Mégane Trophy - just for fun!
Since being unveiled at the 2004 Paris Motorshow, Mégane Trophy has been attracting lots of attention, and not just from competitors either – the new car already has quite a following among fans! Due to some cars suffering delays in delivery, Renault Sport has opted not to make the Zolder races count towards the 2005 Eurocup Mégane Trophy championship standings. But the two races will go ahead all the same on the Belgian circuit. And with no pressure to score points, drivers will be all the more determined to put on a spectacular show!
With thirty eight cars ordered, Renault Sport has had a major challenge on its hands to build the Mégane Trophy cars in time for the start of this season. Despite setting up a semi-industrial production line for the purpose at the Alpine-Renault plant in Dieppe, some of the cars could only be delivered as recently as a few days ago. This being the case, a level playing field obviously couldn’t be guaranteed for Zolder, so Renault Sport has taken the decision to turn this weekend’s event into two demonstration races. A meeting may be added to the season’s schedule, subject to discussions with the competing teams.
Ahead of the trip to Zolder for the first free practice sessions on Friday, teams put their cars through a pre-event shakedown on Tuesday at Spa-Francorchamps.
This weekend, spectators will be able to feast eyes over the new racing saloon as twenty five cars fight it out over the two scheduled races. And with Belgian, Dutch and French rivals out on track, there is sure to be quite an atmosphere in the stands!
But honour to whom honour is due – home-grown talent will be well represented by Renaud Kuppens (Thierry Boutsen Racing), Jan Heylen and Wim Coekelberg (Racing for Belgium). Kuppens is no stranger to Renault’s international saloon car formulas, and re-enters the fray after a season of endurance racing. He will be teaming up with Dutchman Jeffrey Van Hooydonk, who is no other than the 1997 Eurocup Formula Renault champion!
Looking equally impressive are the Racing for Belgium team with Heylen, who steps over from single seater to saloon car category after finishing third in the German F3 championship last year. Jan will be joining forces with the Portuguese driver Cesar Campanico, who took 7th place in the 2004 Eurocup Formula Renault V6.
With ten entries, the French squad have sheer weight of numbers on their side! Frédéric Gabillon is back after a transitional season. His team-mate at Lompech Sport is Sébastien Dhouailly, who is also racing Clio Cup in France this year.
Team TP Compétition is entering three cars with Renault Derlot, F3 runner-up and Formula Renault 2.0 France champion, Jean-Paul Coppens and Philippe Macé. As far as Tech 1 Racing goes, the “boss” Simon Abadie is teaming up with Mathieu Lahaye, another driver moving over from single-seater formulas.Formula Renault 2.0 cross-over Ludovic Badey will be spear-heading the Pouchelon Racing team, with a second car entered and pending driver announcement. One driver definitely not to be forgotten is Jean-Christophe Ravier: 4th placed in World Series by Nissan 2004, the one-time Kart world champion stays with Epsilon-Euskadi… but this time with a roof and doors!
Another Kart world champion will be lining up on the grid: Italian Nicola Gianniberti (Oregon Team). Others to watch out for include Swiss driver Marc Benz (Iris Racing), Czech Jiri Janak (Kopecky Motorsport) and Dutchman Frans Verschuur.
Entry list
2 THIERRY BOUTSEN RACING (BEL) Renaud KUPPENS (BEL) 3 TEAM LOMPECH SPORT (FRA) Frédéric GABILLON (FRA) 4 TEAM LOMPECH SPORT (FRA) Sébastien DHOUAILLY (FRA) 5 IRIS RACING (CHE) Marc BENZ (CHE) 7 THIERRY BOUTSEN RACING (BEL) Jeffrey VAN HOOYDONK (NLD) 8 OREGON TEAM (ITA) Pedro PETIZ (PRT) 9 OREGON TEAM (ITA) Nicola GIANNIBERTI (ITA) 10 RACING FOR BELGIUM (BEL) Cesar CAMPANICO (PRT) 11 RACING FOR BELGIUM (BEL) Jan HEYLEN (BEL) 12 RACING FOR BELGIUM (BEL) Wim COEKELBERG (BEL) 14 EQUIPE VERSCHUUR (NLD) Bernard TEN BRINKE (NLD) 15 EQUIPE VERSCHUUR (NLD) Frans VERSCHUUR (NLD) 16 JOSEF KOPECKY MOTORSPORT (CZE) Jiri JANAK (CZE) 17 TP COMPETITION (FRA) Renaud DERLOT (FRA) 18 TP COMPETITION (FRA) Jean-Paul COPPENS (FRA) 19 TP COMPETITION (FRA) Philippe MACE (FRA) 21 POUCHELON RACING (FRA) TBA 23 POUCHELON RACING (FRA) Ludovic BADEY (FRA) 24 TECH 1 RACING (FRA) Simon ABADIE (FRA) 25 TECH 1 RACING (FRA) Mathieu LAHAYE (FRA) 26 EPSILON EUSKADI (ESP) Jean-Christophe RAVIER (FRA) 27 EPSILON EUSKADI (ESP) Antonio ARISTI (ESP) 28 ENERGY RACING (FRA) Pascal BALLAY (FRA) 29 SENN MOTORSPORT (AUT) Andrea MAYERL (AUT) 33 SATURN MOTOSPORT (ESP) Luis LIOBET CAROL (ESP) 34 SATURN MOTOSPORT (ESP) Victor SERNADES ROCA (ESP)
