Imagine Christmas of 2019. One young and energetic author decided to write about the beginning of the upcoming season. It would look like that...
- Hi, here is a blockbuster scenario. It is called “Porsche Carrera Cup Italia 2020. Post-Apocalypse”.
- Hmm, interesting, let us see. It is a parallel universe, isn’t it? Alternate history. It’s a popular topic now, it’s good. What do we have here?
- There is a world during the pandemic of a virus. Everybody stays home by the beginning of the racing season, borders are closed.
- Borders? What does it mean? Oh, I recall. Interesting. How can the Ukrainian team (your principal character) participate in the Italian races if the borders are closed?
- It does not participate, nobody participates, at least in spring, when everything has had to begin. All the races are canceled...
- Ha-ha, what a funny idea. Who will cancel the races? OK, this is fantasy (a rustle of thumbed pages). - Oh, I see, here they are, at Mugello track. - Is it the midseason?
- No, it is the first round.
- In July?!
- Yes, till that moment the world...
- Has defeated the virus?
- No, not at all. The virus stayed, but people were allowed to leave their homes carefully and little by little...
- What a fantasist you are, but it is useful for an author.
- Here we are, everybody came at Mugello track in the middle of July... It was the first round of PCCI-2020-Post-Apocalypse. Our principal characters here are Tsunami RT team from Odesa and its drivers: Gianmarco Quaresmini and Bashar Mardini.
- Have the rules changed?
- No, the rules are the same: free practices, two qualifications, two races, 28 minutes + 1 lap each...
- This nuance with 28 minutes + 1 lap is good, it’s inexplicable and very fabulous. What does the grid girls wear on your picture?
- These are masks. They must be worn for not to spread the virus...
- What an interesting move. Fabulous but interesting. What’s next?
- Quarsemini gets the second position in the qualification following Alberto Cerchi. Bashar Mardini is on the fourth row of the starting grid, but he is the leader of Michelin Cup class. Then the long-awaited race starts...
- I see you have reached the finish. I presume you have missed the races during your fantastical epidemic. However, Quarsemini remained the second, having made spectacular efforts to overrun Cerchi. Mardini won the race in his classification.
- Here, please read:
#32 Gianmarco Quaresmini: "I'm very happy with the result. Although I tried to push for the win for 2-3 times, but Alberto was very good in the first turn, so for me was very hard to reach him. The car was very fast from the start to the end of the race, and I think that tomorrow it will be possible to fight for the win. I'm really happy, thanks to the team!"
#89 Bashar Mardini: "We finished the first race of the season. We started p8 and finished p8, and we won in the Michelin class with a very large margin, that's good. The drivers in front of us drove far away from us, and that's disappointing. We had a nice fight, a good start after a 9-month break. Not all the signals from my brain to my feet and hands were working properly, but that was expected. But the car was great, the team did a fantastic job, and we are looking for tomorrow and for the next race!"
- Do the top-6 drivers start at the reverse order tomorrow?
- Of course! And Gianmarco Quaresmini is eager to win! Bashar Mardini keeps a good gap from his competitors in Michelin Cup. Gianmarco overruns the competitor... There is only Simone Iaquinta ahead! At that very moment...
- What a plot... The safety car appears on the track!
- Yes! The cars finish following the safety car. At the same time, Quarsemini shows the fast lap in both races, as well as Mardini among the Michelin Cup drivers.
#32 Gianmarco Quaresmini: “I’m very happy for the result of the first weekend. During this race I tried to push from the start till the finish. The feeling with the car was really beautiful. I tried to fight for the final win, but we were unlucky to finish the race under safety car, so for me it was just impossible to pass to the victory. But now we are in the first position in the championship, it’s the most important thing now!”
#89 Bashar Mardini: “It was a perfect start for the championship - pole position, the fastest lap, double win - you couldn't ask for more! The key thing is that we completed the first round and everything was fine”.
- What is it, the podium? Are people also wearing masks there?
- Of course, it is a post-apocalyptic fantastic fiction...
- What is the end of your blockbuster? Gianmarco Quaresmini becomes the leader of PCCI Championship, Bashar Mardini – the leader of Michelin classification. Am I right? It is not a fantastic fiction at all, my friend! It is pure reality!
Photo: Porsche Carrera Cup Italia