e-Andros Trophy – Aurélien Panis on the edge!

Aurélien Panis (#38 – Audi A1 Isère – Sainteloc Racing) won in the Isère night, but it was tough… After his two victories at Isola 2000, one could think that Dorian Boccolacci (#3 – AS01 – Sébastien Loeb Racing) would be inclined to ease the pressure a little on this first day of racing with its 60kg of regulatory ballast. It would have been very difficult to know the temperament of the Sébastien Loeb Racing driver who stunned the competition in the qualifying heats contested over 3 laps this weekend before heroically surrendering in the Super Final.

Night races as spectacular as ever © e-Andros Trophy

Panis could legitimately think he had done the hardest part by setting the best time in the first qualifying session ahead of Jean-Baptiste Dubourg (#1 – Renault Zoé – DA Racing) and Yann Ehrlacher (#68 – AS01 Dupessey – Mracing). The only driver to go under 45 seconds per lap, the championship leader sat comfortably in the lead and even chose to skip the second session in order to preserve his points for Super Pole. A perfect plan on paper, but it was without counting on a Boccolacci of the great evenings who slammed a fantastic second heat to take control of the race despite a track revealing a few patches of bitumen as he passed. .

Dorian Boccolacci shone in qualifying © e-Trophée Andros

Aurélien Panis may have won the Super Pole, but he came out of the qualifying heats 2 points behind Boccolacci. Behind the two strong men of the Championship, we found Nathanael Berthon (#63 – Peugeot e208 – SP Compétition) who also managed to improve his time from the first session to place himself ahead of Yann Ehrlacher and the reigning champion Jean-Baptiste Dubourg (#1 – Renault Zoé – DA Racing) both tied on points. Once again brilliant, Olivier Pernaut (#4 – Renault Zoé – DA Racing) took the last place for the Super Final.

A fatal pin for Dorian Boccolacci © e-Trophée Andros

At the start of the 6 laps of the Super Final, Aurélien Panis made a great start from second place to catch up with Boccalacci before the first turn. The latter tried to close the door very sportily but Panis took advantage of the rope to gain the best. In difficulty, Dorian lost 2 additional places and the lead of the race on the first lap while Aurélien took the lead. The positions remained fixed and Panis crossed the finish line as winner of the peloton race and the heat. These two hard-won points from Boccolacci allow him to increase his lead in the championship while tomorrow he will recover the winner's 60kg of ballast.

Elite Pro ranking of the first day:

General Elite Pro Ranking e-Andros Trophy :