THP Spider Cup: Castelli and Guilvert take wins

Gael Castelli and Gregory Guilvert scored a win apiece in the opening round of the THP Spider Cup last weekend.
 

The opening round of the season at Nogaro saw Castelli climb from the fourth row to take the race 1 victory, with championship favourite Guilvert, who retired from the first race having started on pole position, made amends with a race 2 win.
 

In race 1 Julien Beltoise dropped out of second position early on with gearbox problems before Guilvert retired following a small fire and Quentin Morel had to park his car with a sensor issue.
 

The three retirements saw Castelli, who had made a strong start from eighth to run fifth at the end of the first lap, move up to second before passing German Oliver Freymuth on the penultimate lap to take the win.
 

Stephane Romecki grabbed second near the end from Freymuth who completed the podium.
 

“My patience paid off,” said a delighted Castelli. “This is my third podium in as many races at Nogaro and it’s a great way to start the new season.”
 

Race 2 was dominated by Guilvert, winning from pole position to thank his Lompech Sport team for their hard work in fixing his car following his race 1 problems.
 

With Beltoise unable to start the race from second on the grid due to his earlier gearbox problem, Castelli charged into the lead, but was soon forced to retire with his own mechanical dramas. Morel and Romecki also dropped out with technical issues.
 

That left Guilvert, who also won the Renault Clio Cup race on the same weekend, out in front, with Freymuth taking a strong second place and the championship lead. Julien Rueflin completed the podium
 

The battle for fourth was the fiercest on the track with Frederic Lajoux crumbling under the pressure from Frederic Bry and Thomas Dagoneau and going off track into retirement four laps from home. Dagoneau passed Bry at the final corner to take the position.
 

THP Spider Cup – Top 5 Results
 

Race 1 Nogaro
 

1. Gael Castelli 26:52.158
2. Stephane Romecki + 22.9s
3. Oliver Freymuth + 23.7s
4. Julien Rueflin + 31.0s
5. Thomas Dagoneau + 38.7s
 

Race 2 Nogaro
 

1. Gregory Guilvert 24:32.666
2. Oliver Freymuth + 3.6s
3. Julien Reuflin + 5.4s
4. Thomas Dagoneau + 13.1s
5. Frederic Bry + 13.7s
 

Championship standings

1. Freymuth 31,
2. Rueflin 26
=. Guilvert 26
4. Castelli 23
5. Dagoneau 22
 

Watch THP Spider Cup Round 1 highlights from Nogaro on Motors TV on Friday 17 April at 8pm (BST).

Andy Wilkinson