Sixth win for Tabacchi, Paulsen’s fourth

The two class leaders triumphed in Trofeo Pirelli Race-1 at Spa-Francorchamps: Emanuele Maria Tabacchi claimed the overall victory, while in the Am class Frederik Paulsen sealed a fourth win.

At the start of Race-1, Emanuele Maria Tabacchi used pole position to take the lead. He was followed by John Wartique in second ahead of Florian Merckx. Frederik Paulsen was fourth overall and first of the Am drivers, in front of respectively Fabienne Wohlwend, Matús Vyboh, Frederik Espersen, Olivier Grotz, “AC” and Roman Ziemian.

During lap one Frederik Espersen lost control of the car on entering the Bus Stop, ending his race against the track barriers. The driver emerged unscathed from the violent collision, and the marshals called out the Safety Car to allow the track to be restored and made safe.

At the restart, Tabacchi maintained his lead, while Wohlwend passed Paulsen and closed in on third. The race saw two duels, one of which saw Wartique, Merckx and Wohlwend vie for overall victory. The other was for the win in the Am class between the leader Paulsen and Vyboh. The latter is also on Paulsen’s tail in the overall standings.

In the final minutes, the battle between Wohlwend and Merckx burst into life. The Liechtensteinian champion tried to pass the Belgian but came into contact with the Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo no. 88 at Les Combes. The Belgian driver emerged from the collision with his left rear tyre rubbing against the bodywork. In apparent difficulty, Merckx still managed to hold off Wohlwend, who received a five-second penalty and slipped to sixth overall. Tabacchi took advantage of the situation to stretch his lead in the general standings. He is now on 141 points against 106 for Wohlwend.

In the Am class, victory went to Frederik Paulsen, fourth overall, who successfully fended off the attacks of rival Matús Vyboh. Olivier Grotz crossed the line in third, with “AC” fourth, and Roman Ziemian fifth. With a fourth win of the season, Paulsen slightly increased his lead over Vyboh, with 129 points against 125 for the Slovak.