The DS Automobiles Race of France was won by Brock Kidd - signalling a return to form after a difficult period in the past few races - while championship leader Nick Addison, and fellow rival Felipe Cesar both failed to finish. The American started from pole position, but Formation driver Marcus Thunder was alongside on the grid, and into the hairpin on the Magny-Cours circuit, the Brit took the lead on lap one. Dino Palma failed to get off the line after stalling his car as a result of a gearbox problem, though thankfully everyone avoided his stricken Formation. Into the hairpin, Pedro Costa came steaming down the inside, and just as it looked like he would somehow avoid everyone, Aron Einarsson turned in and was clattered by the CopaMundo driver. Everyone behind carefully navigated the debris, but the safety car was deployed to clear it all up.
From the restart, Kidd was looking racy, and he stayed with Thunder when the green flags flew. Thunder set the fastest lap on lap 26, but Kidd reacted in the best possible style – on three consecutive laps, he set faster and faster laps, culminating in a bold move into the Adelaide hairpin to retake the lead. Further back, Rossendo Werner was enjoying his best race of the season, running in 16th position with most of the field still running. The race was once more interrupted on lap 51 when Mikko Heininen’s car stuttered to a halt at the final chicane. Though the Finn parked the car as tightly to the wall as possible, it was still in the firing line, so race was placed under full course caution for a second time. It only took a lap to clear the car, meaning racing was back under way on lap 52, and Enzo Domenicalli made an excellent restart, getting a run on Thunder, overtaking him at the prime overtaking spot of Adelaide. Unfortunately, the race wasn’t green for much longer than it was under caution – Yakumi Takahashi made a banzai move on team mate Nick Addison for 5th at the final chicane, and though the Japanese took the place, Addison was pushed off track, and upon re-entry to the track, he cut in front of Keith Boston, causing the two to spin into the pit wall. The safety car was yet again called into action, but when it returned to the pitlane on lap 78, Kidd led away like a scalded cat – Domenicalli wasn’t vaguely ready, and by the first corner, Thunder managed to get in front of the Italian for second. Felipe Cesar retired from an excellent fourth place with only 4 laps to go with steering damage after hitting the kerbs too hard at Lycee, by which point Kidd has escaped eight seconds up the road at the front. Unable to challenge, Thunder settled for second while Kidd was able to comfortably hold on to the victory, his second of the season.
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April 2018
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