Scarperia (FI) – It was a bitter-sweet week end for Solaris Motorsport in the EuroV8 Series. In the Mugello round, the Italian team obtained mixed results: a superb performance by Schiattarella, twice on podium with the Lumina, and a nightmare week-end for Francesco Sini. Anyway, the third roud of the EuroV8 Series showed again the speed of the Solaris Motorsport Chevrolets, thanks to 6 podiums in 6 races midway through the championship.

Francesco Sini arrived at the Mugello Circuit leading the standings, with all the intentions to do his best to stay on top. Unfortunately for him, the third round went worse than any expectation. After a good FP1 session, the first issue came out in the afternoon, when during the second session the rear dampers broke, forcing Sini to return to the garage to solve the problem. Few hours later, in qualifying, Ringhio was forced to stop after only one flying lap due to a water radiator failure. The result was just a 13th position on the grid for the Camaro and the sadness to know that, without the issue, he could have got a place in the first two rows on the starting grid. Thanks to an amazing job by the Solaris engineers, who worked on the Camaro all night long, Sini started Race 1, but the team’s efforts were vanished by a new radiator failure. Sini was forced to stop his car again, posting the first DNF of the season and leaving the lead in the standings.

But the worst was yet to come: in Race 2, on the 5th lap, after a great comeback, the #12 Camaro was touched in the right rear side by Copetti’s BMW. It was an high speed contact, at over 200kph, that sent the Camaro into the tyre wall, with big damages for the American muscle car. Despite an 8G deceleration, Sini was a bit shocked and angry but OK, testifying the good work made by the Solaris engineers.

“It was a disastrous weekend! It started bad and finish worse. Two technical troubles penalized us in qualifying and Race 1 and it was a real pity because we had the pace to try to win the race. In Race 2 I started determined to finish on the podium and all was going well. But on the 5th lap, when I was already in 6th position, Copetti touched me before the Biondetti Esses, at almost 200kph. I crashed into the barriers at very high speed, taking an 8G deceleration! It was a big risk, but luckily the Camaro protected me. – Sini said – I’m very disappointed for all the week end, I lost too many points in the standings. I hope that my accident is due to an error and was not deliberate! After that, maybe someone should think about the way the series accept drivers in the championship. But I’m very very disappointed that Maurizio didn’t come in my box or ask how I was. He just tryed to say it wasn’t his fault. What a bitterness! Now we must repair the Camaro, it doesn’t look very well, I’m still aching all over my body, but when I’ll return in my race car… the people will remember why I’m called Ringhio!”

In the other half of the Solaris box, Domenico Schiattarella did an incredible job with the Chevrolet Lumina. As in Monza, the former F1 driver conquered the podium in both race, both times starting from the 6th position. He had a bit of regret for Race 2, in which he could have reached a better position without the contact with Dionisio’s Audi, an accident that forced Mimmo to go on the gravel, losing a lot of positions. When he returned to the track, Mimmo started a exciting comeback up to to the third position, for the joy of all the fans! With the two third places in Mugello – 4 in 4 races! – Schiattarella is now 6th in the drivers standings.

“It was a very positive weekend! Two podiums are a great result, although it remains a bit of regret for the second race. Thanks to Dionisio I lost 5 or 6 position, I had a very good pace, I could have tried to win the race! I recovered and finished third and I was near the first two on track. Maybe, If i could have had some more laps… – commented Schiattarella – Anyway it’s ok, I’m very happy for the team, we demostrated that the Lumina is still very fast and we moved just a bit the Team standings. I’m very sad for Francesco’s crash. He had a big crash that was avoidable with a little more attention. But that’s racing, we’ll go for the win again in Brno!”

The Mugello round was a strange week-end for Solaris. Problems aside, the team demonstrated one more time the great performances of its orange Chevrolets, thanks to 6 podiums in 6 races in this 2014 season. The Camaro troubles forced Sini to lose his championship lead, but didn’t diminish the awareness that he can fight for the championship until the end, as showed by the Lumina. Roberto Sini, Solaris Motorsport Team Principal, thanks his guys, called to a big work during the two days in Mugello and comments the week-end this way:

“It was an…emotional week-end! In good and bad fate. We are proud of Mimmo’s job, he’s a great driver and today he raced with speed, intelligence and aggressiveness. This year Mimmo brought the Lumina always on the podium and this means that it’s still a competitive car, we don’t  have to stop developing it and today a good driver can aim to the top again. Without the initial contact with Dionisio, maybe Domenico could have won the race – said Roberto Sini – On the other hand, however, we are sad for what happened to Francesco during all the week-end. The accident is only the end of a terrible week. The Camaro is very damaged, but fortunately Francesco is ok. It’s a pity that it went this way after all the work we made on it. We’ll do the possible and the impossible to be in Brno. I want to thank our guys: they have worked all two days long, repairing the cars. They did an extraordinary job!”

The Mugello round marked the end of the Italian part of the EuroV8 Series. Next races are all out of the the Italian borders, with the Brno Round scheduled on June 22 and the two Germany races in September and October.

Massimiliano Palumbo