RIVÀ (Rovigo) – With the beginning of July, the streak of twenty consecutive podiums achieved by Michele Mancin but, despite the interruption of the best record of his career, the driver from Rivà returns with a smile from the last weekend.
The Coppa Paolino Teodori Hill Climb, held between Saturday and Sunday, brought the Polesano driver to a triple confrontation with the protagonists of the Italian Hill Climb Championship, gathered here between the two areas, with the addition of those of the Italian Super Climb Championship and the FIA International Hill Climb Cup, further enriching an already important starting field.
In fact, making his debut on this stretch of asphalt with the Ferrari 488 Challenge of Gaetani Racing, with the references of the past not very exploitable, Mancin opened the dance on Saturday with the sixth time in the overall GT group and with the fourth in the category, improving significantly on the second pass and concluding the free practice with a seventh in GT and a fifth in class.
“The approach on Saturday was good” – Mancin says – “but on the first climb I had the references from the years I raced here with the Saxo and they were clearly unusable. I tried to take the measurements but the time was also marked by having reached a competitor in front of me, I think with technical problems. I didn’t want to overtake him, we were in free practice. On the second heat, even with an inadequate tire, the times improved and I was satisfied with the work done with the team, confident that I could do well on the Sunday race.”
At the first checkered flag on Sunday, Mancin signed his fifth performance in GT and his fourth in the first division Super Cup, not too far from the podium, repeating himself in a carbon copy in a second round that did not actually change the outcome of the final classification but which allowed him to collect important points thanks to the increased coefficient, here at two.
“At the end of race 1 I was satisfied with having improved my riding style” – adds Mancin – “which allowed me to be smoother and more decisive compared to the tests. I expected to lap at two thirty-seven or thirty-eight and instead I wasn’t that fast. In race 2 the surface was more slippery and even our direct opponents worsened their times. The adjustments made to the electronics, especially on traction, took us in the wrong direction. Everything is experience, we brought home important points and we look forward.”
While waiting for ACI Sport to update the official rankings, the provisional one, before the three days in Ascoli, saw Mancin as the second force of the CIVM northern zone in the GT group and on the third step of the podium in the first division Super Cup, confirming him among the protagonists of the Italian scene.
“For our debut year on the 488 Challenge, we are satisfied with the work done,” concludes Mancin, “and being in the fight for the championship is definitely gratifying. We know where we want to get to and we still have a long way to go. We are very excited.”
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