Lopez Lucks in for Alfa

Alfa Romeo’s 156 took its first South American Super Touring win this past weekend, using stealth, not speed. Rookie Roberto Giorgi looked to be heading for a fairy tale win at the Cascavel Circuit on only his second outing in a PropCar Chevrolet Vectra. Then he came up to lap a Ford Mondeo at the midpoint in the race, misjudged the distance between himself and the slower car, and lost control. That put Carlos Bueno in the lead, until his Peugeot 406 locked its right front tire under heavy braking and wound up planting himself into the barriers. Veteran Alfa pilote Osvaldo Lopez was left to take the spoils in his Alfa 156 from Flavio Figueiredo, who scythed through the order in his BMW from a seventh place start on the grid. Former Formula 1 star Oscar Larrauri crashed the second Alfa.

Alfa Racing Tidbits

Former Mercedes International Touring Car driver Sandy Grau replaces Andres Scheld in a German Touring Spec Alfa Romeo 156 for the next round at Misano. Scheld broke a bone in his foot when he crashed the Euroteam-run car in practice for the most recent round at the Norisring.

Sometime Alfa Romeo Class "1" touring car driver Stefano Buttiero made his American LeMans Series debut at Sears Point. He raced a Roock-built Porsche 911 GT2 with former British 3 racer Zak Brown.

Norwegian Driver Out on Swedish Alfa Team

Norwegian driver Thomas Schie has been replaced on the Alfa Romeo Team in the Swedish Touring Car Championship after a major disagreement with team boss Picko Troberg. Schie was replaced at the recent Anderstorp Race by former Audi driver Mats Linden. It was also announced recently that Alfa’s Swedish Team and their sponsors are behind the apparently successful move for hosting an event next year through the streets of Stockholm.

Naspetti Regains Italian Touring Car Series Lead

Emanuele Naspetti and BMW have regained the lead in the Italian Super Touring Car Championship after a feature race win in Misano. Earlier in the day, Nicola Larini finally broke his luck for the season in the sprint race. The ex-Ferrari Grand Prix driver had qualified his Alfa Romeo 156 on the outside of the front row, with teammate Fabrizio Giovanardi on the pole. Naspetti used the rear wheel drive on his BMW to surge into the lead, but Larini tried a do-or-die move and managed to get in front. Giovanardi tried to follow his teammate through, but succeeded only in losing third to the second BMW of Fabrizio de Simone. Again Naspetti burst ahead to lead in the feature race; again Larini took the advantage back. This time, however, the BMW man quickly regained the initiative and built up a small margin. Larini gave close chase, but once it became clear that he was not going to win he backed off and allowed title-chasing teammate Giovanardi to take over second place.

As usual, series sensation Roberto Colciago dominated the privateers’ class in his Audi A4 Quattro, while Spaniard Luis Villamil took a Super Production Class double in his Bigazzi Alfa.

The much-anticipated one-off appearance of German Super Touring Championship star Uwe Alzen and Opel came to nothing when the Vectra failed to pass scrutineering. The Holzer-run Opel Squad was ruled out of the event because of a mix-up over eligibility. The Vectra is designated a ’98 car, but it runs with a ’99 aerodynamic kit in Germany. Under Italian rules, only new ’99 cars can run with the current aero packages. This guest appearance was planned as a warm-up for an upcoming German Super Touring Series Event at the Misano track.

Tin -Top Merger Talks for Italy & Germany

The struggling Italian and German Super Touring Car Championships could merge for the 2000 season. Grids in both series are down with Italy’s attracting only 12 cars. The worsening situation led to crisis talks between the German series organizers and the Italian federation. These took place recently at Misano, where a round of the German series was held. Only Alfa Romeo, BMW, Honda and Opel are "officially" represented in either championship, but a combination of the two might help to strengthen Super Touring grid sizes overall.

Alfa Romeo to Compete in Additional German Super Touring Car Events in 1999