Vallelunga, Race-2: Emil Hellberg triumphs and becomes champion

The Swede won the title thanks to a last race win. Uboldi and Roccadelli finish their season with DNFs.

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Emil Hellberg is the new Campionato Italiano Sport Prototipi champion: thanks to the victory obtained in race-2 at the Autodromo di Vallelunga, the Swede won the title at the end of a race full of twists and turns. Hellberg managed to overturn the standings thanks to this weekend's double triumph, beating Matteo Roccadelli (BHK Motorsport) by just seven points to become the successor to outgoing champion Giacomo Pollini.

As soon as the lights went out, the poleman Arduino Giretti did not have a happy start, with Roccadelli immediately managing to take the lead. The driver from Vercelli was then put under attack by Jesse Menczer, with the Briton trying to take the lead but failing to overtake his rival. Emil Hellberg's cue was also excellent, as he managed to climb from eighth to third, with Alister Yoong and his brother Linus behind him. At the back, Davide Uboldi attacked Giretti at the Campagnano turn for the sixth position; the two crashed, with the rookie spinning out and ending his race prematurely. The incident caused the safety car’s deployment at the end of the first lap, with Uboldi still managing to continue the race despite the damage to his rear wing.

At the restart, the Italian multi-champion saw his chances of taking home the title fade away due to a collision caused by Donald Milokanovic, who hit him from behind and put him out of the race; the contact also involved Pietro Ferri (Emotion Motorsport), who was also forced to retire. After further intervention of the safety car, the race restarted on lap 7: however, race leader Roccadelli had a technical problem, which slowed him down at the restart and forced him to also retire. The lead was then inherited by Menczer, who was, however, overtaken by Emil Hellberg at turn 4; the Briton then retook the lead at the Campagnano turn, before slipping to fourth at the Soratte. Yoong then took the lead ahead of brothers Emil and Linus Hellberg.

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The following lap saw the retirement of Roccadelli due to a powertrain problem, with the safety car being deployed for the third time to allow the marshals to recover his car. The race restarted during the last lap: Emil attacked Yoong for the first position and managed to take it at the end of a good fight that started at Turn 2 and ended only at the Campagnano one. Behind them Linus tried to undermine Menczer for the last podium position, however, rear-ending him at the Soratte and allowing Giovanni Mazza (Emotion Motorsport) to move up to third. Emil Hellberg won the race, becoming the new Campionato Italiano Sport Prototipi champion, while Yoong had to settle for second place after savoring the victory during the final minutes.

Third was Mazza: the ACI Sport Master Cup winner managed to jump on the overall podium for the first time this season at the final race in 2023. Fourth was Menczer, while Linus Hellberg finished fifth. Sixth place for Roccadelli, who saw the title slip from his hands in the very last race.