Championnat de France Camions in Nevers Magny-Cours – Wins for Robineau and Janiec

07. July 2018Magny-Cours - Circuit Nevers Magny-Cours hosted the French truck racers for the 3rd round of the Championnat de France Camions. This historic circuit, situated 300 metres above sea level in the heart of France, was the home of the French Grand Prix till 10 years ago, before France was struck off the Formula 1 calendar. This year the open-wheel single-seaters returned to the spiritual homeland of motorsport after a decade – not to Magny-Cours, though, but to Le Castellet. That circuit was where the French truck racing season kicked off at Pentecost; the second round on the second weekend of June was at Nogaro, and now the truck racers are standing in, as it were, for their F1 counterparts at Magny-Cours.
Life in this tiny village of less than 1,500 souls turns on motorsport. The circuit is at the centre of a highly specialised industrial zone that almost exclusively houses motorsport enterprises.
Scheduled for yesterday were the obligatory taxi rides for VIPs and the press, followed by 50 minutes of free practice and then another round of rides for team sponsors. The pilots themselves needed all the time they could get to acquaint themselves with the undulating track with very sharp curves – remember, the last time they raced here was five years ago.
Free practice and qualifying were dominated by Anthony Janiec and Thomas Robineau, the drivers that dominated the two previous rounds. Janiec, who won the final race at the Truck Grand Prix on the Nürburgring only last weekend, topped the timing monitors throughout. Robineau was only a wee bit slower, and he in turn was only a tick faster than Téo Calvet, the third French MAN pilot to race at the TGP. Next came the two Renault pilots Lionel Montagne and Grzegorz Ostaszewski. Not too far down was Montagne’s son Yorik, also driving a Renault and making his truck racing debut here.
Janiec took pole, ahead of Robineau, Ostaszewski, Calvet, and Yorik Montagne; the senior Montagne had his Super Pole times cancelled, leaving him down in 10th place.
At the lights Janiec sped into the lead, with Robineau right on his heels and Ostaszewski and Calvet in hot pursuit. The rest of the field spread itself apart – till Lionel Montagne, who was making an inexorable advance. Ostaszewski presently ran out of steam, allowing Calvet to ease ahead. The Polish Renault pilot then gave up the chase altogether.
Suddenly Janiec too seemed to be finding it difficult to keep his truck on the line. By all appearances his tyres were misbehaving on the hot asphalt – blame Janiec’s very physical driving style. That allowed Robineau to move up into the lead and take the win.
The battle for 3rd also took an unexpected turn. Lionel Montagne was now right up on Calvet’s crash guard, and at the last moment the more experienced driver snatched away a position that had seemed to the youngster so securely in his grasp. Consolation for Calvet was the Junior Trophy, which he won unchallenged.
Fifth place went to Yorik Montagne, who was followed at the flag by Portuguese Renault pilot José Sousa and Volvo man Franck Conti.
Aurelien Herrgott, 8th in his DAF, collected pole for the following race. Here he initially took the lead, but within a few hundred metres had Janiec right behind him, last year’s champion having surged up from 7th in one spectacular and highly risky swoop. Robineau, by contrast, stayed stuck in the traffic.
Tailing the duo in the lead were Yorik Montagne and Téo Calvet. Neck and neck the two hurtled towards the second of the two near-180° curves, Calvet on the inside. Then came a mighty crash, and the race took on a different complexion thereafter. Calvet’s Lion MAN limped back to pit lane, while Yorik Montagne’s Renault was able to continue, although badly beaten-up in appearance. The safety car was dispatched to calm the traffic.
Robineau had earlier succeeded in overtaking first the junior Montagne and then Herrgott as well. The safety car phase over three laps played into last season’s runner-up’s hands, as Janiec saw his goodly lead evaporate. As soon as the safety car peeled off the two leaders took off as if propelled by thrusters, even as the rest were too occupied with themselves to keep up even halfway. Polesitter Herrgott had no chance against the more powerful competition, but put up stiff resistance nevertheless. The DAF first ceded position to Yorik Montagne, then a little later to the Renaults of Ostaszewski and Lionel Montagne, and shortly before the flag to the Volvo of Conti. That left him down in 7th place.
Lionel Montagne, who had initially dropped to 11th, also profited massively from the introduction of the safety car, as the widely-spread-apart field telescoped together again. He then proceeded to fight his way forward, and was soon snapping at Ostaszewski’s heels, the Pole in turn trying to grab 3rd from the junior Montagne. But Yorik clearly benefited from his father’s duel with Ostaszewski, because it allowed him to pull away and finish on the podium on his first competition weekend. On the final lap Lionel Montagne succeeded in overtaking the Pole to take 4th.
Now it began to look like Janiec had it in the bag, but then, in the slight dip following the final sweeping right-hand curve Robineau’s red truck caught up with the Lion MAN one last time, ran alongside on the outer line, then swung into the corner before the finish line on the inside, bouncing over the raised kerb and reaching the line just nine hundredths of a second behind.

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