Geraci and Roussanne share the spoils at Portimão

The Alpine Elf Cup Series made its third visit to Portimão. After the 2020 and 2021 season finales, the Portuguese track hosted the second meeting of the 2024 campaign. Léo Jousset (Race Cars Consulting) was the fastest of the 21 competitors on Thursday before Enzo Geraci took over on a drying track surface, followed by Gaspard Simon (Schumacher CLRT) in the dry on Friday.

RACE 1: GERACI, THIRD DIFFERENT WINNER OF THE YEAR

In tricky conditions due to a downpour minutes before qualifying, Enzo Geraci set the fastest time before the red flag caused by Sandro Perissoutti. He was joined on the front row by points leader Charles Roussanne ahead of Sandro Perissoutti and Thibaut Bossy (Herrero Racing).

Enzo Geraci maintained his advantage on a dry track at the start of the race, but Charles Roussanne soon passed him for the lead. Fifth on the grid on his Alpine debut, Anthony Jurado (Code Racing Development) spun before a contact with Philippe Bourgois. Despite their battle, Charles Roussanne and Enzo Geraci built up a gap to the chase group led by Sandro Perissoutti. Tom Verdier (Chazel Technologie Course Junior) overtook the latter on lap four, but Léo Jousset came back from ninth place to overtook him five laps later.

In the final minutes of the race, Charles Roussanne resisted the attacks of Enzo Geraci and Léo Jousset, but several penalties for not respecting track limits altered the order.

Enzo Geraci inherited the overall and Junior category wins ahead of Léo Jousset and Charles Roussanne, who received a five-second penalty after the finish. Initially fourth and fifth, Tom Verdier and Thibaut Bossy were also penalised, which allowed Sandro Perissoutti to gain two positions and win the Challengers category. Florian Coruble, Enzo Carvalhido (Sport Auto Racing), Lukas Papin (Schumacher CLRT) and Sami Dhahri (VPS Racing) completed the top ten while Philippe Loriquer took the Gentlemen category win on his Alpine Elf Cup Series debut.

RACE 2: ROUSSANE PULLS AWAY

On Sunday, Léo Jousset became the fourth different pole winner in as many qualifying sessions this season. The Frenchman set the fastest time ahead of teammate Pierre Sancinéna (Race Cars Consulting) and Charles Roussanne.

After a second formation lap following the aborted first start cutting short the hopes of Mattéo Nomblot (Chazel Technologie Course Junior) and Sami Dhahri, Pierre Sancinéna made a perfect getaway to claim the lead. Meanwhile, Charles Roussanne overtook Léo Jousset in front of a field paced with several position changes and a contact between Alain Jacono (Chazel Technologie Course) and Laurent Richard (Herrero Racing).  

A few moments later, Charles Roussanne dived to the inside of the hairpin to take the lead from Pierre Sancinéna, who was then put under pressure by Léo Jousset, Enzo Geraci and Lukas Papin in the following laps. All three got the better of the 2018 title winner before Lukas Papin and Enzo Geraci engaged in a fierce duel for third place.

With Léo Jousset filling his rearview mirrors, Charles Roussanne drove error-free to become the first two-time winner this season in the Alpine Elf Cup Series. Lukas Papin displayed strong resistance in the final minutes to claim his first podium of the year. Enzo Geraci completed a top four monopolised by the Juniors ahead of Pierre Sancinéna. Tom Verdier was sixth, followed by Gaspard Simon, Challenger winner Florian Coruble, Enzo Carvalhido and Sandro Perissoutti, who was penalised for track limits. Philippe Bourgois won the Gentlemen category.

Charles Roussanne now leads Léo Jousset by ten points in the general classification. Enzo Geraci is third on the leaderboard, 25 points adrift of the leader. Florian Coruble leads Sandro Perissoutti in the Challengers category, while Alain Jacono is now the sole leader in the Gentlemen category. Race Cars Consulting also retains the top spot among the teams by one point over Chazel Technologie Course Junior.

The Alpine Elf Cup Series will return to action from May 30 to June 2 at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps to complete the first half of its season before the summer break.

QUOTES

Enzo Geraci (race 1 winner)

"Overall, it has been a good weekend with a win and strong qualifying, even if a track limit infringement deprived me of a second pole Sunday morning. I didn't expect to be at such a high level after a difficult start to the season for me and the team at Nogaro, but the result is very satisfying, and I hope that Chazel Technologie Course can build on this."

Charles Roussanne (race 2 winner)

"This meeting started in a rather complicated way, as we struggled to find our pace, but working with the VPS Racing team and engineers enabled us to get the car up to speed and get to grips with the Portimão track. I'm delighted with the final result, and we've achieved our target: staying on top of the general classification. I've never driven at Spa, but I'm confident about going there!"

Sandro Perissoutti (Challengers category winner race 1)

"I am progressing nicely with this Alpine A110 Cup. I hadn't driven it much before Nogaro, where the conditions didn't favour me. This week, I could have won the pole in the wet in Q1, but I had to settle for third place after running into a gravel trap. Race one went well with the win in the Challengers, but I fell back a bit on Sunday, and I couldn’t double up because of a penalty. It's a shame, but it's still a positive result from a performance point of view!"

Florian Coruble (Challengers category winner race 2)

"It was a difficult weekend, particularly with a poor tyre choice in Q1. After that, the races were quite eventful. I had a good pace but I didn’t always make the right decisions regarding overtaking before a contact with another driver. However, I finished first among the Challengers on Sunday, so let's take the positives and aim for better performances and overall victory at Spa, where I feel I can be competitive.”

Philippe Loriquer (Gentlemen category winner race 1)

"The outcome was incredibly positive, with a win and third place in my class on my Alpine Elf Cup Series debut. I was extremely curious to try out the A110 Cup as we have two Alpine Centres in our group. I was surprised by the car's performance, which makes it easy to go fast but very difficult to go very fast, and also by the level, as it's not easy to gain places in the race. All in all, it was a superb weekend!"

Philippe Bourgois (Gentlemen category winner race 2)

"I'd been waiting to return to the podium's top step for some time, and even more so after letting victory escape me at Nogaro. Race one was very frustrating, with a collision before the third corner. Race two was more relaxed, and I was able to set my pace to finish the weekend on a high note. Frédéric was very elegant and fair in our duel. The next meeting will be on my favourite circuit, so I hope it will be good luck for me!"

CLASSIFICATIONS

Race 1

1. Enzo Geraci (Chazel Technologie Course Junior) 15 laps
2. Léo Jousset (Race Cars Consulting) +0.206s
3. Charles Roussanne (VPS Racing) +3.724s
4. Sandro Perissoutti (Code Racing Development) +7.186s
5. Tom Verdier (Chazel Technologie Course Junior) +8.351s

Pole position: Enzo Geraci (Chazel Technologie Course Junior) – 2m09.081s
Fastest lap: Léo Jousset (Race Cars Consulting) – 1m53.130s

Race 2

1. Charles Roussanne (VPS Racing) 14 laps
2. Léo Jousset (Race Cars Consulting) +0.684s
3. Lukas Papin (Schumacher CLRT) +6.653s
4. Enzo Geraci (Chazel Technologie Course Junior) +7.329s
5. Pierre Sancinéna (Race Cars Consulting) +7.684s

Pole position: Léo Jousset (Race Cars Consulting) – 1m51.846s
Fastest lap: Léo Jousset (Race Cars Consulting) - 1m53.175s

General classification

1. Charles Roussanne – 69 points
2. Léo Jousset – 59 points
3. Enzo Geraci – 44 points
4. Florian Coruble – 37 points
5. Pierre Sancinéna – 28 points…