Monteblanco – Car #26 finishes the season with a victory, the title goes to car #80 (CTF Continental Racing)

Arriving in the Monteblanco (Seville) paddock as championship leaders, the Lamera 80 drivers held their breath until the checkered flag of the long race (7:00 AM) before celebrating a well-deserved title. "Our car has struggled since the start of the weekend," smiled Grégory Fargier. "We never managed to find the right balance with the brakes. In some corners, the front brakes locked up. In others, it was the rear. But it was mainly the engine that gave us a disadvantage compared to our rivals in the Lamera 1 (L'Auto Leclerc, editor's note). Clearly, ours offered less power. We replaced the turbo after the 4-hour race scheduled for Saturday, but the situation remained the same. So we opted for a relatively cautious race, hoping the power unit would hold up until the finish." Which is what happened. Now we can celebrate this title.

The defending champions were gracious in defeat: "We never let up," admitted Adrien Harang. "We knew our fate wasn't in our own hands. In this race, we led for a while before finishing in 3rd place. But even if we had won, the title would have gone to our rivals in the Continental Racing-liveried Lamera. Hats off to them. I hope we can see the same kind of battle next year."

This superb title battle shouldn't overshadow another impressive victory for the 3TM Lamera 26, which, during the first part of the season, sported the number 62 on its doors. However, as the car is driven, notably, by Wilfried Merafina and his sons, the promoter preferred to withdraw from the title race halfway through the season. This year, the 26 often shone, particularly in the hands of Joffrey Dorchy. On Saturday, for example, the former driver Porsche had set an exceptional time, beating the second-place finisher by more than five-tenths of a second. "And what's more, the engine was mistakenly in break-in mode," he pointed out. "Which deprived us of about 30 horsepower!"

Second place went to the RM Concept Lamera 68, whose Monteblanco round was the third of the season. Now competing in the Elite category, the young drivers Antoine Mahler and Antoine Barbaroux, with strong support from team boss Morgan Riche, demonstrated that they will be contenders for the title next year.

Race 2 standings (7:00 AM) : 1st and 1st Elite 26 (3TM62) Wilfried Merafina, Mattéo Merafina, Joffrey Dorchy 217 laps in 7h0053.032; 2nd. 68 (RM Concept) Morgan Riche, Antoine Mahler, Antoine Barbaroux at 1:22.495; 3rd. 1 (L'Auto Leclerc) Emmanuel Orgeval, Adrien Harang, Benoît Gruau at 1 lap; 4th. 70 (CTF 2be3) Yan Bouteiller, Stéphane Cirette, Thomas Boust at 3 laps; 5th. 80 (CTF Continental Racing) Grégory Fargier, Pierre Couasnon, Arnaud Maire, François Coué at 3 laps; …8th and 1st Pro/Am 47 (ANM by GL Autosport) Roman Tajon, Vincent Pheby, Didier Moinel at 5 laps; 15th and 1st Gentlemen (CTF Gustomobile) Laurent Knibbe, Paul Delmas, Julien Delmas at 9 laps