Arnaud Mathieu wins 1/8th European ‘B’ title
Last week saw the 1/8th ‘B’ European championship held in Thionville in the North of France. With nice hot weather during the week and new asphalt on the track as well as a new layout and sugared water sprayed for a better grip the conditions were perfect for all drivers. From the start of practice, local driver, and reigning French Champion, Arnaud Mathieu (Motonica P81 RS2) set the pace. After the opening round of qualifying, it’s a fast Sabrina Lechner who took the the pole on Thursday with a 27 lap run in 7’01. On Friday, with 4 rounds of qualifying many drivers would have the opportunity to improve, but the morning heat should be the fastest because of the fresh air.
On round 2, it was another French driver, Jérome Papaconstantinos, driver who claimed 28 laps to take the pole. In round 3, Romain Picard is the second driver to make a 28 laps qualifying round, taking second place. In the last round of qualifying, Arnaud Mathieu finally got a clear run to take the pole, by just a second.
After the semi finals its the experienced driver, John Ermen who would start from P1 followed by TQ driver Arnaud Mathieu. The two other drivers who made 28 laps in qualifying, Jerome Papaconstantinos and Romain Picard were both out after the semis.
It was a thrilling final, because many things happened to TQ driver, Arnaud Mathieu. First he stalled during the warm up lap, therefore he had to start from the pit lane. Ermen took the lead and opened a gap to the rest of the field. Sabrina, after a good start, had to retire because of radio problem after 15 min of racing and after 20 min, Arnaud Mathieu was now in 2nd place. Ermen changed tires quite early and then had technical problems, he managed to get back on track but could only finish in sixth position. At the 30 min mark Arnaud Mathieu was leading by 3 laps but hadn’t change tires yet and unfortunately he would stall again.
Christophe Louis was now in the lead but in the same lap as Arnaud Mathieu who finally changed tires. And he can now pick up the pace with his fresh tires. The lead changes 4 or 5 times between the two Frenchmen because of refueling. But Arnaud could pull a half a lap lead, and then finishes a lap ahead of Christophe Louis. In third place its Stephane Riccobono with a clean race.
Source: Andelle Competition [andelle-competition.com]
