Champions Cup - Merlevenez

The French Champions Cup was held at Merlevenez in western France, on the 10th and 11th of November, 2012.

This was the last national event of the season. The race was important because is was a qualifying race for the selection of the Euro’s and World’s Championships, both of which are to be held in 2013.

The Merlevenez track was new carpet and offered medium grip.

2WD

I decided to set my DEX210 up using Jörn Neumann’s indoor setup, his setup (above) is just magic, awesome! So I just changed my motor (8.5 to 7.5) and the ride height.

2WD Qualification:

After three runs, I was in TQ position. I made some mistakes in the fourth and fifth qualifiers, which put me third on the grid for the A-main. I was very happy because this was my best result in qualification in any 2WD race in 2012. My DEX210 was simply amazing.

2WD Finals:

1°) Good start but I made little mistake, I finished fifth.

2°) Very bad start, I finished eighth.

3°) Like the first, good start, I finished fourth

2WD Result:

Overall I finished in sixth place; this made me feel a little disappointed because I had started third on the grid. However, in the end I was happy with my race, especially because I have the perfect set-up for the next indoor race. As a bonus, I achieved the fastest lap of the 2WD class with my DEX210 (19.15s)

4WD

It was the first time I had driven my DEX410v3 on a carpet track, so I decided to start with my astro-track setup. This was a good idea because on starting, my car was good. Fast and easy to drive. The only changes I made to my setup were to alter the ride height, remove the sway bar and put 10000 CST oil in my front diff.

4WD Qualification:

After five qualifying runs, I qualified in second place. Just behind Alexis Dufau Cazenave, another French racer who has discovered how fast and reliable Team Durango cars are! We were both the fastest drivers on this track.

4WD Finals:

1°) Good start just behind Alexis but he finished first; I finished in second place.

2°) Same result as the first A-main

3°) Alexis didn’t start this final because he had already won. I made a good start and fought with Ludvic Valtier to keep my second place

4WD Result:

I finished in second place behind Alexis. So two Team Durango DEX410v3 cars on the top two steps of the podium. Just like the 2WD class, I managed to get the fastest lap of the 4WD class with my DEX410v3 (18.86s)