Baruffolo triumphs at the Arena Outdoor

2013 European B Champion Marco Baruffolo took the win at the second edition of the Arena Outdoor Race on the wonderful DirtRace RC track in Asti, Italy, at the end of a convincing 60 minutes long dominance. After winning his semifinal and setting the fastest lap during the Superpole which allowed him to start from the 1 spot on the grid, Marco led the race from tone to tone, only to be challenged in the first 7 minutes by Stocco, who was then forced in the pits due to transmission issues. Behind them the third position was being held by Ricky Berton, whose buggy suffered from the loss of a turnbuckle screw and Ricky had to stop some 24 minutes into the race replace it. The second position was inherited by Mugen’s Davide Tortorici, who after a long fight with Valente managed to put his Sirio powered MBX7R ahead of Leonardo’s JQ, who had to settle for the third spot on the podium.

Delighted to win an “important race”, Marco Baruffolo was very happy with how his car performed throughout the 60 minutes long final. Despite needing a tire change due to the front left Pro-Line tire coming unglued – the same issue that cost him the win at the third round of nationals not about a month ago – he said his race was nearly perfect, praising and thanking his sponsors for delivering him a highly competitive package.

“Very happy with second, it would have been impossible to do more today” was Tortorici’s claim at the end of the main final. Still not 100 percent pleased with his car, reporting a big lack of traction in certain sections of the track, the former two-time European Champion added he capitalised on other driver’s issues and used all of his experience to manage the long final, with the strategy paying dividends in the best way possible.

It was a radiant Valente to round up the podium. After fighting with Tortorici for more than 20 minutes, the young JQ driver had to eventually give up the fight in the last 7 minutes of the race, when Davide showed all of his maturity and expertise to put some precious seconds between him and Leonardo. Visibly satisfied with a podium at such a big event and confidence-boosted by having Elliott Boots pitting for him, Leonardo confirms himself as one of the rising stars in the Italian firmament.

It’s been a tough race for Berton and Stocco, with the latter suffering problems during his semifinal and having to use the Last Chance to Paradise to qualify for the main event. He then went into the Superpole to set the second fastest lap, but had to give up the fight with his team mate Baruffolo after some 7 minutes due to the center-front driveshaft coming loose. Reigning Euro B Champion Ricky Berton had to drive for more than 20 minutes without the lower left turnbuckle screw, managing to hold the second place, but at the 24 minutes mark he had to give up the fight and come in to replace it in order to avoid more serious damages. He then managed to set the fastest lap of the race and the new track record when put back on track.

Full event image gallery can be found here.

Thanks to Riccardo Acciari for the report.