| Faleyras, Bordeaux (France) — Sunday 5 June 2016; Albatec Racing and Philippe Maloigne have leapt to second in the French Rallycross Championship standings after finishing sixth at Faleyras today (Sunday 5 June). Boosted by victory at Chateauroux last month, the Dumfries team returned to race action in round three looking to maintain the momentum that saw the Frenchman steer his SamShield-backed Peugeot 208 RX Supercar to his first outright win, in their bid to move him up the overall standings.
With two strong finishes already behind him; sixth in the opening round to add to his victory last time out, Philippe went into the event fifth overall. A strong performance in Saturday’s practice around the 1017 metre track netted the third fastest time. In the opening two qualifying heats, again a strong showing allowed the former motocross racer to twice take the third fastest overall heat time, and keep him easily in contention for a place in the all-important semi-finals. In Sunday’s warm-up, Philippe topped the times before heading into the final two qualifying races. In the first he finished fifth, and with seventh in the final, comfortably qualified for the semi-finals, placing third overall in the intermediate standings. Lining up on the front row, Philippe took a comfortable second place and with a faster lap time than the second semi, guaranteed himself a place on the front row of the Final. Starting that from the outside position, Philippe was blocked at the start dropping him to fourth, and despite a concerted effort to take third on the final lap, was unable to take the final podium place, finishing sixth. His net results across the weekend, however elevate him to second overall in the points, just 26 adrift of the leader. Championship standings after three rounds: 1 Cadeddu Firmin 110 Andy Scott, Team Principal Albatec Racing : “It’s been another strong weekend for Albatec and Philippe, with a consistently fast pace across the entire weekend. His lap times from the test two months ago to this weekend shows a great improvement, so we’re all very happy with the overall outcome that sees him move up to second in the championship. After victory at Chateauroux we were feeling pretty good coming into this race, and determined to continue that form into Faleyras to move up the points standings. “It’s one of our favourite tracks, we’ve tested here many times, and so we had a good set-up which showed with a strong pace right from free practice. I’m sure without the contact in the final he would have been challenging for at least another podium.” Philippe Maloigne, driver Albatec Racing : “Coming into the race I was feeling very happy and excited to drive the Albatec Peugeot 208 again on the fastest track of the championship. The victory in Chateauroux increased my confidence with fast times in wet and dry conditions, and this weekend I’m very happy to have improved my times from the test and been consistently fast across the whole weekend. “Going into the final I was on the left of the grid, which isn’t the best position at Faleyras, and at the start I got blocked by a slower car in front which dropped me to fourth. To me after such a strong race pace all weekend we had the speed deserving of a podium finish so finishing fourth just wasn’t acceptable! I tried to pass for third at the final corner and we made contact, and I was classified sixth. It wasn’t the best result after all the hard work and efforts from the entire team, however my learning process is good, and I’m second in the championship so we have a lot of positives to take from the weekend.”
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