Zolder Race Report

Lotus Cup Europe returned to the Belgian circuit of Zolder after a successful supporting role to the FIA European Truck Grand Prix last year. The former home of the Belgian Grand Prix is a popular track amongst Lotus drivers and forms the first part of a double-header in the country to round off the 2011 season.

Jon Walker, the winner of race two here last year returns as favourite but faces strong competition from Rémi Pochauvin, who dominated the early French races, and Christophe Lisandre, who has yet to record a win this year. Gregory Rasse almost won at this circuit in 2010 and will want to be the first Evora victor, and his brother, who missed that race, will also be keen to perform well.

Practice & Qualifying

Saturday's sessions were solely concentrated on preparation for the next day's races. Walker started as he meant to go on from the first session and was two seconds clear of the rest, led by John Rasse. Philippe Loup and Jean-Baptiste Meusnier were close together, with Lisandre and Pochauvin in the next bracket. Olivier Severini, Gregory Rasse and Olivier Cunat were also in the top ten, whilst Nigel Ayres just headed Paul Pattison and José Vaslin in the Production class.

Walker was still fastest by the afternoon qualifying session, however his advantage had been eroded by Lisandre, last year's poleman. The gap still remained a daunting nine tenths and despite a late spin, Simon Deacon claimed third on the grid, a further seventh tenths behind.

Philippe Loup and Pochauvin completed a top five made up entirely of 2-Elevens, the pair within two-tenths of third place. The next spots on the grid were taken up by the Rasse brothers, the Exige-mounted John faster on this occasion.

There was a trio of Exiges next, with Jean-Baptiste Meunier, Herbert Metzker and Olivier Cunat completing the top ten. Sole open runner Xavier Georges will line up seventeenth for both races, whilst Vaslin turned the tables to take the Production class pole in twenty-sixth place, nearly a second clear of closest challengers Pattison and Ayres. However all eyes were on the weather forecasts now, as reports conflicted between sunshine and rain.

Race One

Overnight storms gave way to a clear day on Sunday and from the rolling start Walker made the perfect getaway to lead Lisandre into the first left-hander, whilst Deacon challenged for second place but eventually had to give best to Loup. Behind, John Rasse and Remi Pochauvin swapped grid order, whilst promising positions for Cunat and Meusnier came to nought with early retirements.

Deacon later joined them as he pitted with troubles but not before he had lost places to John Rasse and the unfortunate Meusnier. This promoted Greg Rasse, who had been fighting with the pair and he chased after his brother as he continued to get to grips with the Evora. Verheist's similar car was working its way up the order and would eventually finish eighth, behind Vivion, the pair battling with Metzker's Exige around the circuit.

With Georges assured of two Open class trophies provided he finished, the Production class was a three-way fight between season-long rivals Vaslin and Ayres, plus occasional interloper Pattison, who was setting the pace in the races this weekend. However, despite Vaslin being overhauled early on, Pattison's car suffered a loss of coolant and a spin, putting paid to his race. The resulting slippery surface at turn one caught a few drivers out, especially Georges and Nicolas Ferrer, who almost came together in the gravel trap.

Meanwhile Lisandre caught up with Walker and for a while looked like he was up to the challenge. However, Walker stepped up a gear and pulled out a twenty-one second gap by the chequered flag. Lisandre, Loup and John Rasse were separated by just two seconds in the final reckoning, whilst Gregory Rasse and Pochauvin weren't much further behind. Vivion stayed within a minute of the winner, with Verhiest, Metzker and Laurent Feve rounding off the top ten.

Race Two

The second race was turned on its head moments before the start as Walker's car failed to fire up. Frantic work was carried out in the pitlane as the grid formed up but there was to be no appearance from the fastest man around Zolder as the field set off from the standing start.

This time Deacon made an even better start and he and Pochauvin jumped Lisandre as they led the field down the straight. Deacon may have had a nose in front but Pochauvin held the inside line and he converted this into the lead on lap one. Also challenging the last-minute poleman were John Rasse and Loup. The first lap was a very productive one for Rasse as he was in the lead by the time everyone returned to the pit straight.

Deacon's day was completed when he retired once more, a promising weekend yielding no results and this ended the British challenge for the race win. Meanwhile Pochauvin was struggling to uphold 2-Eleven honour, as Rasse performed a fine job of leading the race. The two of them fought their own private battle at the front and whilst the order did switch early on, a brief drizzle shower brought with it a return to the status quo.

John Rasse's reassertion of the lead coincided with a dip in Pochauvin's performance and he fell into the clutches of Lisandre and Loup. The latter passed both for second and looked to be another possibility for the lead. However he later oversteered into the barrier before resuming to pick up fifth place, behind Vivion, who was driving another strong race to keep in touch with the leaders.

Lisandre and Pochauvin staged an entertaining fight, which was resolved in the former's favour and they joined a podium topped by an ecstatic John Rasse, who recorded his maiden victory in the series. Overall wins have tended to come from the 2-Eleven class so this achievement was very special indeed.

Sixth place was claimed by Jean-Pierre Genoud Prachex, whilst Meusnier picked up seventh after his race one disappointment. Feve, Metzker and a feisty Guillaume Gomez completed the top ten. Verheist and Georges were next up, winning the Evora and Open classes respectively, whilst Vaslin completed a Production double. Once again he had to give best in the early stages to Pattison and Ayres but a retirement for the latter gave him no chance to pick up the pieces when the former's clutch failed, leaving him to lap the circuit in third gear.

Conclusion

John Rasse's debut win was a popular one in the paddock after a season of class dominance. However, up until that point Jon Walker had been very much the man to beat. That takes nothing away from the achievement, for Rasse's race was won from the front, holding first Pochauvin, then Loup at bay and maintaining a safe distance from the rest.

Elsewhere there were strong performances from Pochauvin, Loup and Vivion once again, and class winner Vaslin will certainly be grateful that reliability made up for a lack of speed this weekend.

The final round of Lotus Cup Europe takes place at Spa-Francorchamps in just two weeks' time, where the series joins up with Lotus Cup UK and the Elise Trophy for a huge grid and guaranteed action!