Stock 600, воскресенье, 6 этап CIV

One lap, only one lap, the most important of the day, was the last lap of this morning warm-up.

Yes, because just 10 minutes before the end of the warm up, it started to rain. Up to that moment, the team took Leonov inside box. Nothing more to test on the dry. We needed rain (‘cause rain was waited for the race). We needed rain to choose the right set-up. Rain arrived, rider out, do one lap, came back, talk with staff, calm and quiet work in few minutes, then rider sended out just in time to test one fast lap... Best time, 4 second faster than any other. In that 1 minute rider and team builted the most astonishing victory ever seen in CIV stock 600 History.

Just listen to the other riders declaration after the race. Riccardo Russo, third at the finish line: «Two laps, and Leonov simply disappeared... I cannot understand... never seen something similar».

Nicola Morrentino, second: «Impossibile to stay with him, I though only to defeat the second place, first was impossible even to dream about it...».

4 seconds a lap: that was the advantage of Leonov in this race... When he was already on the podium, the other riders still had to finish the race!

«And — Leonov declared — I was not pushing. Just according with the strategy studied with the team, I pushed the first two laps, then, looking that nobody was back, I went relaxed all the rest of the race».Relaxed? Leonov was riding all laps in 2’09”. The best competitor, Morrentino, had 2’12” as better lap...And the others? Back, back, with terrible condition on the tyres: Lombardi, Campionship leader, started in the leaders group (back of Leonov)  and fightet around 4.th, 6.th position up to the middle of the race, but in last trhee laps lost 8 position, finishing 14.th with destroyed rain tyres, and even second and third in the race, had not the same good tyre as Leonov had at the end of the race.NOw, a championship that yesterday was closed (48 points of advantage for Lombardi, leader of CIV and even leader of World Stock 600 Cup) is open again. Leonov is second (togheter Russo), 25 points back of Lombardi, and still two race to be done: Vallelunga in september, Mugello in october... All our competitors hope to never more see rain, but they forgot that Leonov finished on the podium even the last three race on dry conditions...

Classification after 6 rounds: Stock 600