An eventful mid-season in Dijon for the French FFSA Championship!
The third of its six meetings in the French FFSA Championship, the Dijon-Prenois meeting marked the end of the first half of the season. The return of the French flagship competition to the fastest track of the season did not disappoint!
It’s been five years since the French FFSA Touring Championship last took place on the Dijon-Prenois Racetrack. Half a decade, swept away by the pleasure the drivers took in this racetrack full of history, whose average speed is the highest of the season. Before returning to the Val de Vienne from July 7 to 9, which would be a first for many drivers, it was time to close the chapter on the first half of the season.
French FFSA GT Championship: Silver Cup and Pro-Am regrouping
Grégory Guilvert and Christophe Hamon (Audi R8 LMS GT4 – Saintéloc Racing), who had dominated the start of the season in Pro-Am, had a more complicated weekend at Dijon-Prenois, finishing 6th and 7th in their group. Their rivals didn’t let the opportunity slip away: with two victories, Éric Trémoulet and Olivier Jouffret (Mercedes-AMG GT4 – Vic’Team) took advantage of the situation to move back to within 12 points of the Hamon-Guilvert pair.
In the Silver Cup too, the championship is very much up for grabs. Thanks to a double victory, Benjamin Lessennes and Ricardo van der Ende (BMW M4 GT4 – L’Espace Bienvenue) put the pressure on championship leaders Etienne Chéli and Enzo Joulié. Second on Saturday and third on Sunday, the drivers of Matmut Evolution Toyota more than just simply limited the damage in Dijon. Thanks to five podiums in six races, they will lead the temporary rankings ahead of the Val de Vienne, but their lead over the 2020 Champions is now just nine points…
In the Am Cup, Laurent Hurgon and Alain Ferté (Autosport GP – LS Group Performance) won on Saturday to extend their lead in the rankings. The following day, they had the unpleasant surprise of seeing their Alpine A110 GT4 Evo weigh under the weight regulation during the post-race technical inspection. The group victory therefore went to Clément Dub and Ronald Basso, with the Racing Spirit of Léman Aston Martin Vantage crew 24 points behind the Alain Ferté-Laurent Hurgon pair, still leading the rankings.
French FFSA Touring Championship: Briché and Paget turn the tables around
Having arrived in Dijon seven points behind in the TC category, Florian Briché (Peugeot 308 RC – JSB Compétiton) reversed the trend in the French FFSA Touring Championship. Winner of three of the four races, Florian topped the temporary rankings by… seven points over Sébastien Thome (Peugeot 308 RC – Team Clairet Sport), who recorded two second-place finishes as his best results after some hard-fought battles.
While Stéphane Ventaja dominated the first two meetings in his Team Clairet Sport Cupra Leon Competition TCR, this time it was Julien Paget who was the big winner in the TCR category. After several intense duels, Team ASM by Optimum Racing’s Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR won three of the four races, enabling Julien to close the gap on the championship leader.
As in Magny-Cours, Ilona Bertapelle was unstoppable in the TCA Light category, which featured a record of no fewer than eleven Peugeot 208 RC. With four new victories, she extended her championship lead over Thomas Compain (First Racing), who had dominated the opening meeting at Nogaro.
Alpine Elf Europa Cup : Lecertua takes control
The Alpine Elf Europa Cup reached the mid-season this weekend at the Dijon-Prenois Racetrack. For Alpine’s return to Burgundy, Adrien Catelin (Code Racing Development) won his first race on a wet track, while Lorens Lecertua (Chazel Technologie Course Junior) renewed his success with two victories in the dry. With his two-win finish, the Belgian is back in the lead of the overall rankings ahead of the next round in Barcelona (September 14-16) and the final round at Paul Ricard Racetrack in early October, as part of the French FFSA Championship.
Fanatec GT2 European Series : Total uncertainty
Before coming to an end on October 6-8 at the Paul Ricard Racetrack, the Fanatec GT2 European Series made its debut in the French FFSA Championship at the legendary Dijon-Prenois Racetrack.
The third event of the season offered two exciting races on Saturday, with different winners in each of the two categories. The first 50-minute race featured two new winners. Reinhard Kofler and Martin Koch took their first Pro-Am victory for Team True racing in their KTM X-BOW #17, while Leonardo Gorini scored his first Am success with Team Ebimotors’ Porsche GT2RS Clubsport.
Forced to give up the first race, Peter Guelinckx and 2022 champion Stienes Longin bounced back to take their second Pro-Am win of the season in the PK Carsport Audi R8 LMS GT2. With a fourth Am win, Jan Krabec returned to the top step of the podium with the KTM of the RTR Projects team.
Mitjet 2L Trophy France: Charles Roussanne asserts himself
The third round of the Mitjet 2L Trophy proved to be a thrilling one on the Dijon-Prenois Racetrack, with four races, three of which took place on Sunday alone, with inclement weather.
As we raise the first mid-season results, VPS Racing junior driver Charles Roussanne’s three overall wins in Burgundy put him in the lead of the championship, ahead of Gentlemen leader Sébastien Seveau (Génération Stunt).
Romain Damiani (GTDRIVE), who was leading the championship in Dijon, lost big this weekend, dropping to 4th overall, just behind the young Marius Fossard (VPS Racing). The Corsican can nevertheless settle for his first win of the season, in Race 3, thanks to a successful tire management strategy in the rain. See you in Val de Vienne for the kick-off to the second half of the season!
Credit: SRO Motorsports Group
