V de V Dijon Single-Place Challenge: Clouds, sun and a relaunched championship!

This weekend kept all its promises, on the one hand with this circuit with a technical layout, but also with tricky weather which came to reshuffle the cards during the two days when the single-seaters raced: qualifying on Friday and three races of 20 minutes on Saturday. In the field of 27 cars, note the presence of new single-seaters with the entry of two Formula Abarths from Tomcat Racing, they are competing in category C. The important fact is above all the absence of Reynald Guillaume, the current leader in the championship. There were therefore important points to be taken in Dijon.

Race 1
No heavy showers, but a wet track and a few drops, all the cars went into Michelin rain for this first event of the weekend this Saturday morning. It is also this category which launches the weekend racing series, after the first qualifying sessions on Friday afternoon. On the grid, Florian Revaz is in the lead alongside John Filippi, two leading drivers in this 2013 championship, since overall, they are just behind the big absentee from the weekend Reynald Guillaume.

Start without incident while conditions are delicate within the peloton, a cloud of water rises behind each car. Filippi did not have a remarkable start and lost 3 places, he quickly got back into the rhythm to get back into the lead. From the first turns, it's an impressive Sylvain Milesi, on a Formula Renault Cat.C, which dominates all the Cat B single-seaters. The young German Marek Böckmann (n°34 – Elbracht Motorpsort) also puts in a good showing, especially as the track is particularly difficult; some get trapped in the peloton and we witness a few minor spins. After the first loops, we find the trio Revaz / Pellegrino / Filippi in the lead; Milesi (cat. C) is 5th and Böckmann (cat.B) is 6th behind the 4 Formula Masters. Big battle between the first three, while at the back the No. 23 of Timothé Buret (Palmyr) puts on a show: qualified in 21st place, the car is already 9th on the fourth lap. Filippi managed to take the lead in the race and took some distance, Revaz lost several places in a few laps and found himself 4th at mid-race. The excellent Antonino Pellegrino made superb times to counter Filippi and he ended up passing him.
At the start of the second half of the race the classification is as follows: 33 / 27 / 62 / 20 / 39 (cat c) / 34 (cat B). In category B, there was also a big fight because Vincent Iogna (n°7? Formula Motorsport) came back on Marek Böckmann. Among the leading Formula Masters, two duels are organized: Pellegrino / Filippi and a little further on Hurni / Revaz separated by less than a second. Sylvain Milesi, who made a real demonstration, received a penalty a few minutes from the end; he will therefore only finish 10th and 3rd in category C. Nothing will change at the front, and after the presentation of the checkered flag, it is Pellegrino who wins this first race ahead of Filippi and Hurni; all three are in category A on their Formula Master. In B, the ranking is as follows: n°7 (5th overall) / n°5 (6th overall) / n°34 (8th overall). In category C: n°23 (7th overall) / n°26 (9th overall) / no. 39 (10th overall).

