Eurocup Mégane Trophy
Albert Costa (Oregon Team) dominated Friday’s Eurocup Megane Trophy collective testing sessions, serving notice of his intention to continue his dramatic charge up the championship standings, which has taken him to within touching distance of the leader, Bas Schothorst (TDS Racing). The Belgian also showed plenty of pace over the day, with the two now waiting to see what the weather will bring tomorrow.
There are a number of changes in the Eurocup Megane Trophy field, with Eurocup Clio entrant Marguerite Laffite (Oregon Team) driving the No1 car, just as she did at the Hungaroring. Making their returns to the category are Enrico Bettera (Oregon Team), Thibault Bossy (Team Lompech Sport), Toni Forne (Pujolar Racing) and Richard Kressner (Equipe Verschuur), while Jakub Knoll (Equipe Verschuur) is making his Eurocup Megane Trophy debut in the south of France.
Albert Costa laid down a marker by outpacing Bas Schothorst and Fabien Thuner (Oregon Team) early on, while Jakub Knoll went off after suffering a puncture, prompting the red flags to come out.
The Spaniard maintained a fierce pace once the track was cleared, clocking a string of fastest laps before meeting some late resistance in the shape of Fabien Thuner, who laid down the gauntlet with a time of 2:12.225. Picking it up immediately, Albert Costa then topped the morning’s timesheets with a lap of 2:11’.668, relegating Fabien Thuner to second, ahead of Bas Schothorst.
Session two was a virtual carbon copy as Albert Costa took control once more, the Spaniard improving on his morning benchmark in the final two minutes with a time of 2:11.126. That proved too good for everyone else, with Bas Schothorst and Kevin Gilardoni (Oregon Team) completing the top three.
What they said:
Albert Costa: “The two sessions went well, the car’s in great shape and it’s a track I really like. The only thing is, tomorrow’s weather forecast is not great. If it rains, it won’t be a problem, though. We did well in the last race we had in the wet.”
Fabien Thuner: “I like Paul Ricard a lot, and it’s an interesting track to drive. That said, races are never easy here, mainly because of the slipstreaming. I put in a good time in the first session, even if my brakes were a bit spongy. Things are looking good, though, and it’s a good way to start the weekend.”
Thibault Bossy: “I’m happy to be back in Eurocup Megane Trophy as I haven’t driven since the Nurburgring. I’m still developing and the objective now is to keep pace with the top five. That’s just been my aim since I started driving a rear-wheel drive. The idea is to spend as much time as I can behind the wheel at the end of this season and over the winter so I can get ready for the 2013 Eurocup Megane Trophy.”
Jakub Knoll: “I didn’t have much luck because I had a technical problem this morning and then I spun off, breaking a wheel and damaging the car. It took a while to repair, so I didn’t have a lot of time to get familiar with the car. I knocked a second off my time with every lap at the end of the session. I need more time, but I really enjoy driving this car.”
Official Renault Sport Press Release.