Lamera Cup – Victory for Team Lamera, title for L’Auto Leclerc by Asphalte

We had to wait until the last lap of the last event of a season comprising 95 hours of racing to know the outcome of the championship. On the Dijon-Prenois circuit, none of the titles at stake in the three categories represented – Elite, Pro-Am and Gentleman – were completely assured before the final in Prenois. Three cars could mathematically compete for the Elite title – L'Auto Leclerc by Asphalte (Orgeval, Gruau, Casals), ETC Racing 2 (Parsa, Dufour, Demigneux) and Continental Racing (Fargier, Maire, Billet) -, when two Lameras could win in the Gentleman category: ADL Racing Team (Abric, Muller, Locatelli) and West Motors by ETC (Ode, Barou, Levet).

In the Pro-Am category, first place in the category seemed, barring an upset, to be promised to the CTF Racing Stage crew (Beraud, Poret, Boust). The challenge was rather to know which of the AMS Propreté crews (Christophe, Fabien, Guy and Tristan Heliou), Race Track Rollinger TEC (Rollinger, Delpit, Levet) and CTF Ellipse (JP. Guidicelli, A. Meissonnier, P. Bernardi) and Scania France (Darne, Portmann, Hausberger, Guignard) would accompany this trio on the Pro-Am podium in the championship.

On Saturday, when the lights went out, Continental Racing started from pole position. At home, the No. 40 Lamera retained the race lead for a while before giving in to the onslaught of the Scania France Lamera, 2nd on the starting grid. In their wake, the Lamera team (n°62 – Cousnon, Wilfried, Mattéo and Thomas Merafina) retained its 3rd position ahead of the Triangle Guest team (Balas, Monti, Stéphane and Emma Claire). Leader of the championship upon arriving in Dijon, L'Auto Leclerc by Asphalte was in 5th position ahead of its direct competitor in the championship, ETC Racing 2. During the first refueling stops, one hour after the start of the event, the same ETC Racing crew 2 was in the lead ahead of Team Lamera and Continental Racing. The Leclerc by Asphalte car, 4th, remained in ambush just in front of the Alma R-Tremblay trio (Tremblaye, Loeul, Etienne). This crew, reigning Lamera Cup champions, once again demonstrated their peak of speed, starting 29th after complicated qualifying.

While a few penalties were awarded during the first hours for non-compliance with the race route and a few unexpected contacts upset the strategies initially put in place, Team Lamera (Cousnon, Wilfried, Mattéo and Thomas Merafina) thwarted the bad luck which had unwittingly involved him in various racing events earlier in the season to win. The L'Auto Leclerc by Asphalte trio (Orgeval, Gruau, Casals) and the Alma R-Tremblaye crew (Tremblaye, Loeul, Ettienne) complete the general podium of this Dijon final; podium which the ETC Racing 2 team was ultimately deprived of a few laps from the finish due to engine misfires. Best representative of the Pro-Am category in this event, the CTF Ellipse team (Guidicelli, Bernardi, Meissonnier) is ahead of its neighbor in the box, the CTF Racing Stage crew (Beraud, Poret, Boust) and the Race Track Rollinger TEC team ( Rollinger, Delpit, Levet). Among the Gentelmans, victory for the Les Vikings by Asphalte crew (Marie, Bussolini, Bussolini) ahead of Genius Water Racing (De Cnijf, Pevenage, Houben) and the Scania RDB team (Hausberger, Depp, Provost, Bros).

Team Lamera wins in Dijon. Credit: Stéphane Azemard.

After counting the worst result achieved by each crew during the season, the Auto Leclerc by Asphalte trio was crowned Lamera Cup 2021 champion. After a cautious race, the CTF Racing Stage crew (Beraud, Poret, Boust ) is titled in the Pro-Am category while the smallest structure entered in the championship, ADL Racing Team, finally managed to win the Gentleman title, eight years after its debut in the championship. See you on April 2 and 3 in Magny-Cours for the first of the meetings on the 2022 Lamera Cup program.

RESULTS

ELITE. 1. Team Lamera (P. Couasnon, W. Merafina, T. Merafina, M. Merafina), 2. L’Auto Leclerc by Asphalte (E.Orgeval, JM. Casals, B. Gruau), 3. Alma R-Tremblaye (H. Tremblaye, A. Ettienne, L. Loeul).

PRO-AM. 1. CTF Ellipse (JP. Guidicelli, P. Bernardi, A. Meissonnier), 2. CTF Racing Stage (N. Beraud, G. Poret, T. Boust), 3. Race TrackRollinger TEC (T. Rollinger, F. Delpit, P. Levet).

GENTLEMAN. 1. The Vikings by Asphalte (JM. Marie, J. Bussolini, JM. Bussolini), 2. Genius Water Racing (G. De Cnijf, Y. Pevenage, P. Houben), 3. Scania RDB (J. Hausberger, Y. Depp, K. Provost, J. Bros).

CHAMPIONSHIP RANKING

ELITE. 1. L’Auto Leclerc by Asphalte (E. Orgeval, B. Gruau, JM. Casals), 2. ETC Racing 2 (K. Parsa, O. Dufour, C. Demigneux), 3. Continental Racing (G. Fargier, A. Maire, C. Billet).

PRO-AM. 1. CTF Racing Stage (N. Beraud, G. Poret, T. Boust), 2. AMS Propreté (C. Heliou, F. Heliou, G. Heliou, T. Heliou), 3. CTF Ellipse (JP. Guidicelli, P. Bernardi, A. Meissonnier).

GENTLEMAN. 1. ADL Racing Team (M. Abric, E. Muller, F. Locatelli), 2. Ange Barde Racing by ETC (F. Lurol, L. Czimer, R. Sylvestre), 3. Genius Water Racing (G. De Cnijf, Y. Pevenage, P. Houben).