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Mondello Park

01/09/2001

Race

Report

Hiroki Katoh and John Nielsen led home championship leader Marco Zadra (with Christian Pescatori) by 56 seconds in the first ISRS / SRWC / FIA SCC event in Ireland.

"I wasn't that confident that we could win in today as we had opted for a wet set up and I was losing time to the front two slightly," explained Nielsen. He'd had to let Pescatori go, with Lammers out front in the other Dome. But it was Nielsen and Katoh who avoided trouble to take the win.

Marco Zadra has a reduced title advantage of 24 points (from 29) with two races left. He's finished first or second in every race bar Monza, and another second at the Nurburgring will be enough, as long as Nielsen and Katoh don't win in Germany. "We have been very consistent this year with just one retirement and Christian has been very important this weekend for me to get good points again."

"It was a crazy race," said Pescatori, who lost the lead after a clash with an SR2. "It was very hard to overtake and it was very dirty off line, but for Marco and the team it is a very good result to be second."

Jan Lammers and Val Hillebrand? They were third, but lost two laps in off course adventures, the first with Raniere Randaccio. "It was my fault really. I thought he had seen me and I took a chance on the inside and we both got together and spun around. That cost us a sure win I today, but we'll be back at the Nurburgring in two weeks time."

The Kremer Lola of Sam Hancock and Jean-Marc Gounon was in contention, but crashed after two hours, when the throttle stuck. More Lammers-type luck for this car. "I think we could have won today, we are very disappointed because the car felt very good and Sam did an excellent job at the beginning of the race," said the Frenchman.

Ascari started on wets when they should have had slicks, and met a late gearbox problem, while the R&M R&S had electrical problems, plus a damaged rear wing - damaged by a piece of its own bodywork, which flew off when Caffi touched the Kremer Lola. The Ascari drivers are just about still in the title chase, 29 adrift.

SR2 was all about the same two as at Donington - the Swedish Lola and the Rowan Pilbeam. The 'Grand Mangoletsi Plan' for close finishes worked out almost perfectly - the Lola had a 28 second advantage, but still had to make the compulsory third pit stop. On the penultimate lap of the race Thed Bjork came in to his pit, stopped and then got the signal to go straight away, very nearly collecting the parked Ascari in the adjacent pit. Bjork took the flag 12 seconds ahead of O'Connell.

"Now, with a 15 points advantage in the championship, things look good for Larry and I," said the Swede. 98 plays 83 for Carway and O'Connell, with no one else yet reaching 50. It's a two horse race.