Eurocup Mégane Trophy - Barcelona Race 1
By getting all three of its drivers on the podium, Tech 1 Racing has once again dominated the Eurocup Mégane Trophy. Despite a very fine victory his second of the season Dimitri Enjalbert was unable to prevent Pedro Petiz taking the title with one more race to go. Matthieu Lahaye slotted into second between his two teammates.
Despite the pressure from the three Tech 1 drivers, Fabrice Walfisch managed to control the surge and turn in first ahead of Matthieu Lahaye, Pedro Petiz and Dimitri Enjalbert. The four men completed lap one out front ahead of Ralph Meichtry, Maxime Martin, Giuseppe Ciro, Grégory Franchi, Sébastien Dhouailly and Michaël Rossi.
Dhouailly, who was finding it difficult to hold his position, allowed Rossi and Badey to through. In the main field, Jean-Philippe Madonia (TDS) was indulging in some impressive acrobatics. In a similar incident, Rossi dropped back two places, ending up behind Badey and Dhouailly.
On lap four, Enjalbert took third from Petiz while Ciro moved up into sixth ahead of Martin. Next time they came past the pits, Enjalbert had taken second place away from Lahaye. He then started to attack Walfisch and took control of the race at the start of lap seven.
Walfisch, who had not yet had his final word, then tried to get back on top by going round Enjalbert on the outside. The two cars came into slight contact, resulting in a spin for the Lompech driver.
He came into the pits on the following lap. Enjalbert, Petiz, Martin and Badey made their stops on lap nine. Lahaye, Dhouailly and Rossi followed suit one lap later. With 10 laps gone, Meichtry then inherited the lead ahead of Ciro, Verschuur and Franchi.
On lap 13, Verschuur and Franchi were the last of the leaders to make their fuel stops. Enjalbert, Petiz and Lahaye reassumed control of the race and pressed onto securing a Tech 1 Racing one-two-three. Verschuur then took over fourth place ahead of Meichtry, Ciro, Franchi, Walfisch, Martin and Badey.
Things then took a definite turn for worse for Fabrice Walfisch: after being passed by Maxime Martin, he was hit by Ludovic Badey, who had attempted a somewhat optimistic move. Both cars ended up in the gravel trap as a result.
With two laps to go, Meichtry threw away a fine performance thus far by spinning out of control. Franchi duly moved up into fifth ahead of Ciro, Martin, Cheruy, Dhouailly and Ten Brinke. In the closing stages, Lahaye snatched 2nd away from Petiz, who had nevertheless done enough to take the 2007 title. In the end, Rossi finished ninth ahead of Ten Brinke and Dhouailly.
Dimitri Enjalbert: "I got off to a bad start, but I think I was the quickest out there. I managed to get past Pedro, Matthieu and Fabrice. My pit stop was also very quick and that enabled me to hold onto the lead. I hope I can win again tomorrow to make the runner-up's title mine."
Matthieu Lahaye: "Things were pretty hairy going into the opening bend but I managed to hold onto 2nd. Walfisch had started on fresh tyres so it was difficult to stay in touch with him at the start of the race. But then things turned around in my favour. I'm really sorry we collided because he is a very sporting competitor on the track."
Pedro Petiz: "I have been focussed all weekend on taking this title. This podium spot enables me to do just that with one race to spare. It's fantastic."
Pos Number Driver Team Laps Time GapFirst KPH 1 31 Dimitri ENJALBERT Tech 1 Racing 2 22 42:51.950 - 147.3 2 1 Matthieu LAHAYE Tech 1 Racing 1 22 42:58.915 +6.965 146.4 3 32 Pedro PETIZ Tech 1 Racing 1 22 42:59.196 +7.246 146.8 4 5 Mike VERSCHUUR Equipe Verschuur 1 22 43:02.738 +10.788 147.0 5 72 Greg FRANCHI Equipe Verschuur 2 22 43:05.685 +13.735 147.1 6 14 Giuseppe CIRO Oregon Team 22 43:06.570 +14.620 146.6 7 11 Maxime MARTIN Boutsen Energy Racing 22 43:08.584 +16.634 147.0 8 21 Matthieu CHERUY TDS 22 43:11.430 +19.480 146.6 9 22 Michaël ROSSI Racing For Belgium 22 43:20.851 +28.901 146.5 10 7 Bernhard TEN BRINKE Equipe Verschuur 1 22 43:21.622 +29.672 146.5 11 33 Sébastien DHOUAILLY Tech 1 Racing 2 22 43:23.624 +31.674 146.2 12 10 Renaud KUPPENS Boutsen Energy Racing 22 43:27.178 +35.228 145.9 13 15 Massimiliano PEDALA OREGON TEAM 22 43:46.302 +54.352 144.8 14 12 Andreas MAYERL Sesterheim Racing 22 43:49.476 +57.526 145.0 15 9 Jean Philippe MADONIA TDS 22 44:23.471 +1:31.521 145.5 16 23 Wim COEKELBERGS Racing For Belgium 22 44:53.523 +2:01.573 142.9 17 99 Yvan LEBON Renault Sport Presse 21 42:56.510 1 Lap 141.3 18 16 Jean Charles MIGINIAC Team Lompech Sport 21 43:31.913 1 Lap 140.6 19 8 Ralph MEICHTRY Race performance 19 37:18.333 3 Laps 146.5 17 Fabrice WALFISCH Team Lompech Sport 17 33:30.746 146.2 20 Ludovic BADEY TDS 17 33:31.093 147.0 6 Wim BEELEN Equipe Verschuur 2 7 13:52.014 144.7
