni to cross the line first. Ragazzi’s bad luck saw third go to Alberto Cola; he was making a return to the Maserati Trofeo, together with Massimo Mantovani, after skipping the trip to the US. Ragazzi eventually took fourth, edging out another returning driver, Giorgio Sernagiotto, who finished just in front of his crew-mate Giuseppe Fascicolo. Tengyi Jiang’s ninth spot was the best by an Asian driver at Shanghai.
As well as the nine points awarded for the win, Calamia will pocket three more for the three pole positions secured this afternoon. Race 1 tomorrow is timed for 12.50 (local time) and Sunday’s Race 2 for 11.00.
Mauro Calamia: “The day didn’t get off to the best of starts as the problems I had in free practice held me up a bit. The hard work put in by the mechanics allowed me to turn on the pace and grab pole. The duel with Ragazzi kicked off from the start and he tried to overtake me a few times. He was quicker than me but I managed to defend myself. After the clash he spun and slipped down the field but then Simoni appeared and I also had to hold him off to take the win. Now I just have to focus on getting as many points as possible and avoid taking any unnecessary risks”.
Race 1 result: 1 Mauro Calamia (Swiss Team) – 31:01.026 2 Alan Simoni – 31:01.610 3 Alberto Cola – 31:08.828
