Month: November 2024

Report: Race 2 Misano

Posted on November 3, 2024 by - General

Antonio Pizzonia managed to take revenge for Race 1, as did his HS team-mate Paul O’Connell, who secured victory in the FORMULA class in the closing stages today.

The two World Series V8 4.5s of the HS Engineering team started the second race of the weekend from the front row of the grid. Antonio Pizzonia remained in front at the start this time and defended this position until the end of the race. Haralds Slegelmilhs was close at times and even had a small contact, but the Latvian had to settle for second place today.

The last race of the year was not without drama in the GP2 and World Series 3.5 category: Max Cuccarese (ITA, MM International), who was leading the race like yesterday, once again lost what he thought was a sure victory on the last lap of the race. Today, however, it was not a collision but a misunderstanding on the part of the young driver, who had taken his foot off the gas a lap too early.

Because Marco Ghiotto (ITA, Scuderia Palladio), who was following behind, also slowed down a bit, the man who had been in third place until this point took his chance: Paul O’Connell (IRE, HS Engineering) was the one who was caught on the final straight yesterday. Today the tide turned and the Irishman finally won the race ahead of Marco Ghiotto (ITA, Scuderia Palladio), who this year reclaimed the title from his rival Simone Colombo (ITA, MM International) after two years. Astonishingly, Ghiotto achieved this without a single race win, but with ten podium finishes! Colombo was unfortunately unable to take part in today’s race.

Yesterday’s race winner and BOSS GP newcomer Vladimir Netusil (CZE, MM International) finished in fourth place. The ZIGZAG duo of Nicolas Matile (MCO) and Jean-Christophe Peyre (FRA) were together for the entire race and finished fifth and sixth.

In the SUPER LIGHTS, top favourite Stephan Glaser (SUI, Jo Zeller Racing) had to pit early in the last race with gearbox problems. This opened up the opportunity for Walter Colacino (ITA) and Andreas Hasler (AUT, Hasler Motorsport) to take the class win. After a spin at the beginning of the race, Hasler started a race to catch up in his World Series V6 and overtook Colacino’s Formula 3000 in the middle of the race, which ultimately proved to be the race-deciding manoeuvre for the Austrian.

The champions of the 2024 season are Ulf Ehninger (F1), Antonio Pizzonia (OPEN), Marco Ghiotto (FORMULA) and Stephan Glaser (SUPER LIGHTS).

Picture: Angelo Poletto

Report: Race 1 Misano

Posted on November 2, 2024 by - 5, General

Harald Schlegelmilch wins the first race after his comeback, a maiden victory for Vladimir Netusil in the FORMULA class and Stephan Glaser takes the SUPER LIGHTS title.

At the rolling start, all eyes were on pole setter Antonio Pizzonia (HS Engineering) in the World Series V8 4.5, as the Brazilian initially failed to get going. The cars directly behind were only just able to find a way past the former Formula 1 driver’s slow car. The best start belonged to Marco Ghiotto (ITA, Scuderia Palladio), who moved to the front of the field from third on the grid. But it was Harald Schlegelmilch who took the lead a short time later in the much faster World Series V8 4.5 and set the pace in the early stages.

While Pizzonia was once again making his way to the front after the botched start, a duel between the two championship leaders Marco Ghiotto and Simone Colombo (ITA, MM International) developed behind him. In Turn 2 the two then had a dramatic collision in, which ultimately led to Colombo retiring and a drive-through penalty for Ghiotto. Pizzonia used the following safety car period to catch up with team-mate Schlegelmilch again. Despite the Brazilian’s fastest race lap (1:20.837), the Latvian was unbeatable on his race debut in the BOSS GP Racing Series. After 22 minutes of racing, Schlegelmilch won the OPEN category ahead of Pizzonia.

Behind them, there was a duel between the two youngest drivers on the grid. The two 18-year-old MM International drivers Max Cuccarese (ITA) and Juju Noda (JPN) were together for almost the entire race before things came to a head on the very last lap. Juju tried to get alongside Cuccarese one last time, but the Japanese driver failed in her attempt and made contact with Cuccarese’s Dallara GP2. Both spun out and ended their race in the battle for the FORMULA win shortly before the end. Suddenly it was Paul O’Connell (IRE) in the World Series 3.5 car who was in the lead. He had been engaged in a tough duel with Vladimir Netusil (CZE, MM International), who suddenly smelled a chance of victory on the final lap and managed to overtake O’Connell in a photo finish on the home straight: only fractions of a second separated the two at the chequered flag.

Max Cuccarese was not celebrating third place after the collision, while Juju Noda finished fourth. Marco Ghiotto scored further points in fifth place and can secure the title tomorrow. Jean-Christophe Peyre (FRA) was delighted to have won the team duel against Nicolas Matile (MCO) in the ZIGZAG-Auto GP.

Stephan Glaser (SUI, Jo Zeller Racing) claimed victory in the SUPER LIGHTS. The BOSS GP rookie deservedly secured the title with his eighth win of the season. Walter Colacino (ITA) took a great second place in this category, while Andreas Hasler (AUT, Hasler Motorsport) in third place was happy to have fixed the technical problems on the car from the previous day and to be able to attack again on Sunday.

Race 2 starts on Sunday at 12:25 pm and again covers a distance of 22 minutes.

Pictures: Angelo Poletto

Qualifying Report: Misano

Posted on November 2, 2024 by - 5

With lap times under 1 minute and 20 seconds and thus under the existing lap record, the two HS-Engineering drivers Antonio Pizzonia and Harald Schlegelmilch dominated qualifying for the Grande Finale in Misano Adricatico.

Schlegelmilch (LVA) initially led qualifying before reigning OPEN champion Pizzonia (BRA) set the fastest time on his last fast lap. However, with a time difference of just 47 thousandths of a second, a thrilling duel between the two 4.5-litre World Series drivers at the front of the field is to be expected.

The title is still at stake in the FORMULA category this weekend: Juju Noda (JPN) set the fastest lap time ahead of Max Cuccarese (ITA). Championship contender Simone Colombo (ITA) had to line up behind his MM International team-mate, who struggled with technical difficulties on Friday’s practice session. Championship leader Marco Ghiotto (ITA, Scuderia Palladio) started from the same row as Colombo. After a spin, he was able to continue his qualifying and thus remain within striking distance for the races.

Paul O’Connell (IRE, HS Engineering) was fastest in the 3.5-litre World Series in 5th place ahead of Vladimir Netusil (CZE, MM International). Best of the AutoGP group: Nicolas Matile (MCO) ahead of ZIGZAG team-mate Jean-Christophe Peyre (FRA).

The new champion of the SUPER LIGHTS class, Stephan Glaser (SUI, Jo Zeller Racing), secured pole position ahead of Walter Colacino (ITA) in the Lola Formula 3000.

The first race starts today, Saturday, at 14:55.

Photo: Angelo Poletto/BOSS GP