ROUND 2 - LE MANS BUGATTI

Qualifying

RaceART Competition headed into qualifying for the second round of qualifying with a lot of hope and promise. Practice around the track had seen both Evans and Davis-Loades setting great lap times, enough for the top spots of the grid. John Eddowes was struggling to get to grips with the track, but was still setting competitive lap times compared to the drivers he was fighting last time around.

Qualifying came, and the promise turned to a bit of dissapointment. Davis-Loades set the fastest time by a RaceART driver, with a 1:45.274. Directly behind him, was Evans on a 1:45.466, seven tenths of a second off the best time he did during practice, while on a qualifying simulation run. This put the pair in ninth and tenth places respectively, with Eddowes in 15th position, on a 1:47.364.

Race 1

Like at Silverstone, Alex and Sam started the race side by side, only here at Le Mans, the start was a little different. Instead of the standing start seen at Silverstone, the cars would line up in a two by two formation, with the race getting underway with a rolling start. At the start, both cars got away well, but Evans got another tremendous start, getting better speed behind Lloyd Perry, and pulling alongside him coming into the first corner. All cars made it safely through the first few corners, and Evans tried to attack to make up more positions, however, his attack would soon end as he was forced into retirement on the first lap. Alex though had kept to the back of the train of cars as they snaked their way through the curves and twists of the Le Mans Bugatti circuit. He then managed to make his way past Perry for position on track, moving himself up into 8th place. Next up for Davis-Loades was Joshua Freedman of Team Hard Online. Alex chased him down and battled with the Brit, before passing him for 7th place. He would then move up into 6th position after Scott McCracken made a mistake, and fell all the way towards the back of the pack. Alex held on to sixth place to record his best result of his Rogue Motorsport Cup season.

John Eddowes had another eventful race. After starting in 15th place on the grid, 5th in Lobby B, he quickly made up a couple of positions into 12th spot, then inherited 11th after Evans' retirement from the race. That is where he stayed for most of the race, before a spin cost him a season best result, as he took another 12th place finish to equal his best race result in the Rogue Motorsport Cup.

Race 2

Alex Davis-Loades started race 2 in 3rd position, so had a real chance to get a good result. Unfortunately, after his race 1 retirement, Evans was unable to return to the track for race 2, so his weekend was well and truly over. For Davis-Loades, it would be a tricky race, despite being so far up the grid, as he had plenty of fast drivers behind him, some of which we around a second a lap faster. He got another good start, and held 3rd going into the chicane. Championship rival Lloyd Perry had started just ahead of Alex, and he almost got past at the start, but then had to defend heavily for most of the race as he tried to keep the fast drivers behind. Dan Austins, Richard Carnwell, Sam James, Scott McCracken and eventual race winner Alex Hall would all get past with their superior speed, and Davis-Loades did the sensible thing of not fighting them too hard as they tried to pass.

After an eventful Eddowes wanted a much calmer second race. But it wasn't to be, as it turned out to be more exciting than the first. After a good start to the race, John got hit under braking for the chicane at the start of the first lap, and was forced to make an unwanted pitstop to repair the damage sustained to his car. This put him at the back of the field, with a lot of work to do in such a short space of time. There was not a lot he could have done in 12 laps of the Bugatti circuit, but he gave it his all and managed to carve his way back through the field. However, he may have pushed to hard as he the car became unsettled as he travelled over one of the many sausage kerbs around the track, and spun again. This left him in 8th position, and he stayed there until the end of the race. Without the issues, Eddowes could have had a much better result, but the determination he showed to get back into position proved why he is more than worthy of his seat at RaceART Competition.

Paddock

Alex Davis-Loades has now moved up into 5th position in the Driver's Championship on 175 points, while John Eddowes is not far behind in 7th place, on 153 points. RaceART Competition retain their second place standing in the Team's Championship, now moving onto 339 points.

Next up, it's Bathurst, a very difficult track, and a real challenge posed to the drivers. Prior to this event, RaceART Competition wouldmlike to announce that Evans will be dropping out of the series, so he can take a back seat and help the team without having to focus on his driving. RaceART are currently in talks with two drivers over the replacement drive, and the new driver will be announced in due course.