Merli and Mossler dominate Cividale-Castelmonte hillclimb finale

Christian Merli secured his fourth career win at Cividale-Castelmonte, piloting a Nova Proto Np01 to victory in the modern car category at the 49th edition of the hillclimb. The Trentino driver completed the two 6.395 km ascents with a combined time of 6'01"74, setting the fastest time in both runs. Harald Mossler, driving a Daren MkIII, won the historic vehicle class with a time of 7'47"49, also fastest across both passes. For Mossler, the result marked his second victory at the venue after a previous win in 2019.

Merli had entered as the favourite following his best practice time of 3'05"17. He delivered on that promise, clocking 3'02"33 on the opening ascent and 2'59"41 on the return. Federico Liber finished second in the modern category, 5.85 seconds behind in another Nova Proto Np01, with Diego Degasperi third on a Norma M20 Gea Zytek, 8.16 seconds adrift. The top three also formed the podium for the E2SC-SS class 3000 group. Damiano Schena and Gianluca Ticci, both in Nova Proto NP03s, claimed fourth and fifth places respectively. Giuseppe D'Angelo took first among GT cars in a Ferrari 488 Challenge, 58.60 seconds from Merli. A total of 104 modern vehicles completed both runs.

In the historic category, Mossler's times of 3'56"21 and 3'51"28 proved decisive. Defending champion Rino Muradore, piloting a Ford Escort Rs, finished second overall and first in the second grouping, 4.60 seconds behind. Umberto Pizzato placed third in a Porsche 911 Rs, 17.99 seconds from the winner. Marco Marcon won the fourth grouping in a Peugeot 309 Gti, finishing fourth overall at 24.40 seconds. Erwin Morandell's Fiat X1/9 secured victory in the third grouping, placing seventh overall. Forty-four historic vehicles reached the finish.

The event served as the finale of the Italian Mountain Velocity Championship and held validity for the Slovenian national championship, the Triveneto Irs Cup, and the historic car championship. The course followed the standard route along the provincial road from Carraria in Cividale to Castelmonte in Prepotto, covering 6.395 km with 408 metres of elevation gain and an average gradient of 6.4 per cent.