Round 4 - San Marino (Imola)

ACE SERIES San Marino (Imola)
1997/98 Pole Position: Oliver Roberts (1:15.165)
1997/98 Race Winner: Michal Janak (1h23:49.209)
Race Distance: 61 laps

Qualifying

PosNo.DriverTeamTimeDiff.Pts
1.  #25  Rafal Ziarnik  Yapamotox  1:15.661  +00.000  20
2.  # 9  Jan Svehlik  Wild 13-Bolgani  1:15.739  +00.078  16
3.  # 1  Michal Janak  Digitech-Magia  1:15.794  +00.133  14
4.  #37  Tom Nielsen  Graton Grand Prix  1:15.908  +00.247  12
5.  #26  Tomasz Bielawski  Yapamotox  1:16.247  +00.586  10
6.  #23  Reinhold Schatzer  Rocketship  1:16.265  +00.604  8
7.  # 6  Ignacio Cuadrado  Team Ecosse  1:16.270  +00.609  6
8.  # 2  Marco Saupe  Digitech-Magia  1:16.434  +00.773  5
9.  #19  Claudio Bacchelli  CBRacingF1  1:16.437  +00.776  4
10.  #22  Nuno Maltez  Rocketship  1:16.475  +00.814  3
11.  # 4  Alan Strang  Team Ecosse  1:16.525  +00.864  2
12.  # 3  Mirko Patzenbein  Digitech-Magia  1:16.573  +00.912  1
13.  # 7  Markus Kruggel  Wild 13-Bolgani  1:16.586  +00.925   
14.  #36  Steffen Diener  Roadrunner  1:16.611  +00.950   
15.  #40  Mike Hogg  MSP Racing  1:17.187  +01.526   
16.  #31  Eric van der Veen  Dutchy  1:17.525  +01.864   
17.  #18  Ross Kirk  Crash Heads  1:17.536  +01.875   
18.  #17  Argyris Maistralis  Crash Heads  1:17.888  +02.227   
19.  # 8  Axel Bruns  Wild 13-Bolgani  1:18.075  +02.414   
20.  #11  Fernando Alvarez  Supercraft  1:18.214  +02.553   
21.  #16  Hendrik Mehl  Crash Heads  1:18.429  +02.768   
22.  # 5  Scott Dryden  Team Ecosse  1:18.772  +03.111   

Race

Nineteen cars lined up on the grid at Imola in the shimmering heat haze for the Ace Series race at the venue, the most notable absense being that of title challanger Jan Svehlik. When the bank of red lights flickered out the crowd cheered as the cars roared off down the long first straight and as the field fought for position the brightly coloured Graton Grand Prix car of Tom Nielsen weaved it's way to the front from fourth on the grid to first by the first corner. In the melee for position Scott Dryden ploughed off of the track, never to rejoin.

As the cars crossed the start-finish line Claudio Bacchelli emerged in the lead - his CBRacing F1 having had the best start of all from 9th on the starting grid.

As things started to settle down a little Bacchelli defended his position against Mirko Patzenbein, Ignacio Cuarado, Michal Janak and a fast starting Mike Hogg - up from 15th on the grid. Tom Nielsen slipped back to 7th after a couple of slow laps. On lap 8 it was all Digitech as Janak diced with, and then passed, team-mate Patzenbein who was then passed by Saupe only to pass him back on the next lap. On lap 11 Janak made his move, executing a perfect overtaking manouvere to outbrake Bacchelli and take the lead, promptly setting fastest lap and vanishing into the distance. Tom Nielsen started a comeback at this point, pushing past Mike Hogg for 5th and taking Alan Strang with him only to be passed by the blue and white Team Ecosse car later in the lap. All of this was in vain however as Strang lost it and took to the grass, allowing four cars past. The battle between Patzenbein and Saupe raged on, swapping positions a number of times, both passing Bacchelli when a spin dropped him to 5th. Ignacio Cuarado was now making his move, passing Patzenbein for 4th as the latter was balked by Saupe. Debris left on the track by Hendrick Mehl's Crash Heads car then caused the unfortunate Cuarado to spin backwards into the wall meaning a pit stop for a replacement rear wing was required. The battle between Saupe and Patzenbein continued to rage as they both pitted on the same lap - their battle continuing as they rejoined the track. As a number of cars pitted, Janak was able to retain his lead despite stopping himself and on lap 24 Bacchelli crashed out - his racing over for the day.

Having found a way passed Patzenbein, Nielsen forced his way past Saupe prompting a roar from the Italian crowd who were happy to see something other than a Digitech circulating at the front but Saupe re-passed him on the next lap, the Graton GP suffering on worn tyres. Patzenbein then managed to get past Nielsen again on the 27th lap but Nielsen then charged ahead of the blue and red machine before pitting for fresh rubber. Janak pitted again on lap 41 but never looked threatened from here on, extending his lead to win by 40 seconds from Marco Saupe. Nielsen however managed to dampen the Digitech party somewhat, reeling off a number of searing laps to harry then blast past Patzenbein for third and Graton GP's first finish and podium of the year. Markus Kruggel finished a consistent race behind all this in 5th.

