Frederic Gabillon (#3 Tepac RDV Compétition Ford Mustang) led all 75 laps in the KNAUF 75, the first ELITE 1 race of the weekend at Tours Speedway. The Frenchman went to Victory Lane for the second time this season and took the the points lead by two points over Anthony Kumpen (#24 PK Carsport Chevrolet SS).
“It was a perfect race. My car was just a little hard to drive in the first couple of laps, while the front tires gained temperature, but then I was able to build a little gap and it was really fast,” said Gabillon, who won his third race at Tours Speedway after dominating in 2013. “It is a great win for me and the RDV Compétition team. We have the pole for tomorrow and I look forward to another fantastic race.”
Gabillon started from the pole imposed a commanding page in a race that was punctuated by three restarts. Each time the RDV Compétition driver was able to keep the lead, while behind him a fierce battle saw Riccardo Geltrude (#7 Double-T by Nocentini Ford Mustang) come from twelfth on the grid to second under the checkered flag for his first career ELITE 1 podium. The Italian also won the Junior “Jerome Sarran” Trophy classification and finished really close to Gabillon as the leaders navigated through lapped traffic in the last part of the race.
Local hero Thomas Ferrando (#37 Knauf Racing Team Ford Mustang) came from seventh to third for the delight of the French fans, while Anthony Kumpen (#24 PK Carsport Chevrolet SS) scored a solid fourth place finish, just ahead of Nicolò Rocca (#56 CAAL Racing Chevrolet SS), who looked strong early, but lost a bunch of spots in restart on the outside line.
Wilfried Boucenna (#73 Knauf Racing Team Ford Mustang) came home sixth ahead of Ulysse Delsaux (#31 McDonald’s RDV Compétition Ford Mustang), while Borja Garcia (#1 SPV Racing Ford Mustang), after an unscheduled pit stop due to a tire problem, managed to climb back up to eight. Gian Maria Gabbiani (#12 Virgin Radio Double-T by Nocentini Ford Mustang) and Bert Longin (#11 PK Carsport Chevrolet SS) completed the top-10.
Willy Gruber (#26 Dexwet Renauer Team Ford Mustang) won the Challenger Trophy thanks to his 12th place under the checkered flag.
Teammates Freddy Nordstrom (#44 CAAL Racing Chevrolet SS) and Alon Day (#54 CAAL Racing Chevrolet SS) got together while battling for third in restart on lap 28 and caused the second caution of the race. The Swedish driver received a one-lap penalty for causing an avoidable incident.
With today’s win, Gabillon takes the Championship lead by 2 points over Kumpen. The Frenchman and the Belgian will start first and second in tomorrow’s race at 3pm CET.
All the action from Tours Speedway will be streamed live on Fanschoice.tv (http://bit.ly/nweslive) and live updates from the track will be available on the Race Central Live page on NASCAR Home Tracks (http://bit.ly/nwes16x04rcl).
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