Merli as a guest of honour at the Subida a Chantada in Spain

On Sunday Christian Merli will be racing at the 49th Subida a Chantada in Galicia in northern Spain. This is the fourth round of the Spanish hill climb championship.

An unknown track for Merli
“To be honest, I’ve only seen it in onboard videos. I’ve never raced there. It starts with a narrow straight inmidst vineyards, then two hairpins. After a fork in the road the track becomes very wide with very fast bends. It’s 4.100 km long.”

The event programme
“Two practice heats on Saturday, followed directly by the first race heat. Another practice heat on Sunday and then two race heats. The slowest time is discarded at the end.” An unknown event for the Scuderia Vimotorsport driver, which he will be contesting in his Osella FA 30 Judd LRM.

Guest of honour in Spain
“The organisers have been trying to get me there for two years. Unfortunately there was always a scheduling clash. We’ve been invited, and they’re taking care of our entire cost. After all it’s 2100 km just to get to the paddock.”

A very special treat
“It’s really an honour for me. We’re not eligible for Spanish championship points, but that won’t prevent us from doing our best. The event is very popular with fans. In our team there’s also Alexander Hin with his FA 30, and we’ll be competing against local driver Joseba Iraola Lanzagorta with the Nova M20 FC, who already won this race last year.”

Translation by Ruth Scheithauer