PosNo.DriverTeamTimeDiff.Pts 
1.  # 1  Michal Janak  Digitech-Magia  1h23:42.746  +0:00.000  180+5
2.  # 2  Marco Saupe  Digitech-Magia  1h24:22.578  +0:39.832  170 
3.  #37  Tom Nielsen  Graton Grand Prix  1h24:36.472  +0:53.726  165 
4.  # 3  Mirko Patzenbein  Digitech-Magia  1h24:38.275  +0:55.529  160 
5.  # 7  Markus Kruggel  Wild 13-Bolgani  1h25:08.056  +1:25.310  155 
6.  #26  Tomasz Bielawski  Yapamotox  1h25:15.186  +1:32.440  151 
7.  # 4  Alan Strang  Team Ecosse  1h25:16.526  +1:33.780  147 
8.  #36  Steffen Diener  Roadrunner  1h25:17.554  +1:34.808  143+3
9.  # 8  Axel Bruns  Wild 13-Bolgani  1h25:25.822  +1:43.076  139 
10.  # 6  Ignacio Cuadrado  Team Ecosse  1h26:09.134  +2:26.388  135 
11.  #40  Mike Hogg  MSP Racing  1h26:47.085  +3:04.339  132 
12.  #25  Rafal Ziarnik  Yapamotox  -1 laps     129 
13.  #31  Eric van der Veen  Dutchy  -1 laps     126 
14.  #11  Fernando Alvarez  Supercraft  51 laps  83.6%  102 
15.  #17  Argyris Maistralis  Crash Heads  35 laps  57.4%  68 
16.  #22  Nuno Maltez  Rocketship  31 laps  50.8%  59 
17.  #19  Claudio Bacchelli  CBRacingF1  23 laps  37.7%  42+5
18.  #16  Hendrik Mehl  Crash Heads  18 laps  29.5%  32 
19.  #18  Ross Kirk  Crash Heads  8 laps  13.1%  14 

Team by Team Analysis

CBRacing F1 - Claudio Bacchelli produced his team's most competitive race of the season, taking the lead from 9th on the grid and he ran strongly at the front before a spin followed by a crash on lap 24 ended his impressive performance.

Crash Heads - A race the team will no doubt want to forget in a hurry, the cars lined up 17th, 18th and 21st for the race and both Kirk and Mehl had retired by lap 19. Maistralis managed to limp into the pits on lap 24 after crashing heavily and losing his front and rear wings but the car didn't last much longer, retiring on lap 36.

Digitech - The dominant force as usual, 3rd, 8th and 12th in qualifying didn't tell the whole story - Michal Janak was never headed after taking the lead on lap 11 while Saupe and Patzenbein fought over second and third for most of the race, the latter losing third only to Nielsen's fantastic drive.

Dutchy - Eric Van Der Veen's race was over almost before it had started when he broke a wing on lap two and rejoined at the back of the field. He finished 1 lap down in last place after having to replace the nose cone again towards the end.

Graton Grand Prix - Tom Nielsen led his team to their best result of the year in third having led the race on the first lap from 4th on the grid. A couple of mistakes lost him some time but after his pit stop he lost no time in passing Patzenbein's Digitech for the final podium position.

MSP Racing - Mike Hogg debuted the car in 15th in qualifying but started well to run fifth on lap three. A couple of mistakes and the need to replace a front wing on lap lap 50 dropped him to 11th at the flag.

Road Runner - Steffan Dienner ran a consistent race to 8th after starting 14th and took fastest lap towards the end of the race.

Rocketship - Reinhold Schatzer qualifyed 6th but was not present on race day while Nuno Maltez started 10th but spun on lap 7 losing a number of places. Was running 13th when he retired on lap 32.

Supercraft - Only one entry from the team for this race, Alvarez started 20th and ran towards the back retiring on lap 52 while last.

Team Eccose - Scott Dryden crashed out on the first lap while Alan Strang and Ignacio Cuarado qualified 11th and 7th respectively - running well in the race. Cuarado was challenging for top positions when he knocked his rear wing off on lap lap 19. He finished 10th. Strang ran strongly all afternoon and was a little unfortunate to finish 7th.

Wild 13 Bolgani - Jan Svehlik qualifyed 2nd but was not available to race while Bruns ran steadily to 9th. Markus Kruggel had a good race, working his way from 13th at the start to 5th at the flag making no mistakes along the way.

Yapamotox - A strong qualifing performance promised much - Ziarnik on pole and Bielawski 5th but the race was a different story, Ziarnik dropping to 15th by lap 7 and then breaking his front wing on his way to 12th while Bielawski ran a quiet but consistent race to take 6th.

Last modified: Wednesday 03 February 1999 - 16:27