Pussier leads TC France, with a little help from a friend

Sylvain Pussier ousted Julien Paget from the top of the standings of the FFSA TC France series thanks to instrumental help from Giovanni Scamardi. The Belgian driver who is committed to race in TCR Europe for Pussier’s team SP Compétition dominated the third event of the season at Spa-Francorchamps. He started four times from the pole, claimed his maiden win in Race 1, was deprived of a second victory by a puncture and eventually handed a pair of wins to Pussier in both Sunday’s races.

These results propelled Pussier on top of the standings, only one point ahead of the previous leader Paget who was forced to recover throughout the weekend after a disappointing qualifying.

Race 1 – Scamardi converted the pole into his maiden win in the series; he led from the start, rejecting an attack from Sébastien Thome after a safety car period. During the late stages, Thome managed to defend the second place from Paget who had passed Pussier for third.

Race 2 – At dusk, Scamardi led from the pole but on the first lap Thomas Leal overtook him. At the restart after a safety car period, Leal made a mistake at Raidillon, handing the lead back to Scamardi. Leal tried to retake the first position but ran wide to avoid a backmarker and lost contact. Scamardi was set to encore his previous win, but on the last lap he spun with a puncture, and so Leal took victory from Thome and Pussier.

Race 3 – For the third time, Scamardi was on pole, and he led at the start from Thome who has passed Stéphane Codet. During the first lap, Thome went off at T13 and the safety car was deployed. When racing resumed, Pussier overtook Codet for second just before the safety car was called back into action. The green flag was waved with four minutes left on the clock; Paget advanced to P3 when Codet made a mistake and closed in on Pussier. Just before the end of the final lap, Scamardi handed the first position to Pussier, while Paget completed the podium.  

Race 4 – Scamardi and Pussier shared the front row when the safety car was deployed at the end of the formation lap following a crash between two backmarkers. Racing began in lap 3 with Scamardi leading from Pussier, Leal, Thome and Codet. The leading pair ran away, while Leal and Thome were fighting for P3; further behind Paget was closing in on Codet and overtook him in lap 7. Just like in Race 3, Scamardi conceded the victory to Pussier, while Leal kept Thome at bay to finish third.

The next event will be at Magny-Cour on 23/25 August.

Spa-Francorchamps – Race 1

1. Giovanni Scamardi (SP Compétition, CUPRA Leon VZ), 8 laps
2. Sébastien Thome (Team Clairet Sport, Audi RS 3 LMS), 3.034
3. Julien Paget (Optimum Racing ASM, CUPRA Leon Competición), 3.426

Spa-Francorchamps – Race 2

1. Thomas Leal (Ti Boy Racing, Audi RS 3 LMS), 8 laps
2. Sébastien Thome (Team Clairet Sport, Audi RS 3 LMS), 1.662
3. Sylvain Pussier (SP Compétition, CUPRA Leon VZ), 6.328

Spa-Francorchamps – Race 3

1. Sylvain Pussier (SP Compétition, CUPRA Leon VZ), 8 laps
2. Giovanni Scamardi (SP Compétition, CUPRA Leon VZ), 0.326
3. Julien Paget (Optimum Racing ASM, CUPRA Leon Competición), 0.725

Spa-Francorchamps – Race 4

1. Sylvain Pussier (SP Compétition, CUPRA Leon VZ), 9 laps
2. Giovanni Scamardi (SP Compétition, CUPRA Leon VZ), 0.738
3. Thomas Leal (Ti Boy Racing, Audi RS 3 LMS), 3.282

Championship points

1. S. Pussier, 100 pts; 2. J. Paget, 99; 3. S. Codet, 75

Picture: SRO