French 1/8th Nitro On-road Nationals Rd3 – Report

Round 3 of the French 1/8th Nitro On-road Nationals was held this past weekend in Neuville le Poitou with 66 drivers in attendance on a short track with high tyre wear. The weather wasn’t pleasant with rain on all three days. The Elite class qualifying started on a dry track, allowing three rounds to be run. Stephane Bouche set the early pace in front of Anthony Abisset by 0.35 seconds but with a cooler track in round three this would be the rocket round for everyone and at the end it was Adrien Bertin who took the TQ by 0.07 seconds over Anthony Abisset. Stephane Bouche wasn’t able to improve but remained 3rd. The National class drivers were only able to complete two rounds of qualifying until the rain kicked  in and it was local driver Faisal Affejee who took the TQ some 4 seconds ahead of Micheal Fouin who in turn was 9 seconds clear of championship leader Nicola Miramont.

On Sunday, all sub-finals were held in wet conditions and some drivers decided not to run. One of those was National class polesitter, Faisal Affejee. For the Elite class final the track was completely dry. Stephane Bouche had a good start and took the lead but just behind was Anthony Abisset who later took over the lead only to suffer from servo problems shortly after. Adrien Bertin, who had a slow start, was coming back on the leader with a fast pace. At the 15 minute mark Stephane Bouche stopped for what seemed to be his first tyre change for the 45 minute final and this allowed Adrien Bertin to take the lead until his own tyre change at the 25 minute mark. So Stephane Bouche was promoted the lead, but he needed to make a second stop for tyres, which which was awaited for the 30 minute mark. With the new set of tyres seeming slower as the previous ones Stephan wasn’t able to close the gap on Adrien who ultimately took the win. For the 3rd place there was a tough battle between Stephane Riccobono and Arnaud Mathieu. At the end Stephane Riccobono made a few mistakes, allowing Arnaud Mathieu to secure the final podium spot.

Elite class final result:
1. Adrien Bertin
2. Stephane Bouche
3. Arnaud Mathieu
4. Thomas Eytard
5. Stephane Riccobono
6. Jeremy Cassagne
7. Romain Baehrel
8. Benjamin Brasset
9. Benjamin Coulaud
10.Anthony Abisset

For the final of the National class, which was started before the Elite main race, wet patches on the track made tyre choice difficult but dry tyres seemed to be the fastest option. Michael Fouin took the early lead but he ran into problems and he had to retire. The lead was then taken by Julien Morvan in front of Romain Fournery. Halfway into the race the 2nd place driver flamed out but he managed to keep the position. Ultimately Julien Morvan was able to take his first national race win with Romain Fournery coming in 2nd. In 3rd Yoann Coelho rounded out the podium.

National class final result:
1. Julien Morvan
2. Romain Fournery
3. Yoann Coelho
4. Nicolas Miramont
5. Alexandre Delaunay
6. Jean-Noel Austruy
7. Fabien Giorgetti
8. Jeremy Boisseau
9. Michael Fouin
10.Frederic Vergnieres

As for the championship, in the National class, Romain Fournery is closing the gap on Nicolas Miramont, but with two races left nothing is decided yet. In the Elite class, four drivers are running are in the mix for the overall championship with Christophe Louis, Antony Abisset, Adrien Bertin and Thomas Eytard all having the chance to grab the title.

Source: Andelle Competition