Scamardi’s points lead grows further after Magny-Cours
Giovanni Scamardi has further stretched his leadership in the standings of the FFSA TC France series at Magny-Cours. The Belgian driver steered his SP Compétition CUPRA Leon VZ to another pair of wins on Sunday, the ninth and tenth for him in 16 races. He now has a 30-point lead ahead of his young rival Raphaël Fournier who won the weekend’s second race in his JSB Compétition Hyundai Elantra, while Scamardi’s teammate Gilles Chauvin had taken his maiden victory in the first race.
At the start of Race 1, Scamardi on pole and Fournier on P2 made contact and Fournier spun off. After four laps behind the safety car, Scamardi served a drive-through for causing the incident. He rejoined six seconds behind the leading pair of Chauvin and Tom Pussier, but another safety car period helped him to get closer. Racing resumed with five minutes left, Scamardi passed Pussier for second, but could not catch Chauvin who won by less than three tenths.
Scamardi led at the start of Race 2, but was hit by a TC car and spun, dropping to fourth in TCR. After a safety car intervention, Chauvin was leading ahead of Fournier and Pussier. In lap 4, Fournier overtook Chauvin, while Scamardi passed Pussier for third. Scamardi then advanced to P2, passing Chauvin in lap 8 but Fournier had already built a lead of nine seconds and went on to take his fifth victory of the season.
Race 3 began with another collision between Scamardi and Fournier; once again Fournier got the worst of it and spun but recovered from eight overall to second. By then, Scamardi had built a solid lead that was erased by the safety car in lap 12. The neutralization lasted until the chequered flag and Scamardi won ahead of Fournier.
Scamardi led the final race from the pole, while Fournier charged from P12 on the grid and moved into second in lap 2, benefitting from a contact between Pussier and Chauvin. Fournier pushed to close the gap from the leader, but Scamardi was able to take advantage from the lapping of the slower cars and kept his rival at safe distance, winning by 2.8 seconds.
The series will resume on September 12/14 at Lédénon.
Championship points
- G. Scamardi, 173.5 pts; 2. R. Fournier, 143.5; 3. G. Chauvin, 111.5
Picture: SRO Motorsport
