When the fourth round of the VdeV championship started at Dijon at 12.55 hrs today, the outside temperature was 34C degrees while inside the car the temperature was over 45C. Pontus Fredricsson started from 6^thand immediately was on the attack and moved up to 3rd. Paul Scheuschner in the #33 LMP3 was also quick and moved from 12^thto 7^th. After three hours and 58 minutes a first-place finish was in sight for Smiechowski and Fredricsson but because of a problem with the tyres they had to be satisfied with second place. It was a different story for the #33 of Scheuschner and Ludwig. They had a problem during the driver change with tightening the wheel nut and the two drivers together had four drive-through penalties and one stop and go. They finished 7^th.

In the first two hours of the race Fredricsson in the #22 LMP3 took all the seven drive-through but still managed to be in the top three. In the second hour, he even led the race. The #33 with Paul Scheuschner was in second place after two hours even though Scheuschner had to take two drive-through penalties (track limits).

With just a bit over half of the race done, Smiechowski took over from Fredricsson and Ludwig from Scheuschner. Both drivers were ok coming out of the car, the heat hadn’t bothered them too much. The #22 was send on his way with no problems, the #33 however, had a problem with tightening the wheel nut on the left rear tyre. Both cars had to come in during the last hour to change one tyre as Dijon is heavy on this tyre. With one more drive through penalty for the #33 and a stop and go, Scheuschner and Ludwig had to be content with 7^th.

With two minutes before the finish, Smiechowski had to let the first place go because of more tyre problems.

Pontus Fredricsson: “I thought it would be hotter in the car but it was actually ok. I did a good stint, had no lock-ups and I really liked the driving today. It was a fun race with a lot of overtaking, I did make a small mistake to come in when I wasn’t supposed to and for that I am sorry. Kuba was really good today. It is hard to lose first place in the last lap. The team worked so hard in this heat, and did some really quick tyre changes. But I am still happy with second place and we are still leading the championship.”

Luca Ludwig: “For me it was a huge challenge to drive the LMP3 as I have not raced it before nor do I have any experience in a formula car, which certainly would have helped me. I did not know this very dynamic track either. I thank the team that I was able to drive the lap times I did.  They prepared the car well. Also, the heat and doing a two-hour stint were new to me. But it was fun and I hope I will be able to do another race. Thank you to the team to make me feel very welcome.”

The Inter Europol Competition Team Formula Renault #8 raced by Edward Jonasson took one podium place in the two races. The young Swede qualified for both races in third place. In the race one he finished 7^thand in race two he was on the podium in third place.