8hr resistance race at St. Clement (Montpelliers) 

For the second consecutive year, the Saint Clemente Club (next to Montpellier) held its endurance race on May 18, 2008.

This race is well known in France for its good organization and for its keen sporting atmosphere.
On this occaision, TRP decided to sponsor 2 Mini-Z 24 teams from Perigueux, the place where not too long ago the first French PN Racing World Cup leg was held.
This was the first opportunity for this new TRP team to participate in a race in France.
The team was consisted of the Jean-Christophe brothers and Arnaud Vialle.

The race took place on a fair carpet surface in which 12 teams participated and guaranteed an intense competition from the beginning to the end of the 8hour competition.
The qualifiers took place on Sunday and lasted for 10 minutes in which the no.1 team from TRP won the pole position; achieving the best lap time of 13,82 seconds.
Close behind was the Atomic team which also clocked in at a time of less than 14 minutes and came in at second place. 
The 2nd TRP team came in at 3rd place with a car that was somewhat less powerful.
The TRP drivers took advantage of the race to test out the PN RACING motor mount; a smart choice that enabled them to achieve the pole position.
Through the testing of the motor mount it could be observed that the centre of gravity was much lower than the other motor mounts and therefore had better traction and stability.

The race started at 9:00 am and from the very beginning it was the TRP No.1 team that led the pack.
At the controls of the mini racing car, the new TRP driver, Arnaud Vialle was flawless throughout the competition and after 30mins of racing, the TRP Team No.1 was already winning by 20 laps over the Atomic Team.
However, just when the difference had been clearly marked, the TRP team no.1 team´s motor split in half and thus the Atomic team was able to regain the lost laps. 
The situation got worse when a broken differential and carbon "H" occured and after 4 hours the TRP no.1 team ended up falling 6 laps behind the Atomic Team.
Behind the first two spots, the TRP no.2 team as a result of their consistency achieved a well deserved 3rd place.
It must be mentioned that in the Atomic (Toulon) team, the driver was Michael Derderain who had appeared on special request of the team manager as a reinforcement.   
Michael is in actual fact a Top driver who had recently achieved a pole position at the two European 1/10 thermal championships ending up in 5th place overall.
So, in summary, the two TRP teams were satisfied with the 2nd and 3rd places although they were left with a bad taste in the mouth, knowing that the TRP no.1 Team could have achieved the victory.
This race confirms that the Mini -z is very much alive and well in France and that, thanks to the excellent work of the organisers, very interesting races can be held at the mini-z clubs. 

Jean-Christophe Vialle

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