Max Lanza returned to the Challenger Trophy podium at Most while teammate Roberto Benedetti secured his first Legend Trophy victory in 2023.
Plenty of success was achieved by the CAAL Racing duo of Max Lanza and Roberto Benedetti in the NASCAR GP Czech Republic at Autodrom Most. After a tough first half of the season, they started their second half in the best way possible thanks to their successes in Challenger Trophy and Legend Trophy.
They began their weekend with setting the second fastest lap time in their respective sub-classifications on Practice. Their paths converged during Qualifying however, as Lanza and Benedetti experienced contrasting fortunes during the shootout.
Lanza unfortunately had the bad experience as he was only 18th fastest in the wet EuroNASCAR PRO Qualifying session, leaving him with a lot of work to do for his Saturday race.
Thankfully for the team, Qualifying went exceptionally well for Benedetti. The drying track conditions were a blessing for the 49-year old Italian and he was able to qualify the No. 88 Chevrolet in seventh place, beating established names such as Martin Doubek and Michael Bleekemolen.
The race itself followed a similar story with Lanza missing out on a Trophy podium finish after an early contact that caused him to lose his rear bumper. In Benedetti’s case, he won the Legend Trophy in tenth overall despite receiving a post-race penalty for weaving out of the restart formation.
“In such eventful and competitive championships, when you start from behind, something can always happen,” said Lanza on what happened in Race 1. “And in fact, in Race 1 I was involved in a contact on the first lap which damaged the rear of my #88. I had to grit my teeth and tried to bring home as many points as possible.”
Heavy rain arrived at the track on Sunday morning, meaning that Benedetti’s Race 2 will be held on wet conditions. Benedetti showed that he’s also equally fast on the wets, but ultimately it was no match to Claudio Remigio Cappelli’s pace. Still, he finished eighth to secure a double top-10 finish and second place in the Legend Trophy ranks.
The rain stopped in between EuroNASCAR 2 and EuroNASCAR PRO’s races, but it was still half wet when Max Lanza and 19 other drivers formed on the grid for ENPRO’s Race 2. The conditions are tough for both drivers and teams, but Lanza made the gamble to use slick tires.
The call to use slicks paid off. Drivers using dry weather tires were seconds faster than the others and Lanza was able to finish second in the Challenger Trophy just behind Fabrizio Armetta, who also ran slicks in his car.
The results from Most meant that Lanza and Benedetti are now 17th and 14th in their respective standings. Lanza has scored 154 points while Benedetti’s first Legend Trophy win of the season increased his points haul to 172.
“Race 2 was very complicated, with wet asphalt and slicks we worked overtime to stay on track!” said Lanza on Sunday’s race. “We gambled on the choice of tires and it paid off: We conquered an excellent class second place in the race!”
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