16
Pedalà stars
at Mugello
The Composit Motorsport driver, who lined-up as a
wild-card and did not score championship points, left
a strong impression since practice. Thanks to a
sensational lap, he stole the pole from Nogues when
the Spaniard was sure to have it in his pocket. In
Race 1 then he held the lead for three laps before
surrendering it to Rangoni's Clio. But Pedalà went on
to strike back with a few laps to go. From that
moment on, he started a thorough defence on
Nogues who was trying to place his nose in every
hole. He resisted all the way to the last corner. But
then, the Spaniard pulled alongside Pedalà and went
for a spectacular move. The two ran the whole corner
and the first part of the straight side-by-side, and
Nogues managed to win by 21 thousands of a
second. It was a classic, hard-fought Clio Cup race,
a testimony for the excitement of racing. At Mugello,
Rangoni's Nogues started to build his advantage
atop the standings.
Gryazin scores
surprise podium finish
Both Simone Iacone and Ivan Pulic, the only
championship contenders for Nogues, were off to a
bad day. Plagued by mechanical problems, they
never managed to be consistent and ended up far
behind. The final position of the podium went to
Nikolay Gryazin. The Russian, fielded by Composit
Motorsport, completed a consistent race by staying
right behind the leaders. Although he still missed one
last bit to join them in the battle, he definitely put
together a superb performance. And the same goes
for Massimo Ferraro and Lorenzo Pegoraro, who
rounded out the top-5.
Race 2 confirmed the superiority of Nogues who put
together an amazing recovery. After starting last due
to the reverse grid, in a few laps he accomplished an
efficient comeback that handed him the lead. All of
that while Simone Iacone was ending up off-track in
the worst possible moment. Ival Pulic also suffered.
Due to a chronic understeer condition he had to
content with 9th, thus exiting the championship fight.
Once again it was Gryazin to shine as he scored
second place in an overall positive weekend. Pedalà
showcased his skills once again by fighting back
from to seventh to fourth place. A great performance
from Michele Puccetti brought him a fourth place in
front of Lorenzo Pegoraro. Unfortunately, a mistake
in the end cost him some positions.
Teams and drivers are now looking forward to the
Vallelunga finale, where the exciting 2014
championship is ready to provide plenty of action.
Melatini and Puccetti
