Christian Merli Triumphs at 6th Hillclimb Monsters Memorial in Skradin

Christian Merli captured overall victory at the 6th edition of the Hillclimb Monsters hillclimb in Croatia, held on the Nagrada Grada Skradin course. The memorial event, dedicated to late Hungarian driver Istvan Kavecz, known to the community as "Bongo", took place along the 3.358-kilometer track located between Zadar and Split.

Driving a Nova Proto NP01 Cosworth for Scuderia Pintarally Motorsport, Merli set the standard during Saturday's practice runs. He topped the timesheets in the opening official session ahead of Swiss driver Robin Faustini in a turbocharged Nova Proto NP01 and Fausto Bormolini in a Reynard K02 single-seater. The trio repeated the same order in the second practice run that afternoon.

In Race 1, held under clear skies on dry asphalt, Faustini utilized his car's horsepower advantage to take the heat victory, edging out Merli by just 0.18 seconds. However, Merli responded decisively in Race 2, defeating Faustini to clinch the overall combined classification on aggregate time.

Merli expressed satisfaction with his performance and the memorial meeting, noting that an excellent second run proved decisive in securing the top step of the podium in honor of his late friend.