- In the first race, Niklas preceded Italian frontrunners Scalvini and Anselmi
- Lilja strengthens his leadership in the European ranking
- In the Italian classification, Finnish driver Juuso Pajuranta is first overall; Anselmi and Lilja follow
- Among the Abarth 500 Assetto Corse, Swedish talent Darbom beat Italian contender Cimarelli
- Tomorrow, Sunday, at 3.05pm, is planned Race2, with 24 racing drivers on the starting grid
Swedish success in the fifth round of the Trofeo Abarth Selenia Europe and the AciSport Abarth Selenia National Trophy Italy, which takes place at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola, near Bologna. Niklas Lilja won the first of two scheduled races, ahead of Italian challengers Luca Anselmi and Eric Scalvini after an extremely breathtaking race.
With this success, Lilja strengthens its leadership in the general classification of the Trofeo Abarth Selenia Europe and raises the ultimate success in the AciSport Abarth Selenia National Trophy Italy, where he is leading the Finnish Pajuranta, ahead of the Italian Anselmi and Lilja.
Started from the pole position, Lilja went straight to the top, while Scalvini could exceed Campani, who immediately reacted and came back second with an astonishing overtaking under braking at the Variante Alta bend. The two current leaders enlivened another exciting duel. Campani could exceed the Swedish after the mid of the race, but he could not finish the race. In fact, during the last lap, after a contact with Lilja, the Italian champion went off the race, leaving the victory to the Swede. Second finished Scalvini and third Anselmi, who overtook Pajuranta just before the checkered flag, after a long and dramatic duel.
Also among the 500 Abarth Assetto Corse, the winner is a Swedish talent. Joakim Darbom, current leader of the championship, won the Saturday's race, followed by Italian Franco Cimarelli.
Tomorrow (Sunday) the second race will start at 3.05pm.
Race1 classification: . Niklas Lilja 13 laps in 27'09"043; 2. Eric Scalvini +1"427 ; 3. Luca Anselmi +11"922; 4. Juuso Pajuranta +11"987; 5. "Gioga" +28"374; 6. Jorge Rodrigues +28"893; 7. Cosimo Barberini +43"495; 8. Massimiliano Gagliano +48"621; 9. "Fisherman" +48"798; 10. Cristian Maffei +1'09"297. Abarth 695 Assetto Corse Evoluzione. Fasted lap Lilja 2'04"052, speed average 142,5 km/h.
Trofeo Abarth Selenia Europe ranking: 1. Lilja 165; 2. Pajuranta 126; 3. Anselmi 120; 4. M. Campani 82; 5. Eric Scalvini 78; Barberini 65.
Abarth 500 Assetto Corse Europe class ranking: : 1. Darbom 196; 2. Appelqvist 162; 3. Cimarelli 146; 4. Arrigosi 96; 5. Di Cosmo 35.
Acisport Abarth Selenia Italia National Trophy classification: 1. Pajuranta 134 points; 2. Anselmi 129; 3. Lilja 120; 4. Barberini 87; 5. Scalvini 90.
Abarth 500 Assetto Corse Italy class ranking: 1. Darbom 167 points; 2. Cimarelli 152; 3. Appelqvist 103.
Turin, 19th of September 2015.
