Coupe de France Camions – Saturday in Nogaro

24. June 2017Nogaro - After an evening of merriment near the Rue d’Artagnan in the centre of Nogaro, where they’d assiduously signed autographs for, and quaffed Floc de Gascogne with, the fans, having earlier put on a good show with their race trucks in the narrow lanes of this small town in the southwest of France, the drivers were back to business today under a cloudy sky, the temperature an equable 25°C and the lukewarm track surface ideal for racing.
The first half of the first day of the 3rd round of the Coupe de France Camions was once again dominated by Anthony Janiec. The Lion MAN pilot, who’d finished sixth in last year’s European Championship, was easily the quickest in free practice and qualifying. Starting from pole, Janiec then led all the way to the flag. All that was left for the rest of the field was to fight over the remaining places. But even here the positions were settled pretty early on. Defending champ Thomas Robineau was a solid second in his MAN, his inveterate rival Lionel Montagne (Renault) having to make do with 3rd on the podium.
Behind them, however, things were quite a bit messier. Till mid-race, youngster Louis Meric in his MAN was relentlessly challenged by José Teodosio in his Renault. The Portuguese eventually capitalised on a momentary lapse of concentration by the 17-year-old, who lost four places in the bargain. On the final lap Meric did manage to claw his way back ahead of Lion teammate Jean-Charles Mauri, but lost out on 6th place, and with it pole for the second race, by just three tenths.
The first start position instead went to Portuguese José Sousa, who finished behind Pole Gregory Ostaszewski (both Renault).
There was another very close, albeit altogether fair, three-way fight for 9th between two other youngsters, 21-year-old Raphael Sousa (Renault) from Portugal and 16-year-old Teo Calvet (MAN), and old hand Franck Conti (Volvo). The three crossed the line in that very order, in intervals of just three tenths. And so it was Louis Meric atop the podium for the young drivers, followed by Raphael Sousa and Teo Calvet.
José Sousa’s pole brought him little cheer in the second race; he fell to 4th in the free-for-all into the first corner, and then retired a few laps later in his battered Renault. But compatriot and teammate Teodosio now had the lead. Robineau and Janiec, who’d gone into the race from the third row of the grid, followed at some remove. While Robineau inexorably bore down on, and then passed, Teodosio on the 5th lap, Janiec just wasn’t able to close the gap. Instead, towards the end of the race, he had Montagne right up on his rear crash guard. Janiec’s MAN had suffered tyre damage in the scrap at the start, and at the end of the 12 laps the tyre was almost flat. In the circumstances, he was more than happy to have managed a podium finish.
Meric took a facile 5th, though the battle for 6th behind him was a tough one between Ostaszewski and Teo Calvet. Once again the 16-year-old MAN cub came off second-best, this time by a closer two tenths.
Raphael Sousa was 7th, ahead of Patrick Chatalain (Iveco), Stephane Languillat (Renault), and Vincent Crouzade (Iveco).
The invitation race, meanwhile, had attracted drivers primarily from the British championship, plus one Finn in John Hemming (Mercedes) and two Spaniards, David Marco Bermejo (MAN) and José Manuel Vera Zaragoza (Iveco).
All of them are here for the pure joy of racing more than anything else. The big favourite, at least on paper, was BTRC leader Ryan Smith (MAN), who had come to Nogaro with two race trucks – but only one engine.
After Smith had tried out a variety of setups on his practice laps yesterday, the team swapped the engine out of his new truck back into the older one, which he then qualified in and raced.
The Briton collected pole, ahead of compatriots Stuart Oliver (Volvo) and Oly Janes (Buggyra Freightliner), and Hemming. He then took the lead right from the start, and held it all the way to the flag. Only Stuart Oliver could keep up in his Volvo. Janes took 3rd.
The fight for 4th got very tense towards the finish. Brit Ray Coleman (MAN) had steadily closed in on Hemming’s’ Mercedes, and the Finn was only able to salvage his position by a couple of tenths.
MAN pilot Terry Gibbon was sixth, ahead of the Scania of Michael Oliver (both GBR) and the two Spaniards, Marco Bermejo and Vera Zaragoza.
Following the British format, pole position for the following race went to Vera Zaragoza. The Iveco pilot paid dearly for that privilege. The jostle into the first corner had severe physical consequences for the Spaniard, tossing him right to the rear of the field. But even the more experienced pilots found themselves further down than you’d expect – or they’d have imagined. Coleman seized the lead and built up a massive cushion to Hemming and the rest. Smith was up to 3rd, having capitalised on the chaos at the start to slingshot from last place on the grid. The MAN pilot quickly dispatched the Mercedes of Hemming and reeled the runaway Ray Coleman in but couldn’t overtake, try what he might. Three laps to the flag Smith was finally able to take over the lead, shadowed by Coleman. On the closing lap the MAN of Smith was a bit slower, allowing Coleman to nose ahead in the final metres by the barest five hundredths. Hemming was 3rd, ahead of Gibbon, Michael Oliver, Marco Bermejo, Stuart Oliver, Vera Zaragoza, and Janes.

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