- In the first of two races at the Belgian circuit Lilja preceded Italians Anselmi and Campani
- The Abarth 695 Assetto Corse Evoluzione speeds at over 150 km/h on the tortuous Belgian circuit
- Sweden won also in the Abarth 500 Assetto Corse category, with Darbom ahead of Portuguese Fernandes
- Tomorrow Race 2 at 10.35am, with live TV on SKY HD Sport2
The Swede Niklas Lilja, Abarth 695 Assetto Corse Evoluzione, won the first race of the third round of the Trofeo Abarth Selenia Europe, held on the Belgian circuit of Spa-Francorchamps - as part of the prestigious "24 Hours" of the Blancpain Endurance Series.
Thanks to this success Lilja takes the lead in the general classification of the Trofeo Abarth Selenia Europe, followed by Anselmi.
With 24 Abarth at the start, equally distributed between Abarth 695 Assetto Corse Evolution and Abarth 500 Assetto Corse, the race offered a lot of show and thrill from the green light until the checkered flag.
In Race 1 Lilja exploited well the pole and kept the head immediately, followed by Pajuranta, while Campani could overtake Anselmi. The latter, however, took back his third place. In the second lap Barberini surpassed Campani and, then, Anselmi, too. On the third lap of the race Pajuranta attacked Lilja, but he did a mistake, went into a spin and lost some positions, restarting 6th. Barberini also went off the track, leaving the way open to Anselmi and Campani.
Halfway through the race, with the top two positions well defined, the fight raged for the third place on the podium between Campani, Scalvini and Pajuranta. The last two frontrunners drove paired in the famous bend of "Raidillon". The two cars collided, Scalvini went off the track crashing against the guardrails, but the robustness of his Abarth 695 Assetto Corse Evoluzione allow him to come out unscathed from the accident.
The race ended under the safety car, with Lilja winner, followed by Anselmi and Maurizio Campani.
The fight was tough even in the Abarth 500 Assetto Corse category, with the Swede Darbom preceding the Portuguese Manuel Fernandes and Italian Franco Cimarelli. With this success Darbom takes the first place in the ranking of the Trophy; second is his compatriot Appelqvist.
Tomorrow (Saturday) the second race starts at 10.35am, with a live broadcast on Sky Sport2 HD, preceded by the re-shift of Race 1.
Race 1: 1. Niklas Lilja 9 laps in 26'36"469; 2. Luca Anselmi +1"094; 3. Maurizio Campani +2"184; 4. Cosimo Barberini +3"322; 5. Juuso Pajuranta +5"422; 6. Joakin Darbom (Abarth 500 Assetto Corse) +6"022; 7. Manuel Fernandes (Abarth 500 Assetto Corse) +7"137; 8. José Pires (Abarth 500 Assetto Corse) +9"205; 9. Jorge Rodrigues +10"699; 10. Franco Cimarelli (Abarth 500 Assetto Corse) +20"225. The others on Abarth 695 Assetto Corse Evoluzione. Best lap: Anselmi in 2'47"086, 150,9 km/h.
Standing Trofeo Abarth Selenia Europa: 1. Lilja 78; 2. Anselmi 77; 3. M. Campani 72; 4. Pajuranta 62; 5. Scalvini 60.
Standing Abarth 500 Assetto Corse Europa: 1. Darbom 101; 2. Appelqvist 95; 3. Cimarelli 82; 4. Arrigosi 39; 5. Di Cosmo 35.
Turin the 30th July 2015.
