Karting driver Gianluca Dingli, of BRM Virtu Ferries Racing Team, had a very busy time lately, taking part in the Trofeo Superstars Rotax Max Class Under 30 at the Pista Internazionale Concordia in Favara, Sicily.
The Trofeo Superstars is held on three rounds all over Italy with a final race planned for 2 October.
Despite the wet conditions, Dingli managed a podium place (third), despite the participation of several experienced Italian drivers.
During the Saturday morning session, Dingli had to race under extremely wet conditions and that hindered his performance and result.
Team manager Mario Lena, tuned Gianluca’s BRM Kart to the wet set-up and gave Dingli instructions how to cope with the situation. I
n the afternoon the weather improved, and the track was declared dry. Gianluca was practically the fastest in such favourable conditions.
After these sessions, Gianluca and Mario Lena worked hard to tune the kart and engine to perfection for the main races the next day.
On Sunday wet conditions persisted on the track and during the pole it rained heavily forcing the drivers to do six laps instead of 10.
Gianluca finish fifth during the morning session. Some drivers decided to call it a day since bad weather with strong winds was persisting and decided to miss the pre-final and final. In the pre-final ,Gianluca managed to control the nerves and finished sixth.
In the final race the rain stopped but the track was still wet; so Gianluca and Mario decided to opt for wet tyres because rain was forecast.
That forecast was correct as right along the final third lap, it started to rain heavily once again. In this final race Dingli managed to finish in third position; thus earning a place on the podium.
After the race Gianluca said that it had been very difficult to race in those weather conditions and to compete against the big Italian teams as their drivers do a lot of team work on track.
Mario Lena commented that it was a very good result for the team as Gianluca raced well in the final laps.
Dingli thanked his parents for their continuous support, his main sponsor Virtu Ferries, for making it possible for him to travel for these races, his employer Hetronic Malta (a division of Methode), Rabat Local Council, Hubert Camilleri of Chevron Auto dealer, Viking Signs, Silcolene Oils Zoqdi Racing Team , Badger Karting, Wayne’s Autosprayer, Kunsill Malti ghall-Isport and Malta Motorsport Federation, for their support.