Photo: EuroV8

Francesco Sini leads the championship ahead of Mugello

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The EUROV8 Series will be back on track this weekend at Mugello, Tuscany, for the last Italian round of the championship.

After some genuinely exciting racing last time out at Vallelunga, it is Francesco Sini’s Chevrolet Camaro leading the championship despite some gearbox issues in Race 2. The Solaris Motorsport driver leads from Audi Sport Italia’s Tomas Kostka. The German leg of the EUROV8 Series will feature one 45 min + 1 lap race each at Sachsenring and Hockenheim, making the remaining races only six out of four events. As the Czech Audi driver took his maiden win in the series at Vallelunga, he heads to Mugello as a clear championship contender.

Fellow Audi Sport Italia driver Davide Stancheris is in the mix as well. After a tough Race 2 at Vallelunga, the Italian was still able to secure second despite some clear drivability issues on his RS 5. Stancheris has a one point margin over double race winner Eddie Cheever, who is not returning to the championship in Tuscany.

The Italian-American’s team, Roma Racing Team, will field a Mercedes C63 AMG Coupè for current Italian Mini Challenge champion Nicola Baldan. The Italian took two podiums this season by claiming second at Monza and Vallelunga, but is yet to win a race. The high-speed configuration of the track should play in favor of the C63, which enjoys a power advantage over the other cars, but the long corners may help Audi drivers to make up for the ground lost on the straights, while the Chevrolet Camaro looks more balanced in both situations.

After scoring two podiums at Monza, Domenico Schiattarella skipped the Vallelunga weekend but will now be back in his Solaris Motorsport Chevrolet Lumina in which he claimed two podium finishes at the opening event of the series.

Despite a huge crash in Race 1 at Vallelunga, Max Mugelli will be back on track in his Team BMW Dinamic M3 E92. The event marks the Tuscany-based driver’s home race and he will surely try his best to claim some good results despite the track not being to the liking of his car, which is very quick in the corners but lacks top speed compared to the competitors.

As Sini tries to defend his lead, Audi Sport Italia drivers will try to charge for a win, and Baldan’s Mercedes C63 AMG Coupè will surely be an important challenger as has been in the first two events.

The racing weekend will start off with Free Practice 1 at 10.35 CET. Qualifying is scheduled for 17.40 and will last 30 minutes, just like the Free Practice sessions.