Eurocup Megane Trophy

Donington Race 2

A combination of his own faultless performance and the risky strategy employed by Maxime Martin and Fabrice Walfisch enabled Ralph Meichtry (Race Performance) to notch up his second race win of the season at Donington yesterday. Dimitri Enjalbert (Tech 1 Racing) also found his way back onto the podium, while, with his eighth top-three finish in as many races, Pedro Petiz (Tech 1 Racing) continued his march towards the title.

The start was a heated affair, with Greg Franchi (Equipe Verschuur) forced into a wall while Matthieu Lahaye (Tech 1 Racing) got into a scrape with Ludovic Badey (TDS). Maxime Martin (Boutsen Energy Racing) got off to a flying start, taking an early lead ahead of Fabrice Walfisch (Team Lompech Sport).

The front two immediately put some open track between themselves and the chasing pack of Ralph Meichtry (Race Performance), Ludovic Badey and Michaël Rossi (Racing for Belgium). Sébastien Dhouailly (Tech 1 Racing) was lying in sixth place at the end of the first lap, but was quickly passed by Matthieu Cheruy (TDS).

Giuseppe Ciro (Oregon Team) was some way clear in ninth place, but the battle for the final spot in the top ten was an incredible tussle involving seven drivers: Dimitri Enjalbert, Pedro Petiz, Mike Verschuur, Bernhard Ten Brinke, Jean-Philippe Madonia and Andreas Mayerl. Madonia was the first victim of this somewhat lively group.

Michaël Rossi found a way past Ludovic Badey on lap 5, but Sébastien Dhouailly ran into Giuseppe Ciro, who ended up crashing into a wall. The safety car was brought out after seven laps, prompting a flurry of pit stops. Meichtry, Rossi, Badey, Enjalbert, Verschuur, Van Dam, Ten Brinke and Mayerl all stopped immediately. Cheruy, Dhouailly, Petiz, Miginiac, Beelen and Lahaye followed suit on the next lap.

When the safety car left the track after lap 9, only the two leaders had yet to refuel. This strategy from Martin and Walfisch was surprising, to say the least. Further back, the action was really heating up. Rossi attempted the impossible and ran into Verschuur, forcing both men to retire and allowing Badey to move up into fifth place, some way behind the leading group of Martin, Walfisch, Enjalbert and Meichtry.

But a struggling Badey could not hold onto his position for long, and was overtaken by Carlo Van Dam. Petiz also moved past Dhouailly into seventh. Fabrice Walfisch and Maxime Martin finally went into the pits on laps 14 and 15 respectively. The gamble clearly did not pay off: they rejoined the race in 13th and 11th.

The prospect of victory seem to put wind in the sails of Dimitri Enjalbert and Ralph Meichtry, who wrestled for control of the race. Badey stayed in touch with Van Dam, but crashed into the Dutchman on a hairpin turn. With both drivers having to abandon, Petiz inherited third place. Meichtry seized his chance to pass Enjalbert on lap 18. Trailing the top two by some distance, Petiz was lapping on his own, well ahead of Ten Brinke, Dhouailly, Mayerl, Cheruy, Martin, Walfisch and Miginiac. On the final lap, Martin snatched seventh place from Cheruy.

Ralph Meichtry: "After missing out on the podium yesterday, we have won here, and I'd like to dedicate this victory to the team, who worked hard to get the car back on the track."

Dimitri Enjalbert: "I started from the back row and overtook a lot of cars. The safety car helped me a lot. It's a good result after I had to retire yesterday."

Pedro Petiz: "I just focus on being consistent. My aim at the start of this race was to score some points. So a podium finish was more than I was hoping for!"

Pos Number Driver  Team  Laps Time GapFirst KPH 1 29 James WALKER FORTEC MOTORSPORT 30 46:02.035 - 180.1   2 14 Guillaume MOREAU KTR 30 46:02.649 +0.614 180.4   3 10 Marco BONANOMI RC MOTORSPORT 30 46:04.309 +2.274 179.6   4 30 Yelmer BUURMAN FORTEC MOTORSPORT 30 46:05.065 +3.030 180.2   5 8 Michael AMMERMÜLLER CARLIN MOTORSPORT 30 46:05.858 +3.823 180.1   6 21 Filipe ALBUQUERQUE EPSILON EUSKADI 30 46:06.367 +4.332 180.6   7 31 Julien JOUSSE TECH 1 RACING 30 46:06.739 +4.704 180.1   8 1 Salvador DURAN INTERWETTEN.COM 30 46:07.307 +5.272 180.1   9 6 Alejandro NUÑEZ RED DEVIL TEAM COMTEC 30 46:07.835 +5.800 180.0   10 19 Fairuz FAUZY CRAM COMPETITION 30 46:08.159 +6.124 179.9   11 23 Miguel MOLINA PONS RACING 30 46:09.663 +7.628 181.6   12 11 Giedo VAN DER GARDE VICTORY ENGINEERING 30 46:10.592 +8.557 180.1   13 12 Charlie KIMBALL VICTORY ENGINEERING 30 46:12.017 +9.982 179.1   14 16 Xavier MAASSEN PREMA POWERTEAM 30 46:12.719 +10.684 178.7   15 28 Pasquale DI SABATINO GD RACING 30 46:13.202 +11.167 179.2   16 5 Michael HERCK RED DEVIL TEAM COMTEC 30 46:13.730 +11.695 178.4   17 2 Daniil MOVE INTERWETTEN.COM 30 46:16.334 +14.299 178.2   18 25 Julian THEOBALD EUROINTERNATIONAL 30 46:17.409 +15.374 178.6   19 26 Alessandro CIOMPI EUROINTERNATIONAL 30 46:19.222 +17.187 180.0   20 24 Carlos IACONELLI PONS RACING 29 45:18.055 1 Lap 179.7   21 22 Davide VALSECCHI EPSILON EUSKADI 29 46:28.606 1 Lap 182.3     32 Alvaro PARENTE TECH 1 RACING 26 41:11.003   180.4     3 Milos PAVLOVIC INTERNATIONAL DRACO RACING 26 46:19.774   183.1     7 Mikhail ALESHIN CARLIN MOTORSPORT 22 32:56.266   180.6     15 Bertrand BAGUETTE KTR 22 33:00.784   179.7     20 Pippa MANN CRAM COMPETITION 16 22:08.701   179.4     9 Clivio PICCIONE RC MOTORSPORT 15 20:44.187   179.8     18 Ben HANLEY PREMA POWERTEAM 14 19:07.239   180.3     4 Alvaro BARBA INTERNATIONAL DRACO RACING 10 13:50.391   181.4     27 Luiz RAZIA GD RACING 3 4:36.694   179.0