European Championship F-250: Round 2 - Bitterfeld, Germany
The JC Racing Team ventured of to Germany for the second round of the the European F-250 Championship Series that was held in Bitterfeld. The team improved on their fifth place finish in Hungary by taking fourth place overall. With a little bit of luck it could have been a podium finish.
Qualifying
Due to windy conditions on Saturday morning there was no action until 4pm in the afternoon and qualifying had to be cut to half an hour to get the meeting back on schedule. With limited time to set the boat and engine up, the JC Racing Team managed to qualify in fourth position behind the ever impressive Rene Behncke from Germany, and Salvatore Chiuri and Francesco Marsala both from Italy.
The grid was completed with Christoffer Soderstedt (Sweden), Andreas Otto (Austria), Stefan Probst (Germany), Dimitriy Gerasymenko (Ukraine) and Jurgen Kostecki and Heiko Schimdt (Germany).
Race 1
JC Racing Team driver Julian Codling got a decent start and was able to hold fourth position throughout the race despite the 250cc GRM engine not running to it's full potential. The race win went to Rene Behncke at his home country meeting with Francesco Marsala taking second place. Julian Codling was promoted to third place for the JC Racing Team after Salvatore Chiuri was disqualified after the race.
Race 2
Sunday morning saw the wind drop completely and the circuit at Bitterfeld looked in perfect condition for powerboat racing. Race 2 saw the 250cc GRM of the JC Racing Team die at the start which left team driver Julian Codling down in sixth position. Once the 250cc GRM powered outfit got up to speed Julian set about catching Christoffer Soderstedt (Sweden) and Dimitriy Gerasymenko (Ukraine). After a good hard race Julian just run out of laps to catch the drivers ahead finishing only half a second behind Gerasymenko and only a second behind Soderstedt taking sixth place.
The race win again went to Rhene Behncke with Salvatore Chiuri making up for his disappointing disqualification in the first race taking second. Francesco Marsala took third.
Race 3
Starting from sixth place on the grid JC Racing team driver Julian Codling rocketed away from the start and soon found himself sandwiched between the two Italians of Chiuri and Marsala in third place. With the 250cc GRM engine running better and better as the weekend progressed Julian crossed the line in what he though was third place. Little did he know that Rhene Bhencke had broken down so it was a second place finish for the JC Racing Team with Salvatore Chiuri taking the win and Francesco Marsala coming home in third place.
Race 4
So the pressure was on the JC Racing Team. One more decent result and the team could make a podium finish overall. Another good start saw Julian Codling put the JC Racing Team in a position that would take third place overall. Unfortunately on the second lap a pin in the drive shaft coupling broke an it was game over for the team.
Rhene Behncke completed a impressive weekend with his third win with Francesco Marsala coming home second and Christoffer Soderstedt finishing third.
Overall Result
With three race wins it was Rhene Behncke in the very quick 250cc VRP powered Trombetta hydroplane that took the overall win in his home country. Franceso Marsala (Italy) came second overall with two second place finishes and one third. Third was Salvatore Chiuri (Italy) with Julian Codling bringing the JC Racing Team home in fourth position overall.
| EUROPEAN F-250 CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: ROUND 2 - BITTERFELD GERMANY | ||||||||
Position |
Boat No | Driver |
Nationality |
Race 1 |
Race 2 |
Race 3 |
Race 4 | TotalPoints |
1st |
109 | ReneBehncke |
GER |
400 PTS |
400 PTS |
DNF |
400 PTS |
1200 PTS |
2nd |
17 | FrancescoMarsala |
ITA |
300 PTS |
225 PTS |
(225) PTS |
300 PTS |
825 PTS |
3rd |
72 | SalvatoreChiuri |
ITA |
DSQ |
300 PTS |
400 PTS |
DNF |
700 PTS |
4th |
91 | JulianCodling |
GBR |
225 PTS |
95 PTS |
300 PTS |
DNF |
620 PTS |
5th |
57 | Christoffer Soderstedt |
SWE |
169 PTS |
169 PTS |
(71) PTS |
225 PTS |
563 PTS |
6th |
15 | AndreasOtto |
AUT |
127 PTS |
(71) PTS |
169 PTS |
169 PTS |
465 PTS |
7th |
49 |
StefanProbst |
GER |
53 PTS |
(40) PTS |
95 PTS |
127 PTS |
275 PTS |
8th |
7 |
Dimitriy Gerasymenko |
UKR |
DSQ |
127 PTS |
127 PTS |
DNF |
254 PTS |
9th |
63 |
JurgenKostecki |
GER |
95 PTS |
53 PTS |
DNF |
DNF |
148 PTS |
10th |
9 | HeikoSchmidt |
GER |
71 PTS |
DNS |
DNS |
DNS |
71 PTS |
European F-250 Championship Series Standings
So after the second round of the series it is reigning champion Rhene Behncke setting the target for every one to catch. Second is Salvatore Chiuri while Christoffer Soderstedt and JC Racing Team driver Julian Codling both have 24 Points in third and fourth place.
| OVERALL STANDINGS: EUROPEAN F-250 CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES | ||||||||
Position |
Boat No | Driver |
Nationality |
R1:Baja (HUN) |
R2:Bitterfeld (GER) |
R3:Auronzo(ITA) |
R4:Boretto(ITA) |
TotalPoints |
1st |
109 | ReneBehncke |
GER |
20 PTS |
20 PTS |
40 PTS |
||
2nd |
72 | SalvatoreChiuri |
ITA |
17 PTS |
15 PTS |
32 PTS |
||
3rd |
57 |
Christoffer Soderstedt |
SWE |
13 PTS |
11 PTS |
24 PTS |
||
4th |
91 |
JulianCodling |
GBR |
11 PTS |
13 PTS |
24 PTS |
||
5th |
17 |
FrancescoMarsala |
ITA |
- |
17 PTS |
17 PTS |
||
6th |
7 |
Dimitriy Gerasymenko |
GER |
9 PTS |
8 PTS |
17 PTS |
||
7th |
33 |
PeterBodor |
HUN |
15 PTS |
- |
15 PTS |
||
8th |
15 |
AndreasOtto |
AUT |
- |
10 PTS |
10 PTS |
||
9th |
42 |
MichalKosut |
SVK | 10 PTS |
- |
10 PTS |
||
10th |
49 |
StefanProbst |
GER |
- |
9 PTS |
9 PTS |
||
11th |
63 |
Jurgen Kostecki |
GER |
- |
7 PTS |
7 PTS |
||
12th |
9 |
Heiko Schmidt |
GER |
- |
6 PTS |
6 PTS |
||
With the final two rounds being held in Italy the JC Racing Team will be looking to finish the series strongly to see if they can move up the overall standings and get onto the overall podium. However their will be strong competition from the Italians on their home venues of Auronzo and Boretto.
