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Lotus Cup Europe 2009 - Round 5
Dijon Prenois race report
September 5th - 6th
Introduction
Three weeks after Donington, the Lotus Cup Europe drivers and some of their UK counterparts reunited at the challenging Dijon-Prenois circuit in Eastern France. Home of the French and Swiss Grand Prix during the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, it was the scene of Team Lotus victories for both Ronnie Peterson and Mario Andretti. Would the mainland-based drivers seize the advantage again?
Qualifying
Qualifying took place on a Friday afternoon, following a testing session that was nearly a washout. Early Autumnal conditions gave way to bright sunshine by the time the laps were being counted and the track dried very quickly in the heat.
Some early fast laps were posted by Steve Williams, making another appearance in his UK-spec modified Elise and whilst he would take the pole, engine problems meant he was unlikely to line up on the grid. This was all good news for series pacesetter Michael Damoiseaux but perhaps not for those anticipating a close race, as his time was mere hundredths off Williams, whereas closest challenger Christophe Lisandre was more than half a second away. Of course, qualifying form doesn’t always surface in racing conditions but we still had Jonathan Walker in a net third place, with very little to separate him from the car in front. Harry Steegmans continued the 2-Eleven lock-out with 5th overall, a couple of tenths back.
A much healthier Exige contingent joined in this time, Olivier Cunat setting the pace in 6th, from Andreas Holzleithner’s very different modified series one car, then the 2-Elevens of Thierry Verhiest and Robert Montgomery before the second of the Exiges, John Rasse heading brother Gregory, the two starting in front of Denis Van den Savel.
Topping production would be James Knight, the experienced UK campaigner taking the 2-Eleven scalps of Tom Chatterway and Patrick Goblet and putting them between himself and Nigel Ayres and Simon Phillips. At the back of the grid, Mark Gooday and Gavin Kirby, both experiencing problems – the former having to race his older 340R and finding the right settings, whilst Kirby was unable to post a time and would start from last place.
Race One
Much better conditions on Saturday afternoon as Damoiseaux made the best of the rolling start and Lisandre soon found himself struggling to hold off the pack, led by Walker. Within a couple of laps, Walker found his way past and for a while it looked like he would catch Damoiseaux but the damage had already been done with Damoiseaux to far down the road. Next to pass Lisandre was Steegmans, however he was unable to join Walker in the chase for the win and would spend the remainder of the race in close company with Lisandre.
We then had a developing group led by Verhiest, Cunat, Montgomery and Chatterway, soon to be joined by a rapidly recovering Kirby. This provided a catalyst that shuffled the order, odd-one-out Cunat eventually losing out to the 2-Elevens as Kirby pulled clear of the pack before tyre problems gave him some work to do to hold position.
Behind them the Rasse brothers engaged in an intense bout of sibling rivalry, Gregory struggling to hold the advantage and time after time they would enter La Bretelle together, Gregory using as much grip as he dare – it was thrilling stuff.
Towards the late stages Damoiseaux was able to peg the gap to Walker to leave the win in no doubt, whilst Steegmans was to lose out to Lisandre. This quartet filled the top four places, with Kirby up next, from Montgomery, Verhiest, Chatterway and first Exige home, Cunat. Then the Rasse brothers, John before Gregory; Antoine Lebois – a fine performance from the back of the grid - then Holzleithner.
In Production, Knight used his starting position well and focussed on the faster machinery around him, before settling into a duel with Holzleithner’s modified Exige. Second in production was hard-fought between Storey and Ayres as Phillips retired with electrical gremlins. Storey was to emerge the victor after Ayres lost ground.
Race Two
Later in the afternoon a standing start saw Damoiseaux take another early lead, Lisandre holding on during the run down to the first corner. Walker and Steegmans then followed, disputing third place. By the time they returned to the pit straight, Lisandre’s mirrors were full of Walker’s car, Steegmans now some way back and attracting attention from Verhiest, who would pass him and work his way towards Lisandre.
Verhiest then demoted Lisandre to fourth place, which was soon to become fifth to Steegmans’ advantage. Behind them John Rasse would take the Exige class win from Cunat and between them and third in class Gregory Rasse was Kirby, another great fighting performance after starting from the pitlane this time. Lebois again did well to post tenth place, finishing before Denis van Den Savel and then the winning Production runner Phillips. The tables had been turned as reliability trouble hit Knight, who came to a smoky end after passing the pits late in the race. With Ayres a non-starter, Storey was to take the runner-up position.
Conclusion
A fine pair of performances from Damoiseaux, with Walker putting up a good fight and some great battles throughout the field. Had Williams not had troubles and Kirby able to post a qualifying time things could have been different, which bodes well for the remaining two rounds, starting with Spa-Francorchamps in a months’ time.
The Exige’s put on a great show and if all would come and play together the spectacle would be fantastic.
It’s off to Imola to support WTCC with Lotus Cup Italy in two weeks time for a number of the drivers, this is an additional late round mainly pushed to the UK guys.
Kevin Ritson
Press Officer LoTRDC