Race 2
It should be noted the presence of Paul Lafargue on the No. 1 of Lamo Racing, the young driver discovered the single-seater in Dijon, but voluntarily skipped the first race of the morning in order to preserve himself for the GT and Proto endurance races in which he is also involved in. He has already achieved very good qualifying for a first in this category, and in difficult track conditions. The green light comes on on a track that is still very wet, but with the sun starting to peek through the clouds; the wind is blowing more and more on the Dijon-Prenois site.
Good start from Revaz, which is not at all the case for Filippi who once again loses the benefit of his good qualifying. The young Paul Lafargue made a mistake and the number 1 of Lamo Racing found himself in a bad position in the gravel trap. Safety car intervention! Everything has to be done again for Revaz... While waiting for the restart, the ranking is as follows: 20 / 62 / 27 / 33 and 39, with Milesi who once again very well placed his Formula Renault (Cat. C) at the head of the race. The safety car comes in, and there are 11 minutes of racing remaining. Revaz and Hurni managed a good restart, but Filippi in 3rd place got trapped and found himself left behind on the first straight. Magnificent battles between the No. 7 of Vincent Iogna and the No. 39 of Sylvain Milési who is still pushing to stay on the pace with his 2004 Formula Renault. We are at the halfway point, the track is clear. dries out and drivers look for wet trajectories on the straights in order to preserve their tires. Florian Revaz wants to do better than in the first round, he increases his lead to consolidate his first place. He is 2.8s ahead of Hurni, himself closely followed by John Filippi. Behind this trio, Pellegrino's No. 33 is left behind.
Milesi continued to battle as in every round, but he again lost a place to the No. 34 of Marek Böckmann, then found himself attacked by the No. 28 of Frédéric Da Rocha and the No. 51 of Federico Gibbin. We are in the penultimate lap and nothing is decided!
The race direction imposes a penalty on Christophe Hurni who is then second; this one also spins and definitively loses the gain from his good start to the race. Florian Revaz wins his No. 20 Formula Master ahead of John Filippi and Antonio Pellegrino who finish truly wheel to wheel. Category B: n°7 (4th overall) / n°34 (6th overall) / n°51 (7th overall) Category C:: n°39 (9th overall) /: n°23 (10th overall) ) /: n°11 (12th overall)

Race 3
Last race of this V de V Single-Seater Challenge for the Dijon meeting, and not the least lively of the weekend! All the drivers start on slicks, but be careful if a few drops fall during these 20 minutes. It should also be noted that the drivers on the left on the starting grid will be handicapped by the presence of absorbent product following the engine failure of a Porsche during the GT tests which took place just before this round. A little nod also to Christian Grosjean, on the No. 8, who begins his round at the same time as his son Romain who for his part qualifies for the grand prix F1 from Silverstone. The places on the grid are determined according to the results of the two previous races, and in this game it is Antonio Pellegrino who finds himself on the 1st row with John Filippi. The green light comes on! Filippi once again misses his start, which is not the case for Timothé Buret who imposes himself within the peloton with his Formula Renault Cat C. Spirits do not have time to warm up since from this first lap the red flag is waved; two cars are stuck on the track after a collision. As stipulated in the regulations, the cars return to the grid and position themselves in the same
order only for the first departure. Pellegrino's No. 33, which was in 1st position, is absent from this second start! Three cars will leave the pits, including the No. 10 which is trying to put on rain tires under a threatening sky. It's off again for a warm-up lap, the No. 36 stalls but is evacuated in time to allow the cars to line up; Filippi is therefore alone in front facing the green light after the abandonment of number 33. Another failed start for the young driver who lets Florian Revaz take the lead. Just behind, the No. 5 of Benecchi and the No. 7 of Iogna (both in cat B) took off superbly and positioned themselves in 3rd and 4th places; their duel is magnificent to watch.

Sylvain Milesi is there again and is following them very closely. Revaz doesn't give Filippi any chance and he takes more than 1s per lap. Hurni (n°62) found himself in the peloton, but moved up in the ranking as the laps went by. We are 10 minutes from the end of the race, and the safety car enters the track because of a car stuck in a dangerous position. Time to evacuate the car and the drivers will leave for less than 3 minutes... and 2 laps which promise to be very hot since the peloton has regrouped behind the safety car. Here we go again for the final show! Filippi is nestled in Revaz’s fin! Behind them, Iogna, Böckmann and Benecchi are wheel in wheel. We finally reach the finish of this last Dijon round, and it is Revaz who wins ahead of Filippi and Iogna. The latter is the first in Formula Renault Cat B. The first driver in the category It is once again Sylvain Milesi who is a hit in Dijon.

A great weekend in single-seaters with competitive races, and above all drivers who continue to take turns on the podiums of the different rounds. If we take into account in addition the absence of Reynald Guillaume at this meeting, the differences in points overall will continue to open the debates on the next events, in particular in categories A and B, since in the C Milési seems decidedly untouchable.

Next round on the Motorland Aragon Circuit, August 30, 31 and September 1.