One of the most epic editions of the Subida del Mármol de Macael has come to an end. The municipality hosted from Friday until Sunday the eleventh round of the Andalusian Mountain Championship 2022 in a new motor racing event that will once again go down in history for its record number of public and participants.
With an authorised list of more than 120 drivers, in the touring car category, Manuel Rueda from Malaga with a Peugeot 308 won a new victory in the regional mountain championship, the third in a row after those achieved in Berja and Vejer, and consolidates his position at the top of the standings. In single seaters, Francisco Aguilar Cisneros, also from Malaga, added another victory this season at the wheel of his Radical PR6, while in car-cross the first place on the podium went to Javier Avilés from Cordoba with MV-Racing Pro SP2.
The competition got underway on Friday afternoon with an exhibition race which attracted more than 1,500 spectators in the centre of the town, and on Saturday morning the first official practice session got underway. In this first run, Rueda, Aguilar Cisneros and Avilés, the overall winners, set the best times on the 4.3 kilometre long section, which raised the enthusiasm of the spectators, who were massively placed in the natural grandstands of the marble quarries.
In the second practice session, Rueda was again the fastest in the car-cross category, as was Juan Salvador in the single-seaters and Clemente Simón in the car-cross category.
In the first official race, the scratch was for Jose Carlos Ropero Vargas, with Mitsubishi Lancer Evo. The current Andalusian vice-champion of the speciality was only 48 thousandths of a second faster than Rueda and 4.4 seconds faster than Christian Broberg, from Marbella and reigning champion, in a Ginetta G50. In single seaters, Aguilar Cisneros set the best time in front of the stopwatch, 3.3 seconds ahead of Juan Salvador and more than 12 seconds ahead of Antonio de los Ríos. On the other hand, Avilés again left his pursuers without options: Salvador Vilches and Juan Camacho by more than 2 seconds respectively.
On Sunday, on the second day of a competition marked by high temperatures, the drivers went all out in the fight for victory, aware of the need to score points with only one race to go until the end of the championship. In the first practice session and third of the race, Broberg imposed his authority and took the scratch, followed by Ropero and Clemente Hatero with a Rueda with problems who could only finish ninth. On this occasion, the best of the single-seaters was Juan Salvador, +3.5 seconds behind José Manuel Hidalgo with Bango-B49 and +3.8 seconds behind Aguilar. In car-cross Clemente Simón with Speed Car-Extreme did the same, ahead of Avilés and Santiago Carmona.
In the second official hillclimb, Broberg won again, only 5 thousandths of a second behind Clemente Hatero from Almeria in a Porsche 991, with Ropero and Rueda third and fourth in the race, while in single seaters and car-cross, Aguilar and Simón imposed their law again.
In the last hillclimb, Rueda was once again the winner in the touring car category, accompanied by Clemente Hatero and José Carlos Ropero, although the regularity of the driver from Malaga throughout the race was enough for the final victory with a best final time of 5:39.7. Aguilar Cisneros’ victory in this last pass was also enough for him to win again in the single seaters with an overall time of 5.20.3; in the same way as Javier Avilés who also won in the overall with 5:33.7.
General podiums
In this way the final podium in touring cars was as follows: first classified Manuel Rueda (Teo Martin Motorsport), second Miguel Ángel Clemente Hatero (Escudería del Mármol) and third José Carlos Ropero (CD Heads Racing Team).
In the single-seater category, Francisco Aguilar (Motor Club Alcalá la Real) was first, followed by Juan Salvador (Automovil Club de Almería) in second place and José Manuel Hidalgo (CD Quintano Sport) in third. And in car-cross, Javier Avilés (Escudería Doble 30) was first, Clemente Simón (Escuderia del Mármol) second and Santiago Carmona (Escudería Doble 30) third.
The trophy for the best senior driver of the event went to Manuel Maldonado (Automovil Club de Almería) in a Porsche 997; while the best junior driver was Ángel Viñolo (Escuderia Valle del Andarax) in a Speed Car GT1000.
As for the provincial motor racing cup `Trofeo Diputación de Almería 2022′ the victory went to Juan Salvador as first classified, followed by Clemente Simón in second position and Miguel Ángel Clemente in third.