After a dramatic race and a late change of lead, it was Belgium's Giovanni Verbrugghe who walked away with the Large Scale European Touring Car Championship in Bologna, Italy.
The track went through several evolutions during finals day, as the sun began to beat down following low temperatures and rain throughout the morning. However, the track was dry by the time the field lined up to take the start.
After taking second place from a fast-starting Ales Bayer, Verbrugghe remained three to five seconds back from Lamberto Collari, who led much of the race after pole-sitter Patrick Folman fell back thanks to several moments on the grass.
Collari, whom the Bologna venue is named after, remained in control until the dying seconds of the thirty-minute race, when he spun out while trying to save fuel and negotiate traffic.
This handed the win to Verbrugghe, winning by just over two seconds from the recovering Collari. Patrick Folman recovered from his early transgressions to take third, followed by Costantino Marrone, who also briefly led in the first half of the race.
Dario Veseli fought hard throughout the race for fifth, having made several astounding overtakes in the process. The Czech Republic's Ales Bayer, who had a tough weekend all-round, came home seventh as he gradually slowed in the Italian heat.
The scenes in the paddock were frenetic in the immediate aftermath of Verbrugghe's win, with dozens of drivers and mechanics rushing to congratulate the brand new Large Scale European Touring Car champion.
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