Like previous years, the French GP of Montpellier was held in the middle of February… and like every year the level of this race gets higher. Spanish drivers Vega and Hernandez were there this year to compete against the top French drivers such as Savoya (Aigoin’s brother), Sartel, and Rodriguez. Rabitti too came from Italy, bringing with him Tortoricci, Boero, and lots of other drivers! It was a really good thing for drivers to begin the year with such a really good event!
The first round of qualification was not easy for me cause it was also my first practice run! It was impossible for me to be on the track for the Friday practice because of a train problem. The car was good but I was cold and so I finished the round in 12th place.
Everything worked well during the second and third rounds as I got on pace. I finished 4th in the second round, and 3rd in the last round… missing the 10 lap mark by only 1 second.
I finally took 5th place in qualification with the same number of points as Hernandez (4th place). Yannick Aigoin took TQ ahead of Savoya.
The weather on Sunday was sunny but the wind was crazy and really cold! The track was very cool too and began to blue groove be a real sleeper at the same time! Tire choice was now very important for the semi. I decided to use the Crime fighter M3 compound for my semi. This choice was good and I took 2nd place in my semi just behind Yannick. The second semi was a bit faster and saw Savoya take, eventually being #1 in the final! All the result wee really close and I would start in the 6th position for the main.
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Now, we got ready for a long final…
The club decided this year to make it a 1-hour race! My start was good, but everybody was really fast on this track. I lost some time in the first 15 minutes with some mistakes and getting caught up with other cars. At that moment I knew the race would be hard because the leader was already 1 lap ahead of me. BUT… the race is long, my car was good, and I was sure that I had a place on the podium! But for the moment, I was in 7th place.
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After some long waiting, I manage to get into 4th place at the 40-minute mark. At this point Savoya lost his fuel due to a mistake and his engine stopped! So then I was in 3rd place and the last place of the podium! But race was not finished. Yannick (in the lead) had some battery problems in the last 5 minutes of the race and had to stop. So I ended up finishing in 2nd place behind Italian driver Rabitti, who had a really fast race today! I congratulated him on his well-earned victory.
For myself, I’m really happy with my result. After my 1st place last year, I finished this year in 2nd place and confirm myself in this event! I hope it will continue like this in the future..