José Antonio López-Fombona won in category 3
The Spanish Mountain Championship played its penultimate scoring test of 2019 on September 27, 28 and 29 on the ascent to La Santa.
The competition organized by the Automobile Club of Totana took place over a weekend of sun and high temperatures with a large influx of public on the route that runs through the spectacular natural environment of Sierra Espuña.
The absolute victory and in the classification of the category 1 of the national contest went to Javi Villa with the BRC BR53.
In category 2 Domingo Estrada ended up in the lead with the Silver Car S3, while in 3 the winner was José Antonio López-Fombona, new leader in the general bodywork with his Lamborghini Huracan SuperTrofeo.
Total domain of Javi Villa in his second participation with the new 1.3T engine unit of the BRC BR53.
After the frustrated premiere in Chantada, which ended with abandonment due to breakdown, the Asturian driver arrived at La Santa with no margin of error, since a new setback would have left him without any option to the category 1 championship.
On Saturday, Villa was already at the head of the table achieving the best absolute time of the day, in the official climb that closed the day, with a time of 1: 36.359 that allowed him to overcome in more than eight seconds to the next classified of the category 1, his rival for the title, Christian Broberg with the Radical, which was closely followed by Augusto Lezcano with a Standard.
Although the result of Saturday ended up being irrelevant, since the fastest records were achieved in the two race climbs on Sunday, there was no change in the positions.
The first of the two official sleeves of the final day was again for Villa, who was only a tenth of the track record.
And, although the Spaniard worsened slightly in the last one, the victory was clearly awarded both in the general scratch of the test and in the classification of category 1. With this new victory, the fifth of the season, Villa consolidates his leadership in net points although in total points the first place is still occupied by Broberg, who also achieved his best time on Sunday to finish second absolute and of category 1. Between the two the name of the champion will be decided in the final event of the contest, the rise to les Revoltes d'Ibi, which will be held in mid-October.
The podium of category 1 in La Santa was completed by Augusto Lezcano, third with his boat Norma in what was his debut in the national, whose classification scratch finished in ninth place.
Domingo Estrada was for the third consecutive race the fastest of the participants in category 2. The young Cantabrian driver of the Silver Car S3 scored the best time in the three race climbs to finish the weekend at the head of the CM table -Promotion and in the third absolute position of the general scratch of the test.
Instead, his rival in the fight for the title, Garikoitz Flores, who had been third in the race race on Saturday, suffered a touch in Sunday's training that prevented him from taking part in the remaining two official climbs and left him without option to rate.
In this way, Domingo is the virtual champion of category 2 if the classification of the Murcia test is confirmed, which is provisional until the result of the post-race technical verification is known, in which the Silver's engines were sealed. Estrada and the BRC of Asenjo, which will be reviewed in the coming days.
The second place in category 2 on the climb to La Santa went to another Cantabrian rider, Mario Asenjo, who had already placed his BRC B49 just after the Estrada Silver in the official Saturday and repeated position at two on Sunday to finish , in addition, sixth of the general.
The CM-Promotion podium was closed by Rubén Cerezo, third with another B49 from the Asturian manufacturer, who overcame Edgar Montellà , fourth in category 2 with the Speed ​​Car GTR after a close fight.
The fifth place in category 2, tenth scratch, went to the already CM-Junior champion Gonzalo Cabañas with a Talex M1.
José Antonio López-Fombona got his third win of the year in Totana with the Lamborghini Huracan Super Trophy.
The gijonés pilot maintained a spectacular hand in hand with the current champion of the category 3, Gerard De la Casa, which was not resolved until the last race climb.
Although Fombona had been the fastest in the first two official sleeves, the difference in his favor in the second, first of those held on Sunday and in which the best timetables were achieved, had been only 5 thousandths of a second so Everything was about to be decided before the last climb.
Finally, Fombona repeated his record time of 1: 43.7 achieved in the previous round while De la Casa worsened a few tenths and stopped the clock over 1:44.
The victory in the total calculation was, therefore, for the Asturian pilot of the Lamborghini, who happens to lead the general of the contest reserved to the GTs and the cars ahead of the Andorran of the Subaru.
The difference in points between the two is minimal, so the two will compete for the title in Ibi, where whoever manages to finish ahead of their rival will be proclaimed champion.
The podium of category 3 in the ascent to La Santa was completed by 'Lolo' Aviles, which led a very positive return to the national in which it was, in addition, his first participation in the contest at the wheel of a car.
The young Andalusian driver took his SEAT León TCR to third place and won in class 7 ahead of the Leon Supercopa of the local Amador Nevado, fourth in category 3 in the home test.
Fifth of bodies, and first in class 8, was the cordovan Francisco Jiménez, who placed his Mitsubishi EVO X of group N ahead of the group E1 unit of Murcia Carlos Moreno, who occupied the sixth position of category 3.
In class 10 the victory went to Miguel Ãngel Clemente with his SEAT 124, and in 9 Juan Antonio García qualified in a first position with a Peugeot 205 Rally.
After the dispute of the climb to La Santa de Totana, the Spanish Mountain Championship will complete its 2019 calendar on October 19 and 20 on the ascent to Les Revoltes d'Ibi (Alicante).
