Audi Sport Italia Press Release
Tomas Kostka soldiers on to Mugello P6 that propels him to the top of EuroV8 Series points standings after five rounds
- Davide Stancheris shines in first half posting race FL, then retires
- Ermanno Dionisio puts in solid race before hitting engine trouble
Scarperia, Italy – The drought of wins for four-wheel-driven cars at Mugello-- dating back to 2006-- continues. At the scenic Tuscan venue, the best Audi driver turned out to be -- as it happened on Saturday -- Tomas Kostka. In spite of cut-off problems intermittingly hampering his run the Czech, fresh off his maiden win in Rome a fortinight ago, got mixed in a bunch fighting for P4 that encompassed Diego Romanini's Mercedes, Niccolò Mercatali's BMW and team mate David Stancheris. The red-headed from Bergamo was definitely the Audi man to watch in the first half, as after having disposed of nagging rival Mercatali on lap five he showed his form clinching the fastest lap and relayed to Kostka the massage that he was determined to go after Romanini and the Top3 drivers thereafter. As it is, Stancheris went by Kostka at the San Donato corner, but one lap later he hit gearbox trouble in the same area and had to park his RS 5 in the run off area.
It took another couple of laps for another Audi driver to swallow a bitter pill: Ermanno Dionisio, then eighth overall as well as comfortably leading in the standings that encompass only gentleman-drivers, was sidelined by his engine as he, in the back of his mind was tinkering with the chance to start from pole position on the reveresed grid of race two. The last time this had occurred to him, at Vallelunga, led to his first 2014 podium finish. Audi Sport Italia 'survivor' didn't give up his battle with either Romanini's Mercedes o Maurizio Copetti's M3 but ultimately Kostka had to settle for sixth place. None the less, the spot awarded him enough points to grab the first place in the championship tables, although level on points at 75 apiece with race one winner Nicola Baldan. The yellow Mercedes C63 coupe kept at bay throughout the race the M3 driven by home boy Max Mugelli, whose runner-up spot starting from pole position still keep him at zip wins in V8 meetings.
| 1. N. Baldan (Mercedes) 14 laps 2. M. Mugelli (BMW) +0.629s 3. D. Schiattarella (Chevy) +10.017../.. 6. T. KOSTKA (AUDI) +21.768s 11. E. DIONISIO (AUDI) -4 laps 12. D. STANCHERIS (AUDI) -7laps Photo credit: Audi Sport Italia | 1. N. Baldan 75 points 1. T. KOSTKA 75 pts. 3. F. Sini 70 pts. 4. D. STANCHERIS 60 pts. 5. N. Mercatali 57 pts. 6. M. Copetti 54 pts. 7. E. Cheever III 53 pts. |
