GROBNIK, Croatia — Gordon Barnes kept his winning streak alive in the Club Challenge event at Automotodrom Grobnik by setting the most consistent times in treacherous conditions in a tight duel with Federico Monti.
The British driver grabbed his third consecutive win in the regularity-based competition to open the NASCAR GP Croatia.
Torrential rain forced the premature stoppage of the first timed session at the 4,168-Km Croatian track, turning the second one into a make-it-or-break-it deal. Barnes and the Marko Stipp Motorsport team mastered the difficult situation and concluded the session with a penalty time of .572 seconds over file laps from his 1:57.000 benchmark.
“It was very difficult! We’ve been dodging rain storms all day and the track conditions were changing all the time. Finding a consistent pace was really tough,” said Barnes. “We kept the focus on our plan and came out the winners. Marko Stipp Motorsport did a fantastic job and we didn’t have any problems. We sure want to continue this way in the next two events!”
With a reference time of 2:00.000, Academy Motorsport / Alex Caffi Motorsport driver Monti accumulated a mere.008 seconds more penalty time compared to Barnes. The third place on the podium went to Speedhouse’s Paul Jouffreau with a .708 seconds penalty time.
Nicolo Gabossi – driving for Not Only Motorsport – and former champion Andrea Kuchelbacher on the Marko Stipp Motorsport No. 46 Camaro completed the top five ahead of RDV Competition’s Jerome Mure.