(Clermont-Ferrand, France) - After a superb first race marked by a great comeback by the young French-American Emmanuel Crouvisier to finish 7th, the second race was blotted by two racing incidents, one in the first lap and the other in the last while running in 6th place, when an off-course caused the rear-end of the car to stop against the retaining wall, allowing two cars to go by before crossing the finish line in 8th place.

The two qualifying sessions allowed Crouvisier to develop a rhythm around the highly technical Charade racetrack, near Clermont-Ferrand. The second session marked an improvement of more than one second, allowing him to start the first race in a disappointing 11th place, but 7th in the second, just behind the championship leaders.

Because the track is built directly in the Auvergne mountains, the starting grid is on a slight inclination. While this poses no problem during the races and qualifying, it is certainly not the case for the Formula Campus Renault Elf standing starts. In order to not jump the start, it is necessary for the driverﾒs to keep their right foot partially on the brake and partially on the gas. For the first race, Crouvisier was the unfortunate victim of this unusual situation, dropping down to 13th place before the second corner! After a number of very tight passes in different areas throughout the track, he proved to be one of the quickest and was soon fighting for 5th place with Julien Menard and Julien Poncelet. After braking very late for the final corner onto the front straight, both Crouvisier and Poncelet found themselves turned around on the track. Poncelet stalled his car, but Crouvisier was able to immediately continue, though he lost a position to Mehdi Bennani who had been following closely behind. The race finished in the same order, with Crouvisier just behind Bennani at the finish in 7th place.

The second race proved even more hazardous than the first, with a red flag being thrown shortly after the start, when Poncelet, Constantin Raileanu, Romain Darmon and Quentin Binczak made contact in the very first corner. Crouvisierﾒs car was unable to make it through undamaged, as it was clipped by another car at the last moment, making the car very unstable in the corners. The second start proved to be just as bad as the start of the first race, as Crouvisier was forced to the outside before the hard braking zone for the second turn. Crouvisier again attacked furiously, and was able to regain several positions to find himself 6th after several laps. The condition of the car worsened as the race continued, and in the final lap, Crouvisier spun and stopped against the retaining wall. Despite damage to the rear end of the car, Crouvisier was immediately able to resume racing, but lost two positions with the off-course excursion, finishing the second race in 8th place.

While the weekend did not go exactly as planned, the young Crouvisier has no reason to be too upset. With 7 more points earned towards the championship, he is still among the top ten. Bad luck aside, nothing should stop him from moving up even further in the overall standings, thanks to his experience on the next racetrack, Val de Vienne near Poitiers.