Richard Volta wins 2013 French Cup

The 2013 French Cup was held in Ampuis near Lyon. It was a difficult race for the drivers with lots of issues to consider, as there was first of all the weather with only the final qualifier was being held at dry conditions. There was also the very demanding track with its fast sweepers that made it tough for the drivers to make the 5 minute qualifiers without refuelling. Romain Picard (Mugen/JP Gimar) managed all of the above taking pole position. Richard Volta (Velox/CRF Andelle Competition) who had the fastest pace only finishing 6th because he ran out of fuel. Recently crowned french champion, Christophe Aygon (Mugen/NDS Tech) secured the second place and local driver Thomas Eytard (Xray/RB) followed in third. After the semis, Thomas Eytard would start from pole position into the final with Richard Volta in second.

At the start of the main, the front runners took off with no problem, but 4 minutes into the race it started to rain. Almost every drivers opted for a tyres swap except Stephane Riccobono (Serpent/Novarossi) who took the lead. Only minutes later the rain stopped and the track began to dry with 20 minutes to go. Now beside fuel consumption another issue on the track was tyre wear as the tyres only lasted for around 15 minutes. In the meantime Ricobono was in the lead with Thomas Eytard in second and Volta in third. Stephane Ricobono made a mistake at the 23 minute mark but with fresh tyres he was coming back until his engine flamed out because of a broken glow plug. Now it was down to two drivers, Eytard in the lead and Volta just behind him. Soon the fuel consumption issue kicked in again and Volta managed to make 5 minute stints whereas Eytard had to make an additional fuel stop, allowing Volta to take the lead 3 minutes before the end later on taking the win on totally worn tyres.

Result:
1. Richard Volta
2. Thomas Eytard
3. Romain Picard
4. Stephane Riccobono
5. Damien Thirion
6. Romain Baehrel
7. Stephan Bertrand
8. Gerald Colinet
9. Christophe Varniere
10.Christophe Aygon

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