The final race of the weekend at Imola saw James Owen and Bence Valint split the Trofeo Pirelli AM and Trofeo Pirelli titles. The Meridian Modena – Engstler driver seized the moment in tricky conditions to win the AM world title ahead of his rivals and winning the overall race.
Owen made the most of the rain, which fell heavily in the last 10 minutes of the race. This was the key factor that affected the outcome in favour of the British driver, but also Valint, who saw his main rivals Giacomo Altoè and Luca Ludwig eliminated from the battle for remaining on the track with slicks for too long.
It was Altoè who got the best possible start from pole, with Ludwig slotting in behind aiming to hassle him throughout in an all-Italian duel. The first upset, however, came after 10 minutes with a spectacular high-speed incident at Tamburello.
Shortly before the braking point, Claus Zibrandtsen lost control of his 296, and after suddenly swerving to the left, the Danish driver’s car picked up speed on the wet grass and slid towards the chicane, hitting Luigi Coluccio’s 296 head-on. The impact was violent, but fortunately both stepped out of their respective cars unscathed.
This incident, however, forced the Race Direction to display the red flag, stopping the race for several minutes to allow the track marshals to remove the damaged cars.
At the restart, Altoè and Ludwig picked up where they left off, at the top and battling for first place. The situation seemed to have stabilized, with the two Italians fighting for the Trofeo Pirelli title.
With eight minutes to go, the rain started to fall and Altoè had to give up first place to Owen. Both the Italians were on slicks, while Owen, who had switched to rain tyres earlier, immediately felt at ease on the wet track and powered his way ahead.
Owen was able to manage an advantage of more than half a minute over second-placed Roberto Perrina, first among the Trofeo Pirelli drivers. The Ferrari of Seattle team man, however, made a mistake, slipping to fourth overall and second in his category behind Valint.
A few moments later, Jay Logan went off the track, ending up beached in the gravel. This forced the Race Direction to send the Safety Car out again, thus wiping out the advantage of more than half a minute that Owen had accumulated in the previous laps.
At that point, with four minutes plus one lap to go, the race ended under the Safety Car, with Owen ahead of Giammarco Marzialetti and crowned Trofeo Pirelli AM champion. Bence Valint, on the other hand, finished third, but as he was the first Trofeo Pirelli driver to the flag, he won the category title.
The result was a bit of a travesty for Altoè and Ludwig, who were clearly the fastest drivers on the track but who were forced to settle for sixth overall (third in class) and eleventh overall and seventh in class respectively. Both were penalized for their decision to remain on slick tires when another heavy downpour arrived to flood the Santerno circuit nine minutes from the end of the race.
Finali Mondiali Ferrari – Trofeo Pirelli e Trofeo Pirelli AM – Final classification
