Bianchi triumphs on Massa’s home turf

Jules Bianchi has won the “Desafio das Estrelas” the international karting event organised by Felipe Massa, featuring a host of top drivers, obviously including Felipe himself and, making his debut here, Fernando Alonso.

At the Beta Carrero World kart track, the FDA driver won the first race and was fourth in the second, amassing 40 points, five more than the runner-up, Brazil’s Felipe Nasr and ten more than another Brazilian, Lucas Di Grassi who was third. “I am very happy with this victory,” said Bianchi. “I had already won last year, but that time there was a slight mistake with the weight of the kart, but this time everything went well. It’s nice to race against some of the best drivers and in front of such a big and enthusiastic crowd. I want to the thank the Massa family for everything and I hope I can come back next year to take part again.”

Jules’s name can be added to a top class roll of honour, featuring such names as Felipe Massa, Rubens Barrichello and Michael Schumacher.

The two Scuderia Ferrari drivers were out of luck on their 2013 competition debut. Felipe finished eighth overall on 14 points, after finishing tenth and eighth in the two rounds. “This was probably the hardest Desafio ever for me,” said the Ferrari man. “If everything is not perfect, then even a tenth can make a big difference. My engine was not at its best yesterday and I paid for that today. The most important thing is that the event is getting bigger year after year. I was very pleased that Fernando was here with us and I’m sure he had fun!”

The Brazilian was absolutely right about his team-mate having fun, as Fernando himself confirmed, even though he failed to score points, with a twenty first and an eighteenth place to his name, because of accelerator problems which saw him retire from race 1. “It was a very enjoyable weekend and I hope the spectators had has much fun as I did. Will I be back next year? If Felipe asks me, definitely!”

The two Ferrari men are on a busy schedule and, as soon as the karting challenge was over, they were boarding a plane for Italy where, as from tomorrow, they tackle their first official engagement of the 2013 season. The 22nd edition of “Wrooom” gets underway at Madonna di Campiglio, where Scuderia Ferrari meets up with media from all over the world against the amazing backdrop of the Dolomite mountains. Among other events, Felipe and Fernando will once again find themselves at the wheel of karts: “Wrooom” ends with a challenge between the Ferrari drivers and Ducati riders, featuring a few guest starts on the ice lake in the Trentino ski resort.

Race 1:

1. Jules Bianchi (FRA/F1), 29 laps - 26m15.050s
2. Lucas di Grassi (BRA/F1) +4.873
3. Vitantonio Liuzzi (ITA/F1) +8.779
4. Sebastien Buemi (SUI/F1) +11.909
5. Vitor Meira (BRA/Stock Car) +12.605
6. Felipe Nasr (BRA/GP2) +13.477
7. Nelson Piquet (BRA/Nascar) +14.107
8. Beto Monteiro (BRA/F-Truck) +14.459
9. Augusto Farfus (BRA/DTM) +15.774
10. Felipe Massa (BRA/F1) +16.101
11. Pietro Fittipaldi (BRA/Nascar) +16.359
12. Antonio Pizzonia (BRA/Stock Car) +18.131
13. Bia Figueiredo (BRA/Indy) +18.814
14. Jaime Alguersuari (ESP/F1) +21.769
15. Enrique Bernoldi (BRA/GT) +26.780
16. Thiago Camilo (BRA/Stock Car) +26.901
17. Allam Khodair (BRA/Stock Car) +31.175
18. Valdeno Brito (BRA/Stock Car) +34.585
19. João Paulo de Oliveira (BRA/F-Nippon) +1 lap
20. Bruno Senna (BRA/F1) +4 laps
21. Fernando Alonso (ESP/F1) +6 laps
22. Ricardo Zonta (BRA/Stock Car) +8 laps
23. Leonardo Nienkotter (BRA/Copa Fiat) +13 laps
24. Cacá Bueno (BRA/Stock Car) +18 laps
25. Kamui Kobayashi (JAP/F1) +23 laps
26. Luciano Burti (BRA/Stock Car) +28 laps

Race 2:

1. Felipe Nasr (BRA/GP2), 29 laps - 26m19.434s
2. Nelson Piquet (BRA/Nascar) +3.881
3. Beto Monteiro (BRA/F-Truck) +4.339
4. Jules Bianchi (FRA/F1) +4.870
5. Vitantonio Liuzzi (ITA/F1) +7.803
6. Lucas di Grassi (BRA/F1) +9.640
7. Sebastien Buemi (SUI/F1) +10.227
8. Felipe Massa (BRA/F1) +14.490
9. Antonio Pizzonia (BRA/Stock Car) +15.183
10. Enrique Bernoldi (BRA/GT) +17.035
11. João Paulo de Oliveira (BRA/F-Nippon) +17.492
12. Pietro Fittipaldi (BRA/Nascar) +21.319
13. Ricardo Zonta (BRA/Stock Car) +25.062
14. Bruno Senna (BRA/F1) +27.772
15. Bia Figueiredo (BRA/Indy) +27.973
16. Thiago Camilo (BRA/Stock Car) +28.770
17. Leonardo Nienkotter (BRA/Copa Fiat) +29.880
18. Fernando Alonso (ESP/F1) +36.497
19. Augusto Farfus (BRA/DTM) +37.556
20. Valdeno Brito (BRA/Stock Car) +1 lap
21. Luciano Burti (BRA/Stock Car) +6 laps
22. Vitor Meira (BRA/Stock Car) +8 laps
23. Kamui Kobayashi (JAP/F1) +16 laps
24. Cacá Bueno (BRA/Stock Car) +19 laps
25. Jaime Alguersuari (ESP/F1) +25 laps
26. Allam Khodair (BRA/Stock Car) +25 laps

Final standings:

1. Jules Bianchi (FRA/F1), 40 points
2. Felipe Nasr (BRA/GP2), 35
3. Lucas di Grassi (BRA/F1), 30
4. Nelson Piquet (BRA/Nascar), 29
5. Vitantonio Liuzzi (ITA/F1), 27
6. Beto Monteiro (BRA/F-Truck), 24
7. Sebastien Buemi (SUI/F1), 22
8. Felipe Massa (BRA/F1), 14
9. Vitor Meira (BRA/Stock Car), 11
10. Antonio Pizzonia (BRA/Stock Car), 11
11. Pietro Fittipaldi (BRA/Nascar), 11
12. Augusto Farfus (BRA/DTM), 7
13. Enrique Bernoldi (BRA/GT), 7
14. João Paulo de Oliveira (BRA/F-Nippon), 5
15. Bia Figueiredo (BRA/Indy), 4
16. Ricardo Zonta (BRA/Stock Car), 3
17. Jaime Alguersuari (ESP/F1), 2
18. Bruno Senna (BRA/F1), 2