The setting for the Trophée Andros dropped in
altitude this weekend with a visit to Saint-Dié des Vosges,
in eastern France. The battle for victory was as thrilling
as ever, however, and the big crowd saw Alain Prost pull
out a gap over Jean-Philippe Dayraut after beating his
title rival in both races. That said, Benjamin Rivière
boosted his championship hopes with a strong run in the
Vosges Mountains. There is very little in it between these
three drivers ahead of next weekend's last round at Super
Besse (Auvergne).
The Trophée Andros regulars were greeted by mild
temperatures and non-stop rain. Despite being refrigerated,
the Geoparc circuit in Saint-Dié des Vosges featured very
little ice and, given the weather conditions, each driver
was allocated eight tyres instead of the usual six.
Indeed, the chief difficulty for the Dacia runners was the
lack of wintry conditions. "Our car is designed to race on
ice, not asphalt," observed Alain Prost. "Unfortunately,
there was practically no ice left after free practice. It's
the same for everyone, I know, but it's a shame that this
winter's Trophée Andros will be settled on asphalt given
how close it has turned out to be."
Alain Prost, Evens Stievenart and Nicolas Prost preferred
not to take any risks during free practice in order to save
their tyres as much as possible. However, Nicolas Prost and
Evens Stievenart lifted a little too much during the first
qualifying run, while Alain was halted by transmission
trouble after his first flying lap.
It wasn't the ideal start to Race 1, but the three drivers
succeeded in bouncing back in Q2. Despite carrying 40kg of
ballast, Alain Prost notched up the fifth-best time, with
Evens and Nicolas following in eighth and 12th places
respectively, which is how the Race 1 finales ended for the
Dacia trio. Sixth place in the final standings enabled
Alain Prost to pull out a small gap over his main rival for
the title, Jean-Philippe Dayraut. "It didn't end too badly
because it's never good to start with a technical problem,
although it's the first time that has happened to us this
season. True, Benjamin Rivière picked up a lot of points,
but it was important to finish ahead of Jean-Philippe."
The action continued with Race 2 on Saturday evening, and
the challenge was once again to be as competitive as
possible through the puddles which were all that remained
of the ice. Both qualifying sessions were fiercely fought
affairs and the win only escaped the Dacia Lodgy Glaces by
a few hundredths of a second. Evens Stievenart was third,
Alain Prost fifth, and his son Nicolas eighth.
Nicolas survived his finale unscathed, but the bill-topping
clash in which Alain and Evens starred was much more
aggressive, and the Dacia drivers' rivals didn't hesitate
to indulge in a little door to door contact. The contest
ultimately produced the season's eighth different winner,
while Alain Prost completed Race 2 in fourth spot, followed
by Evens Stievenart (7th) and Nicolas Prost (8th).
Although Alain Prost arrived in St-Dié equal on points with
Jean-Philippe Dayraut, he will go into the last round level
at the top of the table with Benjamin Rivière. That
promises a breath-taking end to the series, although each
driver's two 'least good' results will be
subtracted from their final scores, a rule which, on paper,
isn't favourable to the chances of Alain Prost and Team
Dacia.
Alain Prost: "It's great to be in with a chance for the
title at Super Besse, even though the scoring system
promises to make it difficult for me. We will do all we can
to win but it's a shame that the championship will be
settled on this type of circuit. I am a little disappointed
by the way today's finale unfolded because the behaviour of
our rivals was over the top. You've got to salute Benjamin
Rivière's performance this weekend, though. He's got a
strong car and he's a good driver. So 'bravo' to him! Super
Besse will be complex. We will just try to win and see how
the points work out afterwards. It's good for the
spectators that the decision has gone down to the
wire."
Evens Stievenart:"The conditions weren't much fun, even
though the first race didn't go too badly for me given that
I was carrying 60kg of ballast. We were competitive for
Race 2, but a few mistakes, especially during the finale,
cost me a podium finish. Alain's fate is no longer in his
hands, so it will be necessary to win at Super Besse and
hope that our opponents have a poor weekend. Nicolas and I
will consequently have a key role to play. A one-two-three
finish would be ideal and give us a good chance of
clinching the title."
Nicolas Prost: "It wasn't an ice race. It was all
asphalt, so managing our studs wasn't easy. I ended both
races inside the top 10 and I was able to match the pace of
the front-runners. That's a positive to take away from the
weekend. Now, we just need to score a strong result at
Super Besse. The level of the championship is very high and
it's been close all season. The best way to help my dad is
to keep working together as we have done all
year."
St Dié des Vosges (Race 1) - final positions: 1, Bertrand
Balas (Mini Countryman). 2, Franck Lagorce (Skoda Fabia).
3, Benjamin Rivière (Skoda Fabia). 4, Didier Thoral (Toyota
Auris). 5, Olivier Panis (Skoda Fabia). 6, Alain Prost
(Dacia Lodgy Glace). 7, Jean-Philippe Dayraut (Mini
Countryman). 8, Nicolas Prost (Dacia Lodgy Glace). 9,
Jean-Baptiste Dubourg (Renault Clio). 10, Evens Stievenart
(Dacia Lodgy Glace). Etc.
St Dié des Vosges (Race 2) - final positions: 1, Franck
Lagorce (Skoda Fabia). 2, Benjamin Rivière (Skoda Fabia).
3, Bertrand Balas (Mini Countryman). 4, Alain Prost (Dacia
Lodgy Glace). 5, Jean-Philippe Dayraut (Mini Countryman).
6, Jean-Baptiste Dubourg (Renault Clio). 7, Evens
Stievenart (Dacia Lodgy Glace). 8, Nicolas Prost (Dacia
Lodgy Glace). 9, Olivier Panis (Skoda Fabia). 10, Paul
Belmondo (Skoda Fabia). Etc.
2011/2012 Trophée Andros - provisional standings: 1, Alain
Prost (Dacia Lodgy Glace) and Benjamin Rivière (Skoda
Fabia), 813 points. 3, Jean-Philippe Dayraut (Mini
Countryman), 808. 4, Olivier Panis (Skoda Fabia), 784. 5,
Franck Lagorce (Skoda Fabia), 762. 6, Evens Stievenart
(Dacia Lodgy Glace), 754. 7, Jean-Baptiste Dubourg (Renault
Clio), 751. 8, Pierre Llorach (Renault Clio III), 746. 9,
Bertrand Balas (Mini Countryman), 739. 10, Nicolas Prost
(Dacia Lodgy Glace), 707. Etc.
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