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Maserati Trofeo MC World Series, Nurburgring, races 2-3

Alberto Cola and Patrick Gobbo secured the last race in the Maserati Trofeo MC World Series. This weekend's second round was held at Nuerburgring and saw 24 Maserati GranTurismo MC Trofeos take to the track. The endurance race was the most entertaining event and took place on a sunny Sunday. This was a welcome change from the rain and fog that had lingered over the past few days and that had delayed the Saturday programme. Early on, Renaud Kuppens was in the spotlight, as he was when claiming the first two races. Starting on pole, he had to overtake Alan Simoni before defending a lead he held until the compulsory pit stops. This was when the podium places were sorted out. Cola and Gobbo, who had been in fifth, managed to take the race lead. They made the most of Ange Barde's axle shaft giving way, and Mikkel Mac's tyre problems, to inherit top spot. Cola and Gobbo went on to cross the line without any major incident. Their front right tyre did blow but this happened on the very last corner and their lead over Swiss Team's Andrea Gardelli/Fabio Venier was healthy enough. Third spot on the podium went to Riccardo Romagnoli/Mauro Calamia.

Simoni/Ragazzi missed out on the chance to finish in the lead places because of a drive-through earned after crossing the white line when leaving the pits after the driver change. Pierre Marie De Leener and Delli Guanti/Boccellari were also penalised for the same thing. So, as at Paul Ricard, Renaud Kuppens failed to score a triple. The extra 20 seconds spent in the pit lane, a regulation affecting the top five crews, played a major role, as did the puncture he suffered when in sixth.

Race 2 was disputed in the morning and, as mentioned above, the win went to Renaud Kuppens. In second was the Dane Mikkel Mac, with Italian Alberto Cola third.

As a mark of respect for Pietro Stragliati, the AF Corse collaborator who died here on Thursday, there were no celebrations for the drivers on the podium.

The next round in the Maserati Trofeo MC World Series is scheduled for 14 July and will take place at Silverstone, England. The meet will also see the Trofeo Europa assigned to the driver leading the overall standings after the first three rounds.

Alberto Cola: "It was a great result, even though we didn't get off to a good start. I soon found myself behind Mikkel Mac and realised he had tyre problems. He was pretty slow and it was tough getting past him. Once ahead of him I tried not to take too many risks and focused on handing over the car to my team mate in decent shape as the tyres were feeling the pace".

Patrick Gobbo: "It is true that the tyres weren't 100% but the car reacted well. I managed to settle into a decent rhythm and hoped everything would go well. Luckily, I punctured at the very last curve so still managed to claim the win".

Race 2 result  

1. Renaud Kuppens 32'04.484*
2. Mikkel Mac 32'05.152
3. Alberto Cola 32'11.755

Race 3 result

1. Gobbo/Cola 23 laps
2. Venier/Gardelli +2.947*
3. Romagnoli/Calamia +8.690*

*Enrolled in the Pirelli Team Cup

Overall standings

1 Renaud Kuppens 101 points
2 Mikkel Mac 67 points
3 Cola/Gobbo 57 points