This year's Eurocup Mégane Trophy competitors met for two days of collective testing at the Paul Ricard HTTT circuit on Thursday and Friday. In his return to motor racing, Ludovic Badey (TDS) recorded the best time.
After five long months of hibernation, the Megane Trophy cars had their first outing since the end of the 2006 season, as the ten teams competing in the Eurocup met for their first winter test session. Two further days of testing are planned for Barcelona on April 4th and 5th before the championship begins in earnest at Zolder (April 20th-22nd).
Since the initial list of competitors was published, there have been a few formidable additions to the line-up, which has a top-class look to it. It looks like Carlo van Dam will be representing Racing for Belgium: "The plan is to compete in two competitions: the Megane Trophy and F3 in Germany. I'm already really enjoying driving the car." Third in the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 2006, the Dutchman is delighted to be keeping one foot in the World Series by Renault.
Another genuine podium contender, Fabrice Walfisch, joins Team Lompech Sport, who are now setting their sights high thanks to the increasing involvement of Jean-Charles Miginiac: "The car is really nice, although ideally I'd like even more power. The chassis is very similar to a single-seater race car. It reminds me of my years in F3: you have to really concentrate to drive at speed. I don't have any particular goals except to enjoy myself with the team."
While some drivers concentrated on familiarizing themselves with their surroundings, others wasted no time in working on the new rules for 2007. With drivers allowed to refuel once in this year's 40-minute races, several teams opted to put in some pit stop practice.
On Thursday, the best time went to Dimitri Enjalbert. Tech 1 Racing's new recruit, winner of French Clio Cup Junior category last year, quickly got to grips with the Mégane: "The car really suits me. Hopefully I'll have a good season. Even though I've never raced on most of the circuits before, I'll be aiming to win the Junior title."
To achieve his aim, Dimitri will first have to beat his teammates, starting with Matthieu Lahaye: "I wasn't great here but I'm not worried because we won't be racing on this circuit. I know we've got a good car and I'm determined to carry on my good work from 2006!"
Another Tech 1 driver, Pedro Petiz, will also be in with a chance in the title race: "Everything's going very well with the team. I'Il be battling it out with my teammates on the track, but once we're out of our cars, we get on well and help one another."
Having been forced to cut short his 2006 season after an accident, Ludovic Badey made an impressive comeback, with the best overall time for the two days. The driver from Lyons is determined to take up where he left off last year. "I've recovered and I don't have any pain from my accident. I've got a good car and a motivated team and I'll be going for the title. My times were nothing special, but I'm not focusing on that: this circuit requires a very particular setup and we haven't got a meeting here. I had a dummy run and everything went according to plan I'm fighting fit!" May the other drivers take heed...
POS # DRIVERS TEAM BEST LAPS 1 31 Dimitri ENJALBERT (FRA) Tech 1 Racing (FRA) 01:31,679 92 2 20 Ludovic BADEY (FRA) TDS (FRA) 01:32,216 90 3 32 Pedro PETIZ (POR) Tech 1 Racing (FRA) 01:32,454 82 4 7 Bernhard TEN BRINKE (NED) Equipe Verschuur (NED) 01:32,548 81 5 1 Matthieu LAHAYE (FRA) Tech 1 Racing (FRA) 01:32,649 62 6 5 Mike VERSCHUUR (NED) Equipe Verschuur (NED) 01:32,693 104 7 33 Sébastien DHOUAILLY (FRA) Tech 1 Racing (FRA) 01:32,876 58 8 22 Mickaël ROSSI (FRA) Racing For Belgium (BEL) 01:32,962 113 9 8 Ralph MEICHTRY (SUI) Race Performance (SUI) 01:32,993 59 10 10 Renaud KUPPENS (BEL) Boutsen Energy Racing (BEL) 01:33,025 68 11 14 Giuseppe CIRO' (ITA) Oregon Team (ITA) 01:33,121 128 12 23 Carlo VAN DAM (NED) Racing For Belgium (BEL) 01:33,172 78 13 17 Fabrice WALFISCH (FRA) Team Lompech Sport (FRA) 01:33,256 93 14 11 SOULET (BEL) / MARTIN (BEL) Boutsen Energy Racing (BEL) 01:33,411 96 15 21 Matthieu CHERUY (FRA) TDS (FRA) 01:33,613 82 16 12 Andreas MAYERL (AUT) Sesterheim Racing (DEU) 01:33,630 70 17 9 Jean - Philippe MADONIA (FRA) TDS (FRA) 01:34,300 79 18 18 Rafael UNZURRUNZAGA (ESP) Blue Jumeirah Team (ESP) 01:34,329 69 19 15 Diego ROMANINI (ITA) Oregon Team (ITA) 01:34,520 91 20 16 Jean - Charles MIGINIAC (FRA) Team Lompech Sport (FRA) 01:34,651 113 21 6 Wim BEELEM (NED) Equipe Verschuur (NED) 01:35,333 71
POS # DRIVER TEAM TIME LAPS 1 20 Ludovic BADEY (FRA) TDS (FRA) 01:31,598 95 2 31 Dimitri ENJALBERT (FRA) Tech 1 Racing (FRA) 01:31,711 88 3 32 Pedro PETIZ (POR) Tech 1 Racing (FRA) 01:31,835 105 4 1 Matthieu LAHAYE (FRA) Tech 1 Racing (FRA) 01:31,846 85 5 10 Renaud KUPPENS (BEL) Boutsen Energy Racing (BEL) 01:31,945 92 6 23 Carlo VAN DAM (NED) Racing For Belgium (BEL) 01:32,103 81 7 8 Ralph MEICHTRY (SUI) Race Performance (SUI) 01:32,181 89 8 7 Bernhard TEN BRINKE (NED) Equipe Verschuur (NED) 01:32,272 67 9 22 Mickaël ROSSI (FRA) Racing For Belgium (BEL) 01:32,314 53 10 5 Mike VERSCHUUR (NED) Equipe Verschuur (NED) 01:32,319 75 11 11 SOULET (BEL) / MARTIN (BEL) Boutsen Energy Racing (BEL) 01:32,361 93 12 33 Sébastien DHOUAILLY (FRA) Tech 1 Racing (FRA) 01:32,412 74 13 14 Giuseppe CIRO' (ITA) Oregon Team (ITA) 01:32,675 138 14 17 Fabrice WALFISCH (FRA) Team Lompech Sport (FRA) 01:32,688 83 15 12 Andreas MAYERL (AUT) Sesterheim Racing (DEU) 01:33,069 106 16 21 Matthieu CHERUY (FRA) TDS (FRA) 01:33,070 68 17 16 Jean - Charles MIGINIAC (FRA) Team Lompech Sport (FRA) 01:33,639 94 18 9 Jean - Philippe MADONIA (FRA) TDS (FRA) 01:33,715 75 19 15 Diego ROMANINI (ITA) Oregon Team (ITA) 01:33,760 103 20 6 Wim BEELEM (NED) Equipe Verschuur (NED) 01:34,046 76 21 18 Rafael UNZURRUNZAGA (ESP) Blue Jumeirah Team (ESP) 01:44,892 23
