Test race for Christian Merli in southern Spain

Christian Merli is starting his season in Spain. He has been invited to race his Osella FA 30 Judd LRM at the the 28th Subida Ubrique – Benaocaz in the south of the Iberian peninsula near Gibraltar, which counts for the Andalusian hill climb championship.

First time on the hill in Andalusia
“Yes, it’s all new for me. José Francisco Galán Camargo is the clerk of the course both here and at the Subida al Fito, which is part of the European championship. He has been asking me for a couple of years, and now here we are. We have just finished assembling our Osella, and this will be an excellent test. A very welcome invitation; the organisers are supporting our travel and our stay, an opportunity not to be missed. The event consists of two practice runs and one race run on the 4.450 km track on Saturday and another practice run and two race runs on Sunday. The classification will be based on each driver’s best two performances.”

The race track
“I’ve seen a few onboard videos, but in summary I can say that after the start in Ubrique there is immediately a left-hand corner followed by a right-hand hairpin. Then a fast technical stretch and a narrower, medium-fast section with three wide hairpins towards the end.”

Translation by Ruth Scheithauer