Looking at the general standings, Mauro Trentin’s record could look positive at the end of the first TCR Italy weekend of the season.
In reality, the trip to Enzo and Dino Ferrari’s Imola circuit has made a solid and determined driver from Carmignano di Brenta want to continue with interest what had gotten out of hand the previous season and his return to the Bolza Corse team use of Adria.
The driver of the Xmotors team, again driving the Cupra Leon TCR in the DSG version, completed Friday’s free practice session without being able to benefit excessively from it due to the traffic and finished the following qualifying session, held on Saturday, at the foot of the Podium just over a second behind the best at the end of a one-penalty marred lap.
“In free practice we were able to pick up important clues from the traffic” – Trentin recounts – “and in qualifying I messed up the good lap with a mistake, but we weren’t in bad shape. With every lap the temperatures changed a lot and that at least I think that got us off the road. It’s my fault, I was arguing with Cupra the whole time, but that was fine.”
Starting on the second row, fourth square on the grid, Trentin was unable to set his pace at the green light in Race 1 and played a game entirely on defense, holding his position to the checkered flag and aiming everything at the second round bet .
After a complicated Saturday, we saw the Paduan’s rebirth in Race 2, Sunday’s race, and thanks to a lightning-quick sprint from pitch number five, the front of Maser’s team took the lead, taking advantage of the scramble that was starting behind him.
An undisputed dominance that began to fade towards the end of the closing stages due to deteriorating tires and gradually saw the competition return.
With a lap and a half to go Trentin had to give up the lead in an authentic carom and finally settle for fourth place, leaving a lot of bitterness.
“For race 2 we changed something” – adds Trentin – “and we solved almost all the problems we had. We got off to a good start and took the lead, taking advantage of the fight that had developed behind us. We stayed in the lead until one and a half laps before the end. We weren’t able to contain the return of our opponents, both due to some mistakes I made and a tire that faded a little more than expected. Because I stayed in front, I didn’t have any slipstream, while the Audis not only had longer range than us, but also stopped fighting each other and passed us. In the high variant I went wide on the penultimate lap and they passed me in two halves. At the first braking point on the last lap, Barberi used my car to slow down instead of his brakes and we fell back to fourth place. We had some good signs, but we know it will be difficult to stay ahead of the Audis for the title. Anger and bitterness reign supreme. Thanks to the partners, to my family, to my partner, to Francesco who watches over everything. Thanks to Denis, Silvano, Stefano and all the guys in the team. I’m sorry I didn’t pay them back.”
