Le Mans Finals - ELITE 2 Saturday Race
Rousseau To Victory Lane
Frenchman Wins First NASCAR Race, Ferrando And Dumarey To The Final Showdown
Exceptionally back to racing in both division for the Le Mans Finals, Guillaume Rousseau (#13 Bull Racing Team Ford Mustang) finally found his way to Victory Lane for the first time in his NASCAR career with an outstanding performance at the Circuit Bugatti in the ELITE 2 Saturday Race.
Picture - Credits: NASCAR Whelen Euro Series / Stephane Azemard
The Frenchman – who elected to race in ELITE 1 division for 2014 but is on double duty for his home race – started from the pole and lost the lead at the start to Thomas Ferrando (#22 Overdrive-Buffalo Chevrolet Camaro) and Maxime Dumarey (#24 PK Carsport Chevrolet SS) only to regain it one single lap after two safety car periods with less than 12 minutes to go. He immediately drove away to score his maiden win with a margin of over 6 seconds.
“I made a clean overtake and I was able to widen the gap on my opponents,” said a satisfied Rousseau under the podium. “At end of a difficult season it is fantastic for us to win this race. All team made an excellent job and the car was great. I have to thank them because without them I would not be here”.
Gianmarco Ercoli (#32 CAAL Racing Chevrolet SS) completed an incredible comeback from the 21st position on the grid to finish second and win the Rookie Cup classification. The Italian crossed the finish line just ahead of championship leader Maxime Dumarey (#24 PK Carsport Chevrolet SS). With Rousseau not taking away points – he is “transparent” for the standings – Dumarey and Ferrando engaged a tight battle for positions that went on turn by turn and lap by lap until the two-minutes-to-go mark, when Dumarey made his move on the rival and took the third position. Ferrando then lost the forth place to Gabriele Gardel (#11 PK Carsport Chevrolet SS) but managed to score enough points to go enter the last race of the season with the same disadvantage – 12 points – from Dumarey he had before Le Mans.
Philipp Lietz (#86 TB Renauer Motorsport Ford Mustang) came from 22nd to sixth to keep his title hopes alive, while Marçal Melo (#82 Brazil Team Chevrolet SS) won the Gentleman Trophy classification thanks to his seventh place. Denis Dupont (#32 RCP - Marc VDS Toyota Camry), Joaquin Gabarron (#12 Still Racing Chevrolet Camaro) and Nathalie Maillet (#46 RCP - Marc VDS Toyota Camry) completed the top-10. Maillet also won the Lady Cup classification.
The championship will be decided in the Sunday Race that will start tomorrow at 3:25 PM CET and will be streamed live on fanschoice.tv. Denis Dupont will start from the pole, while Dumarey and Ferrando will start respectively sixth and ninth.