Mugello 29 August 2020
At the end of a tight Coppa Shell Race-1, Ernst Kirchmayr claimed his second win of the season, mounting a comeback on leader Roger Grouwels, who limited the damage by finishing second and setting the fastest lap time. In the Coppa Shell Am, Giuseppe Ramelli secured a second career win.
At the start, Ernst Kirchmayr used pole position to take the lead ahead of Christian Kinch and Roger Grouwels. “Alex Fox” stayed in fourth overall and first in the Am, while Thomas Gostner jumped in front of Giuseppe Ramelli.
In the early stages of the race, Grouwels passed Kinch into second position. On the second lap, Axel Sartingen and Cuhadaroglu came into contact. Then, as he tried to turn around, the Turk hit “Boris Gideon”, and the two were forced to retire. Miroslav Vyboh was also involved in the pile-up but managed to set off again. With the Kessel Racing car stuck in a dangerous position, the race officials called out the Safety Car.
At the restart, Corinna Gostner, one of the fastest drivers on the track, sought to catch the lead group. However, on trying to move into the slipstream of the car ahead, she accelerated too soon on exiting the Bucine and spun out into the run-off area. The gravel trapped the South Tyrolean’s 488 Challenge Evo, occasioning another outing for the Safety Car. After removing the car, the race resumed with Kirchmayr very quick off the mark, gaining over a second and a half on Grouwels. Behind them, Scheltema tried to close in on the leading pair. His attempt bore fruit as he passed Ramelli, with the latter finding the pace to overhaul “Alex Fox” and take first position in the Am class.
In the heart of the group, Matthias Moser and Dusan Palcr battled hard for position. Michael Simoncic tried to slip between the two, but in doing so misjudged his braking, colliding with Moser whose race ended in the sand. Inevitably, the Safety Car came out again, while the Austrian driver was penalised with a drive-through.
When the Safety Car returned to the pits, Grouwels pulled out all the stops, closing in on Kirchmayr, but the Austrian held him off with aplomb to celebrate his second victory of the season. The last step of the podium went to a combative Fons Scheltema who, in the final minutes of the race, completed his progress by first overtaking Thomas Gostner, who passed under the chequered flag in fifth, and then Christian Kinch who was fourth over the finish line.
Giuseppe Ramelli triumphed in the Coppa Shell on his return to the series. The Rossocorsa - Pellin Racing driver closed the thirty-minute race in sixth place overall, ahead of “Alex Fox” who consolidated his leadership in the overall standings on 90 points, taking advantage of the exit of “Boris Gideon”. Dusan Palcr mounted the final step of the podium after an excellent outing.