| Race Report by Basile Concialdi |
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The AMAC club at Monteux was created by E. Nougier. In this structure dedicated to model racing there are no fewer than three tracks with their respective podiums for the different scales and even the All Terrain.
Track:
The runway of AMAC is fairly technical with banked ups & downs. The track is not flat and this gives it its specificity. Wind is often present in this region and as such raises dust which makes this circuit sometimes difficult to drive due to the level of traction.
Weather:
Friday: Cloudy in practice, with strong winds and quite cold temperatures sometimes
with gusts over 100kph.
Saturday: Since Friday the weather has been beautiful with blue skies, but the wind gusts are still strong and destabilizing drivers and cars.
Sunday: Sunny with low winds and a temperature of 18°C, conditions were ideal for the first round and the finals on Sunday.
Following the new EFRA regulations concerning the qualifications duration from 5 minutes to 7 minutes, we had to make a choice for the 2009 Elite FC. This period of 7 minutes was brought forward to the EFRA General Assembly to avoid (especially 1/8) damage to the motor. It was said (but not noted) that the period of 7 minutes should be accompanied by a full mandatory fuel stop. It seemed obvious (but was not put in writing) and should be implemented that way, however they had to go by what was written in the EFRA rules. So they said the European Championship should âśtryâť to run 7 min without refuelling. This regulation is worse than the old one, and is even more dangerous mechanically.
The FVRC (French Federation of Racing Car) decided to remain at 5 minutes for the Elite and National qualifying and I think it will be a good thing. Surely for 2010 EFRA will need to change, once again, the resolution of time qualifications. Thus for 2009 the qualifying would be set for 5 minutes for the 4 rounds of qualifying, confirmed by JLa
Qualifications :
National:
The top 3 drivers were separated by only a second after 16 laps! Anthony Bruyer was setting times with metronome regularity during the 3 races, despite a chilly 100kph gusting wind that dispatched some cars and a grip that changed constantly throughout. Two local pilots, Jérôme Di Crocco Corréard and Thomas Correard, took advantage of their knowledge of the terrain to reach the quartet of direct qualifiers, with Jean Baptiste Geneau being the last to join. Top performance was given by Kevin Rasquin even considering it was his first time here. He would be equally brilliant in the day after, winning his semi-final and finishing at the top of the podium in the final despite not having his mechanic dad.
Elite:
The men who have run on that very demanding & difficult track were at the front line from the free practice: Eytard, Pontal, Desmarais, Chaussard, Kalari. The official time would be confirmed tomorrow but Thomas Eytard got pole ahead of Mickael Pontal, Thomas Desmaries, and Arnaud Chaussard. Given the differences, the wind probably had its share of influence on the pole sitter. Basile Concialdi (who couldnâ™t practice on Friday) fail to qualify but on such a track and under such conditions still gave an excellent performance. |
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Finals
National:
The strong man of the weekend was Anthony Bruyer. The indisputable victory of the Northwest pilot was very impressive as he drove easily & efficiently through the final. He finished with more than 1 lap ahead of Thomas Corréard and more than 2 laps ahead of Geneau J. Baptiste. From mid-race, the race was set for the first 3, but we saw the excellent rising of Rasquin Kevin through the ranks. However, he failed in his quest to reach the podium due to a problematic motor in the final minutes of the race. |
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Final results "National"
1. Anthony Bruyer XRAY NT1
2. Thomas Correard
3. Geneau J. Baptiste XRAY NT1 |
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Elite:
The finals could have seen several winners since during the first 20 minutes there were some hot battles among several drivers.
Despite a very good start by Pontal, Desmaries lead the first final in 2009. Due to radio problems by Pontal, Desmaries settled comfortably in the lead. The moment of truth came at the 30-minute mark with the pitstop for changing tires. Chaussard changed 4 tires, Desmaries changed only the rear tires, and Eytard changed all. Concialdi does not change tires like Jacky Mouton. They both run and were left with very strong tires at the rear. Suddenly, we found these two drivers at the front but Jacky experienced problems. Both Basile and Desmaries found themselves on the front lines but Thomas Desmaries had more front tires but broke the front of the car only 3 minutes from the end.
Favrelle took over 3rd to put him to the podium behind Concialdi and Chaussard. Congratulations to Maxime Favrelle for his great driving and for his first 3rd place finish in Elite! |
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Final results "Elite"
1. Basile Concialdi XRAY NT1
2. Arnaud Chaussard XRAY NT1
3. Maxim Favrelle XRAY NT1 |
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