With several opponents having to make a mandatory stop at the end of the race, Gaetano Di Mauro used the right strategy to take the first place in the last laps
Gaetano di Mauro won Stock Car race 1, valid for the sixth round of the season at the Velopark Speedway, in Rio Grande do Sul. Cesar Ramos and Matias Rossi completed the podium in a race that became chaotic with several accidents, four different safety-car entries, and even a hit on the wall by Lucas Foresti at the flag. It was the KTF driver's first victory in the category.
GRANDE PRÊMIO follows the Stock Car LIVE with full coverage of all the activities to be held this weekend at Velopark. On Sunday (3), Race 2 is scheduled for 2:45 pm (Brasília time).
Learn how race 1 went at Velopark:
The start, which happened under safety-car, began with the leader already dropping out: Marcos Gomes didn't make it to the third corner and stopped his car in the grass, and Felipe Baptista took advantage to take the first position. Still on the first lap, the pole-position incident caused the yellow flag to be activated and the safety-car to come on.
At this point, the top-10 was in the following order: Baptista, Felipe Massa, Guilherme Salas, Felipe Lapenna, Gaetano Di Mauro, Galid Osman, Ricardo Maurício, Gabriel Robe, Lucas Foresti and Daniel Serra.
During the safety car, Allam Khodair lost control of his car while trying to warm up the tires on the wet asphalt and hit the protective barrier, abandoning the race. Soon after, several drivers opted to make a non-obligatory pit stop: Rubens Barrichello, Gabriel Casagrande, Nelsinho Piquet, and Ricardo Zonta.
The restart happened on lap 6, with Felipe Baptista holding the lead without any major problems. Lapenna defended himself against Gaetano di Mauro's attack and kept the fourth place, while Serra and Jimenez battled for the tenth position.
The pack continued to move very close in the following laps, with the cars separated by a matter of tenths. In a battle for first position, Felipe Massa took the worst of the battle with Baptista, and suffered damage to the front of his Lubrax car when it went through the grass and lost his suspension - another driver out of the race, and another safety car on the track.
With a little under 15 minutes on the clock, the race resumed on lap 12 with Baptista still in first place, followed by Salas and Lapenna. Mauricio and Di Mauro completed the top-5 at this point. At the bottom of the grid, a strong battle was formed between Gianluca Petecof, Cacá Bueno, and Daniel Navarro - the better for him, who took 17th place.
The next moment, another driver out of contention: Gabriel Casagrande spun after a dispute with Zonta and stopped on the track, causing the activation of the third safety car in 14 laps. So, again, several drivers opted to head for the pits. In one of the stops, Diego Nunes lost his car at the exit of the pit-lane and ended up in the protection grid - literally through the fence.
On lap 16, finally the restart: in a great battle for first place, Julio Campos took the lead and took the first place of the race - followed by Navarro and Petecof. However, Baptista - who was leading - ended up in the grass and caused another activation of the safety car: the fourth in the race, which still had 6min30s on the countdown timer.
The restart happened on lap 20, with Campos again in the lead - Navarro, Petecof, Barrichello, and Tony Kanaan completed the top-5 at this point. However, Gianluca had to pit and lost the third position to Rubinho, with Jimenez entering the top-5 in fifth. Further back, Ricardo Mauricio lost two consecutive positions and was overtaken by Zonta and Foresti.
Next, leader Julio Campos had to pit, as did Barrichello. On the penultimate lap, with so many drivers having to make a mandatory pit stop, the grid order changed. As a result, Di Mauro was able to take the lead and hold it until the end to win his first Stock Car race.