Mont-Dore – Chambon sur Lac: A race to the summit!

The pilots therefore found the very technical 5 km of the Col de la Croix Saint-Robert in perfect weather conditions. In the Sport category, we should note the return of Fabien Bourgeon after his outing at Dunières, as well as the presence of the Andorran Raul Ferré. However, it was the big guns of the 2022 season who launched the hostilities: Damien Chambérod immediately set the best time, ahead of Billy Ritchen and Kevin Petit, while Cyrille Frantz destroyed his Osella PA30 Turbo...

A particularity of the meeting, the first climb of the race for all the competitors took place on Saturday evening. If Ronald Garcès took the opportunity to become the real first leader of the closed cars, his colleagues in the open cars had to turn their backs, the Race Direction taking the decision to postpone the subject until the next day due to the low visibility.

Sixth victory of the season for Damien Chambérod, launched in his chase towards the title.

It was therefore on Sunday that the drivers in the Sport category had to complete their four race climbs. And this first will be fatal for one of the favorites, Fabien Bourgeon: the Rhodanian left the road while he was making a very good climb. Later, Billy Ritchen made a mistake and blew a joker: his rival for the title, Damien Chambérod, did not ask for so much and immediately took the lead, ahead of Raul Ferré and Kevin Petit, an opportunist on the Norma M20FC CN+ .

In the Production category, Ronald Garcès will never let go of the controls to achieve his 3rd victory of the season and thus postpone the coronation of his best enemy: “This victory is one of my most beautiful as it was necessary to to fight with Yannick”, admitted, relieved, the winner of the day. Because Poinsignon had to, like the day before, be content with second position, limiting the damage to the championship. Surprise on the other hand in the last climb which saw David Meillon take his first podium. The Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo driver caught Anthony Dubois on the line, the latter being ultimately downgraded by the panel of stewards after the finish.

Ronald Garcès wins for the third time this season, the second of the year in Auvergne.

Like Garcès, Chambérod will not have left the slightest crumb to his competitors in the Sport category to achieve his 6th success of the year at the wheel of his Nova Proto NP01 Turbo. The Isérois thus seriously caught up with Ritchen in the championship, the Alsatian settling for 2nd position. Earlier in the day, Raul Ferré took advantage of the setbacks of Kevin Petit, victim of a breakdown mid-climb, to climb onto the podium: the Andorran thus took 3rd position at the finish. Cindy Gudet and Kevin Petit completed the Top 5.

It is in Isère that the championship will continue, during the Chamrousse Coast Race (August 20-21). Event where the local of the stage, Damien Chambérod, could strike a huge blow…

Standings

August 06-07. Round 10/13

Sport: 1. D. Chambérod (Nova Proto NP01 Turbo) in 4'27''752 (1st E2SC), 2. B. Ritchen (Nova Proto NP01 V8) in 4'36''137, 3. R. Ferré ( Silvercar CS Turbo) in 4'38''361, 4. C. Gudet (Revolt 2P0) in 4'39''330 (1st women's), 5. K. Petit (Norma M20FC CN+), etc. Best climb: Chambérod 2'13''455

Production: 1. R. Garcès (Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo) in 5'19''313 (1st GTTS), 2. Y. Poinsignon (BMW M3 E92) in 5'20''479, 3. D. Meillon (Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo) in 5'26''790, 4. P. Schmitter (Renault RS01) in 5'32''063, 5. F. Dosières (Alpine A110 GT4) in 5'37''741 (1st GT Sport), etc. Best climb: Garcès 2'39''545

CHAMPIONSHIPS

Not communicated at the time of writing these lines.