Albatec Racing’s Jérôme Grosset-Janin has maintained his lead in the FIA European Rallycross Championship by finishing second in round two at Estering today. The result puts the former French Rallycross Champion two points ahead of second-placed Tommy Rustad, after powering his 600bhp Albatec Peugeot 208 RX Supercar to its second Euro RX podium finish of the season.
Winner of the opening round in Belgium last month, Jérôme was again comfortably among the fastest of the Euro RX runners this weekend, with two individual race wins, and triple top three fastest times across the four heats keeping his hopes of progressing to the final firmly on track. Winning his semi-final some four seconds faster than his main championship rival, the 31 year old lined up on the front row of the Final, and after a trouble-free run took the flag in second.
Albatec team-mate James Grint made it a double for the Dumfries team by qualifying for the all-important finals, on only his third competitive Supercar outing. The Hertfordshire racer on his first visit to the German track, was consistently among the top 12 right from the start. Across the four heats he steadily moved up the order to lie tenth after the final race, to join Jérôme in the second six-lap semi final. The former rallyman, starting from the back row, was quickly up to fourth, but was tagged in to a spin before the completion of the first lap, dropping him out of contention for a top three finish.
The FIA European Rallycross Championship presented by Monster Energy resumes with round three at Hell, Norway, over the weekend of 21-23 August.
Andy Scott, Albatec Racing Team Principal:
“It’s been a great weekend, I think to come away from this event with two cars intact, and with limited damage is success in itself! Estering always produces great, close racing, and this year was no exception.
“Jerome once again drove a great race, running consistently at the front of the Euro RX runners all weekend, and to maintain the series lead against such an incredibly strong field is a great result. We’re all very, very pleased for James to achieve his objective too. Right from the start he was within the top 12, and steadily improved across the four heats to get tenth. Now we must continue to work hard to ensure we’re ready for the next round of Euro RX, in Norway, to consolidate the advantage.”
Jerome Grosset-Janin, Albatec Racing driver #74:
“The first heat was good, I made a few mistakes, but being in the first heat and still holding third was a good result. In the second heat, I’m not really sure what happened at the first corner, but that cost me some time. Now we have lost a little bit of the advantage in the championship but we were fifth yesterday, and as always Sunday is always a very, very long day so to finish second here, especially here on this track, is a very good performance for us, for the team and for the championship.
“The car was really good all weekend, it’s better every time I drive it, and I think we’ve proved that the combination is certainly quick. So I’m feeling very happy, I’m feeling more and more confident in the car, which I think is very good for the next races.”
James Grint, Albatec Racing driver #27:
“I’m really pleased to have reached the semi finals today, which was my aim before the weekend. Although of course, when you achieve your first goal, you then want more! The track is great, it’s difficult, but also a lot of fun, and any mistake at the first corner can cost you a lot.
“I’m happy to have been consistently within the top 12, improving with every heat, so I feel things are definitely going in my favour. Today’s third heat was probably my favourite. It was fast, and I led for three laps, just losing it on the joker while in the semi final it was naturally disappointing to get spun round. Generally I think we’re continuing to move forwards, and the car was great all weekend. The team has done a great job as always, and I’m really looking forward to the next round.”
