Paolo Brajnik and Sandro Zeller win in Styria

Drexler Formula Cup - Red Bull Ring (AUT)

With a great motorsport event, the circuit trophy at the Red Bull Ring was fully convincing. The total of 17 races offered the fans a lot of action and variety on and off the race track in Styria with free admission. The 4th round of the Drexler Formula Cup offered plenty of excitement with a field of 30 formula cars. As expected, the first qualifying session was very close after the free practice sessions on Friday. Sandro Zeller (Jo Zeller Racing) secured pole position with a time of 1:28.077 min. With a gap of only 0.065 seconds, Bernardo Pellegrini (HT Powerteam) was also on the first row of the grid, followed by Dino Rasero (Puresport) and Paolo Brajnik (NV Racing). After the lights went green, a four-way battle developed during the 13-lap chase. Sandro Zeller tried to escape to the front and kept his rivals at bay. While Pellegrini and Rasero lost contact to Zeller, Paolo Brajink got into better and better shape and settled behind Sandro Zeller. In the last third of the race, the Serbian had caught the right moment in one of his attacks on the Swiss defending champion and passed him. Zeller tried to counterattack again, but Brajnik defended his lead with an advantage of 2.374 seconds until the finish. Dino Rasero was a respectable third, followed by his compatriot Renato Papaleo (One Management) and Benjamin Berta (Team Hoffmann Racing). The Japanese Juju Noda (Vadum Racing) showed a strong race to catch up, coming from 15th on the grid to sixth.

In the second qualifying session on Sunday morning, Pellegrini and Zeller swapped places. The Italian was 0.003 seconds ahead of the Swiss, while Rasero and Brajnik shared the 2nd row of the grid. Benjamin Berta was able to improve again and was in a promising position in the close qualifying with a gap of 1.044 seconds. Sandro Zeller took the lead after the start and controlled the field from the front. At first Pellegrini resisted, but he got more and more involved with Brajnik. The Serbian was able to leave Rasero behind and tried to attack Pellegrini several times. Meanwhile, Sandro Zeller kept his lead until the finish, although the gaps behind remained quite narrow. With a lead of 2.774 seconds, Zeller kept the upper hand at the finish ahead of Pellegrini and Brajinik, who only missed second place by 0.934 seconds. Dino Rasero finished fourth ahead of Benjamin Berta, who had expected more after his strong impression in qualifying. In addition to the organisers of this year's circuit trophy, Drexler Formula Cup coordinator Franz Wöss also drew a positive conclusion. "We have experienced a great motorsport weekend. My thanks go to all participants as well as to the TOPJET F 2000 Italian Trophy. In this constellation we were able to offer a class Formula field to the fans," said Wöss. On Sunday, everyone agreed. Nothing stands in the way of a continuation of the circuit trophy, which was interrupted by Corona in the last two years, for 2023.

RS.06.2022
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