Hell, Lånke (Norway) — Sunday 12 June 2016; Albatec Racing finished fifth in round two of the FIA European Rallycross Championship in Hell today, with Jérôme Grosset-Janin leaving Norway second in the championship battle. Reigning Euro RX Champion Tommy Rustad has moved into fifth place in the standings following a strong outing on his home track. Andy Scott made a welcome return to the driving seat but was unable to take up his place in the final qualifying race, which ended his hopes of progressing to the semis.
The weekend got off to a strong start with Friday practice going well for the trio of Peugeot 208 RX Supercars, with all three drivers completing seven laps. Rustad ended the session third fastest overall, Scott was fifth with Grosset-Janin eighth, in a session in which the top 14 drivers were covered by less than a second.
The opening qualifying saw all three in different races, Andy taking a comfortable win in race two and the ninth fastest overall time. HTB-backed Tommy was next up, where he took the race win and third fastest overall. Jérôme in the final qualifier finished second, and posted the fourth fastest overall time.
In Q2, Rustad improved to take the second overall time, just ahead of Grosset-Janin in the same race. A puncture for Scott dropped him down to fifth, his slower lap time pushing him out of the top 12 qualifiers. Sunday morning warm-up showed an improved pace for the 2015 Euro RX vice-champion Grosset-Janin, as he posted the third fastest time, ahead of Rustad in fourth, and Scott fifth.
This continued through into Q3 and Q4, with Rustad and Grosset-Janin consistently up at the sharp end in both races, finishing third and fifth in the third qualifier, and ending Q4 as third and fifth fastest in the intermediate standings. Team Principal Scott was unable to take up his place in the final qualifier dropping him out of contention for a likely semi-final position.
Lining up together in the first semi, Rustad got a good start but suffered a hit from another car. This damaged the front right suspension, dropping him to fourth and costing him a place in the Final. While Grosset-Janin took third to secure a place on the back row of the six car Euro RX Final.
An electric start by the Poujoulat-backed Frenchman saw him fly through the grid and with a superb move pass Tamas Pal Kiss to take second into turn one. Despite a stirring drive in difficult conditions, including a big moment on lap two when poor visibility saw him mount a high bank, he pushed on to run third for most of the race. However, on the final lap, he suffered engine failure dropping him to fifth.
Tommy Rustad, driver Albatec Racing #24 :
“It’s been a very disappointing weekend, as I felt we had the speed to finish in the top three. The car is suiting me better, which is a positive thing but we suffered with a recurring power steering problem which made racing quite difficult at times. Despite that, I was able to record some strong results, with some good overall times, to allow me to progress through to the semi-final.
“In the race I made a good start, but as I was going into the joker there was a bump and I couldn’t get the line because the steering wheel was jumping out of my hands. I took a hit from [Peter] Hedstrom on the right front and bent the suspension, so with no power steering it was hard to control it. The team is working well though, the balance of the car is good, I just need to find that last tenth in the car. I know everyone in the team is doing their best but if we want try to win the championship then everything has to work together. We’ll refocus for the next race in Sweden.”
Andy Scott, Team Principal Albatec Racing #26:
“I really enjoy racing at Hell and it’s great to be back behind the wheel. We had some good lap times across the practice and heats, and I believe we were in contention for a place in the semi-finals. But in the second qualifying I hit a kerb and suffered a puncture which compromised my overall lap times. Then in Q3 I suffered a jump start, incurred a second joker lap, and that was pretty much the end of the weekend for me as technical issues meant I couldn’t take the start for Q4.
“I’m disappointed that we weren’t able to have Tommy join Jérôme in the final after his contact in the semi-final. He’s getting more used to the car now, and that is reflected in his times and results across the qualifying races. Jerome drove an amazing Final, he made a brilliant start and was on form for a podium finish before his engine failure on lap five.”
Jérôme Grosset-Janin, driver Albatec Racing #74 :
“We had a good first day, with some good things and some bad. I felt I needed to work with my engineer to understand what I needed to do to increase the speed and that improved for Sunday. I’m feeling more confident with my starts, which is very important in rallycross, and I had some great starts across the first three qualifying races, and in particular the final.
“I made a little mistake on lap two, I got caught out with the lack of grip due to the track being watered, and where it was drying it was like ice. I managed to stay in third though and was feeling good for a podium finish when I started to have a vibration, then on the last lap I stopped. We’ve worked hard over the weekend to find a good pace and we’re now closer to the front, so I’m now really looking forward to the next race in Holjes.”
