The driver of the Panoz n ° 71 scored a full success in the first round of the Maxx Formula serie.
The weekend at the Paul Ricard circuit did not start off in the best possible way for the Easy Formula team.. During the first free practice session, Gilles encountered a problem with the throttle. The cause of the problem was quickly detected and solved by the mechanics. Due to a gearbox problem, Christopher was forced to use the spare car. Under a Brazil paint scheme, it was driven by Antonio Pizzonia during the days of the Superleague Formula series. This unexpected change did not prevent Christopher from being the fastest in the second free practice session. With fourth time overall, Gilles achieved the second best performance in the Advance category.
During qualifying on Saturday morning, Christopher was once again the fastest and took pole position to the detriment of the three Formula 1s entered. Starting off at a very good pace, Gilles was unfortunately hit by a slower competitor who he was trying to overtake. Front wing damaged, he could not continue. For the driver of the 72 the penalty was even double, the stewards considering him responsible for the collision inflicting two penalty places on the grid.
The Maxx Formula cars set off for their first race late Saturday afternoon. Having got off to a good start, Christopher could not resist the power of Wolfgang Jaksch’s Super Aguri, which accompanied him on the front row. The F1 car was thus turning the lead in the first corner, but surprised by the brakes that had not yet reached their optimum operating temperature, its driver was pulling straight into the corner of the Hotel. Christopher took the opportunity to regain command and control the race until the finish. A victory that was the joy of the whole team! A little further in the peloton, Gilles was fighting for a place on the podium in the category but a tyre puncture on the last lap forced him to settle for fourth place.
The second race of the weekend took place on Sunday in front of 5,000 spectators, the maximum allowed for the event. In the absence of W. Jaksch, forfeit the second race due to a technical problem, the start was quieter for Christopher. But Didier Sirgue, driving a 2011 Williams Formula 1, was very quick and threatening. The Superleague driver had to use all his experience to keep the Williams driver behind him for the twenty minutes of racing. Despite several attempts, Sirgue couldn’t find the opening and Christopher won for the second time this weekend. Height of a very good race, Gilles managed to get the best of the F2 of the Swiss driver Martin Kindler thanks to a daring maneuver, he finished fifth in the general classification and climbed to the third step of the podium in the Advance category.
The next event will take place in Assen on August 7th and 8th.
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