Race 1 a show full of twists, the winner is Giacomo Pollini

Great fight at Imola, Davide Uboldi finishes second, Alessio Salvaggio third
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Race 1 of Campionato Italiano Sport Prototipi at the Autodromo Enzo and Dino Ferrari in Imola is an exciting spectacle that gives twists and turns from the very first bars. The winner, also getting the point from the fastest lap (1'44.938) is Giacomo Pollini. The driver from Brescia of the team Giacomo Race, starting from the pole managed to finalize, not without emotion, getting full points so far. The second to pass under the checkered flag is Davide Uboldi, author of a textbook start that brings him in the lead in the early stages, only to lose positions after a race contact with Matteo Pollini. Third is Filippo Lazzaroni, for the second time on the overall podium, after the P2 obtained in Vallelunga. Lazzaroni has been very consistent in his performance throughout the season, almost always coming in to fight for top positions. Salvaggio, in the midst of the fight for the Under 25 title, closed in P4 and confirmed himself as one of the revelations of the 2022 season, in a race full of difficulties he maintained a clean and effective drive, finishing fourth at the finish line. An excellent result for Gianluca Carboni, on his return after a long absence from the Italian Sport Prototypes Championship, he does not disappoint expectations and earns P5. Sixth is Andrea Mosca, who thus also strengthens his leadership in the Master classification. It is another Master driver who follows him, in P7, the French Steve Brooks, who on the Santerno brings home the result good at resisting the incursions of Checcho Malvasi (in P8), with even a race contact between the two that sends Malvasi's Wolf into a spin, then able to restart. Steve Brooks is then penalized post-race by being relegated ten grid positions in Race 2 following an overtaking move, after the checkered flag, under a Safety Car regime. Ninth place for Sweden's Emil Hellberg, for the first time driving on the iconic Imola track, certainly did not have an easy time in the race, but managed to finish in the points zone by restarting from the back after a spin in the early stages of the race. Rounding out the top 10 is Joe Castellano. Dr. Joe is rewarded by a clean and consistent driving style on a slippery track due to the light rain that caused several difficulties for many competitors.

 

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The race

Davide Uboldi, starts third and discards the Pollini cousins on the front row, gaining the leadership with a spectacular overtaking that shows all the determination of the driver from Como. Giacomo Pollini, on the other hand, is not perfect in his sprint from the blocks, and Matteo Pollini passes him taking P2. In P4 in the early stages of the race Matteo Roccadelli, followed by Giovanni Maschio and Filippo Lazzaroni.

The lead fight in the top 5 is tight, with 16-year-old Giovanni Maschio asserting himself by giving strenuous battle to his opponents.

Behind Uboldi the duo of Giacomo Race switch positions, with Giacomo Pollini sticking to him chasing P1.

At the exit of Acque Minerali, Maschio passes Matteo Roccadelli, taking advantage of an imperfection turn of his rival. The Venetian thus continued to climb positions in a race that also saw him score the fastest lap of the early stages, showing uncommon speed.

Shortly afterwards Roccadelli was also passed by Lazzaroni, thus finishing sixth. While Giacomo Pollini was chasing the leader, he was slowed down by a problem with the throttle that stuck briefly, causing him to slip fourth behind Maschio.

Incident between Francesco Gàristo, in his debut race in 2022 Campionato Italiano Sport Prototipi, and Linus Hellberg who end up in the gravel. Hellberg is then penalized with 25 seconds by race direction for the contact, then again a touch between Steve Brooks and Checcho Malvasi that ends in a spin.

Matteo Pollini passes Uboldi with exceptional speed, but there is a race incident between the two, with Pollini's car then ending up in the gravel at Tamburello and he’s out of the race. During the ensuing Safety Car for recovery, Roccadelli slows down, experiencing a problem with his single-seater and is forced to pull over at the pit lane entrance, requiring the intervention of the marshals.

Giacomo Pollini, after recovering on Maschio, was in first position at the restart, followed by the young driver from Veneto and Davide Uboldi.

Among the Masters, Andrea Mosca leads ahead of Steve Brooks in P8.

Uboldi with a spectacular overtake on the outside takes P2 over Maschio and launches himself to the last assaults. In P4 there is Lazzaroni, followed by Alessio Salvaggio, Gianluca Carboni and Andrea Mosca as first among the Master drivers.

One more twist in the closing stages, with a spin by Giovanni Maschio at the exit from Acque Minerali, when nothing seemed to be able to take away his first podium of the season.

Problems then for Giancarmine Valerio Spadaro who ends up outside by pulling over the barriers, while Emil Hellberg also spins.  Safety Car on track and standings frozen until the end, for the recovery of Spadaro's car. 

 

 

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Giacomo Pollini: "I didn't have a brilliant start and slipped into third. Then I was able to recover, the moment I gained the lead and passed Davide, I had a problem that forced me to slow down. After that, luck assisted me again with the problem in front. I feel sorry for Matteo because he deserved at least the podium. From there, however, I was able to parade in front and then I maintained until the end."

Davide Uboldi: "I am very capable in restarts, if there had been one more lap I would have passed first. Unfortunately, the race ended under Safety Car. Today I was beaten by the accident I had. The contact I suffered with Matteo Pollini made me lose 2 positions, luckily I didn't retire. I was third, so I was not in close contact with Giacomo on the first restart, otherwise it would have been harder for him to keep up with me. I gave everything, I made a text-book start, overtaking like that seems easy, but it's not. I was closed immediately on the outside, in a moment I reacted by instinct and jumped to the inside. Next year I will be 50 years old and I have to become Italian Champion at all costs; last year I came third, this year now you can almost say I will come second, hopefully the climb will lead me to be first in 2023, by now I already have to think about that."