Fabien Pailler dominates at Kerlabo

Doing a partial season in Rallycross France isn’t taking out any of the skill of Fabien Pailler, as he carried the the No. 29 Pailler Competition Peugeot 208 WRX to a perfect weekend at the Rallycross de Kerlabo, with pace to spare against tough competition from the season regulars and the part timers.
 
Qualifying had distinct conditions from Saturday to Sunday, with the first half being held under a  wet and slippery surface, while the second half was with a dry track. Independent of the track condition allowing the drivers to push or not, those with the best reflexes and with less mistakes rose to the top, with Fabien Pailler barely beating Davy Jeanney as they were a step ahead of Damien Meunier, who had the upper hand against Olivier Spampinato and the rest of the field.
 
Semifinal 1 started with a lot of bumping but Jeanney prevailed over Spampinato, with David Vincent trailing them and the rest going to the Joker lap early. Spampinato went to the Joker on lap 4 to cover from Vincent, with Jeanney going in the following and keeping the lead, and while both were a step ahead of the rest of the field in first and second, Vincent secured third place and Romuald Delaunay held Erwan Chapalain for fourth place.
 
In the second Semifinal, the Pailler Peugeots were in the front row with Meunier in the center, and while they tried to close the door on Meunier, Jonathan Pailler was on the outside and lost time and positions, dropping down to fourth behind Laurent Le Manac’h. It was clear that Jonathan had more pace than Le Manac’h, so he went to the Joker on lap 4 to undercut him, which worked well with clean air in front. Fabien Pailler left the Joker to the final lap, but he was so far ahead of Meunier that it didn’t affect his run to the victory, while Jonathan Pailler kept the third place and Le Manac’h was finished in fourth with gap to spare to Hervé Knapick.
 
All cars at the first two rows of the Final had some sort of history at Euro RX1 or World RX level, which clearly raised the bar for the seven laps to come. Fabien Pailler was dominant on the inside while Meunier was holding Spampinato while Jeanney was bumped out of contention, opting to do an early Joker to push with clean air. Fabien opted to sustain the lead, and with Meunier too busy holding Spampinato and Jonathan Pailler while having a tire rubbing in the bodywork, the path was clear for Fabien Pailler to win the event.
 
Rallycross France - Kerlabo event results
 
Jeanney still leads the table with 169 points, while Meunier closes down the gap with 143 points and Jonathan Pailler appears as a title candidate in third with 138. With Fabien Pailler doing only a part time season, he stands in eighth with 66 points, which still puts him within mathematical contention for the title, but it would depend of him taking part of the remaining three rounds and some result combinations that go out of his own efforts, starting with Lohéac in a month, on 31 August.
 
PHOTO: Pailler Competition