Tyres: the key element of the European competition at Essay

Besides the cool temperatures, below 5 ° C on Sunday morning, tyres are monopolising the topics of conversation in the paddock. The new additional day of free practice began by allowing or requiring the use of several sets of tyres, which is not without consequences for the budget of small teams. Everyone’s priority was then to preserve the Vega rubber as much as possible, prone to very fast wear on the abrasive asphalt at the International Circuit Aunay les Bois / Essay. The sequence of races has been upset, as no one is really used to prioritising longevity over speed in this type of event.

Although there is no lack of interest in technical terms with a major challenge for the teams in terms of setup and for the drivers in refining their style, tactics play an important role, sometimes to excess. For example in KZ we will follow the progress of three drivers, Lorenzo Camplese (Parolin / TM), Ben Hanley (Croc Promotions / TM) and Joel Johansson (Righetti / TM), who were way off in Qualifying, between 18th and 25th place, and who have chosen not to run more than a formation lap in their qualifying heats. They can count on new tyres in the Prefinal and Final to offset their back-of-the-grid positions for the first race of Sunday morning.

KZ2 will be more affected than before because of an extra race on their Saturday programme. We can expect to explosive Prefinals as the stake will be first to qualify among the top 17 in each.

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