Pont de Ruan, (France) — Sunday 12 July 2015; Frenchman Julien Fébreau dominated round six of the French Rallycross Championship at Pont de Ruan this weekend, to give Albatec Racing it’s third different championship victory. The Canal+ F1 TV presenter was quickest in practice and won all four heats, semi final and the Final, and secured fastest lap in every race.
The remarkable achievement means that the Dumfries team has now won races in European, British and French rallycross championships this year, with its pair of 600bhp Peugeot 208 RX Supercars.
Making a return to the track on which he secured his first ever Supercar victory, Julien never put a wheel wrong all weekend. Just missing out on a podium at Faleyras last time out, the experienced rallycross racer was determined to redress the balance, and started the event in fine style, topping the time sheets after Saturday practice.
Two heat wins later in the day saw him lead the overnight intermediate standings ahead of Sunday’s final two qualifying heats. Another trouble-free run in both heats today allowed him to further extend his advantage, earning pole for both semi final and Final, from where he took a momentous outright win.
During an incredibly busy season for the Andy Scott-led team, Julien was joined in France by Finnish rally ace Kristian Sohlberg, making his rallycross debut this weekend. A successful first ever test on Thursday saw the 37 year-old quickly up to speed come Saturday’s official practice, with a consistent pace across both days promising great things.
Seventh in the opening two heats put the former WRC driver sixth overall at the overnight stage, but contact and a puncture in heat three caused damage which couldn’t be fixed in time for heat four. His results however were still enough to secure a place in the semi finals and a sterling job by the mechanics resulted in Kristian taking up his place on the back row.
Making a good start to gain places into turn one, contact at turn two saw the Espoo driver live up to the ‘Flying Finn’ tag, with his Konttorityö-backed Peugeot 208 launched up into the air. Despite a spirited drive over the remaining laps, Kristian was unable to take the necessary top four qualifying finish.
Albatec now heads to Wales for round six of the British Rallycross Championship, where Kristian will join Andy at Pembrey on Sunday 19 July.
Andy Scott, Albatec Racing Team Principal :
“Julien delivered an absolutely faultless performance this weekend, fastest in timed practice, winning all four heats, his semi final and the final. We always knew that he had the capability from the very first heat in Faleyras, and he’s a deserved winner today. I think he showed everybody that he’s a first class, top level rallycross driver and proved also that Albatec can deliver winners.”
“Kristian also showed great speed all weekend. It’s a big learning curve for him to come from rally to rallycross especially here in Pont de Ruan where the technique is so different to gravel rallies, but he did a very good job. The rallycross gods didn’t look too favourably on him, he had some bad luck along the way, but I think he showed good potential. The British drivers had better watch out when he comes to Pembrey next weekend!”
Julien Fébreau :
“For sure it’s been a fantastic weekend for me, for all the team, for Albatec, for all the guys who work so hard. It’s crazy because now it’s over I realise that we won everything this weekend, it’s fantastic, it means that we did our homework well. The car was easy to handle, and when you have an easy car to drive you can go fast and I didn’t make too many mistakes, and in the end that paid off.
“It was such a great moment with the team, the spirit was fantastic, as in Faleyras, and although this weekend was a bit different with Kristian joining the team, he’s such a professional driver, he taught me a lot. For his first time in the car, he was very impressive, his driving style is huge! He just needs to adapt to rallycross, but everyone can see how good he is and it was a privilege for me to be with him this weekend.”
Kristian Sohlberg :
“That’s my first ever rallycross weekend done. It was a new experience but I enjoyed every minute. It’s obvious I need to learn a lot but after this weekend I know what I need to do for this kind of track. In general I’m happy but of course I’m disappointed not to make the final.
“We had some issues today with the car and I made a small mistake in heat three so I lost important positions. In the semi final we started sixth, and had quite a good start but it all nearly went badly wrong in the second corner. There were cars fighting for position, and I saw a window to push but a car hit me on the side and I got airborne. I went to the joker lap but lost a lot of time. After that it was all about pushing to the max. I tried really hard but I just went over the limit and could not get to fourth. Finally on the penultimate corner I got a puncture and dropped to sixth.
“All in all, it was a really positive weekend. I’m more than happy to work with Albatec, it’s a super professional team and we found good things to do to the car for the future and managed to do some development. I’m really pleased for Julien, who had a great weekend, with no mistakes and incredible speed. I’m really looking forward to next weekend in Pembrey!”
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