Vilarino, Mister 100% !
BRANDS HATCH, England – Ander Vilarino won the Elite Sprint of the Bands Hatch 200, the second event of the 2012 EURO-RACECAR NASCAR Touring Series. For his third victory in three races this season, the Spanish driver finishes ahead of his two main contenders: Romain Thievin, poleman, and Javier Villa. A trio already seen on the Nogaro’s podium!
After qualifying on a wet track, the weather is clear and tarmac perfectly dry for the start of the Elite Sprint. Starting from the pole, Romain Thievin (#99 Still racing-Exotics Racing) has kept the lead during the first 10 laps, when Ander Vilarino (#2 TFT – Banco Santander) attacks and overtakes him in the McLaren turn, the last of this 1.929-kilometer shortrack. Once leader, Vilarino keeps on improving the gap with Thievin to finish 1’’744 seconds ahead of him. I’m happy for this third victory in a row, said the winner. The start of the race was difficult because Romain was faster. From the 6th lap, our car became better than his which moved a lot. But I still had to find the room to overtake which is difficult on this track. It was a nice battle for victory and it is a great feeling to win again. In spite of this third success, I can’t say I’m unbeatable, because I find Romain and Javier on the podium again and they are very close.
After dominating his contenders in qualifying, Romain Thievin really wanted to win. But instead of winning he had to look closely to his mirrors to contain Javier Villa (#64 TFT) who became more and more threatening especially at the end of the race. “I took a good start but we still have to work on set-ups, said the 2011 vice-champion. Ander was very fast and Javier too. I had a big pressure on my shoulders. I could make no mistake. If tomorrow the Endurance race could be only 6-lap long it would be better for me”, joked he. “A second podium in three races it is motivating but I want more, underlined Villa who finished only 2/10 of seconds behind the first runner-up. It is very difficult to overtake on this track and I expected better performances from me.
At the fourth place, James Winslow (#18 Scorpus Racing), who discovered his racecar only yesterday, made a huge come back from the 12th position on the grid. During the 16th lap, the British driver succeeded in overtaking Dimitri Enjalbert (#33 Over Drive) who was 4th. Enjalbert didn’t either succeeded to resist to Romain Iannetta (#25 Orhès Competition) and Antoine Lioen (#5 Rapido Racing) who overtook him in the last lap. Behind Enjalbert, 7th, Juniors Freddy Nordström (#44 Orhès Competition) and Romain Fournillier (#11 Over Drive – Mc Donald’s) as well as Harry Vaulkhard (#7 Pacific House) complete the top 10. Bruno Cosin won once again the Challenger Trophy, in front of Franck Violas and Stephane Sabates.
This first race of the weekend was as usual very contended for the fun of the spectators who were numerous to came to this event where EURO-RACECAR NASCAR Touring Series shares the track with the DTM, the German Touring Car Championship.
Touring Series
Contact : +33 (0) 254.45.54.45 – racecar@teamfj.com
Linkback: https://www.canadianracingonline.com/smf/index.php?topic=15210.msg101693#msg101693
