Round 2 of the Federal Tyres King of Touge series saw drivers return to the mountains, this time in La Chapelle-du-Bard, France for the first ever downhill event in King of Touge.
Drivers would be competing against each other on an extremely risky and challenging circuit, often with metal barriers on one side and rock faces on the other as fans filled the designated areas to witness the action.
Much like Round 1 in Karpacz, the unpredictable mountain weather was in full swing and with rain forecasted once again drivers would be preparing for the worst.
After a full day of sun during practice, the drivers would line up on the start line ready to get the qualification laps underway on day two. With the sun beating down on the track and spectators once again, it would provide a hot, grippy surface which would boost the drivers’ confidence.
After qualifications had taken place, French driver Anthony Rocci would receive a welcome surprise as he was informed that he had ranked first place after a fantastic run. Second place went to a typically in-form Norbert Kovacik with Marin Morier in third and Swen Burkhard in fourth.
Fastest attack speed would go to Swen Burkhard, after navigating this extremely narrow circuit at an impressive 101km/h.
With the weather once again surprisingly remaining perfect, the drivers would be able to enter the battles in full confidence.
As the Top 16 battles got underway, it would see Steve Pasquier face top qualifier Anthony Rocci in the Top 8. Lucas Garot would also win his battle to face Marin Morier and Quentin Regairaz would also take the win to face Norbert Kovacik.
Anthony Rocci took the lead in his first run 8-2, and despite Steve Pasquier giving his best efforts to land 7-3 in the first run, it would see Rocci head into the Top 4.
After an extremely close first battle between Swen Burkhard and Raffaele Rusca, Swen had the 5.5 to 4.5 advantage, however a slight straighten in his second run would see Rusca edge past him with a score of 6-4.
Marin Morier would face Lucas Garot, after an initial 5-5 draw in the first run, Morier managed a 6-4 in the second to reach the Top 4.
Norbert Kovacik once again showed his consistency with a 7-3, 6-4 win in his battle against Quentin Regairaz.
As the Top 4 got underway, it would see Anthony Rocci face Swiss driver Raffaele Rusca, after an initial score of 5-5, the second run would see Rusca take a 6-4 win to secure his place in the final battle!
Another 5-5, 6-4 win in the other Top 4 battle between Marin Morier and Norbert Kovacik would see Kovacik progress to the final to face Rusca.
That would leave Swiss driver Morier to fight it out against top qualifier Anthony Rocci for the final spot on the podium. With a result of 6-4 on both runs, it would see Marin Morier secure his first podium spot of 2016!
As the fans gathered in their masses to witness the action in the final round, it would see Slovakian diver Nobert Kovacik face Swiss driver Raffaele Rusca.
After an impressive first run, Kovacik took a 7-3 advantage and despite winning the second run 6-4, Raffaele Rusca would be forced to hand the top step on the podium to Norbert Kovacik.
The results concluded an amazing weekend, where the forecast expected to be for the worse throughout the weekend, was once again a full weekend of sunshine in the mountains! Fantastic driving was seen throughout on the first ever downhill touge course, which undoubtedly pushed drivers to their limits. Norbert Kovacik now occupies the top spot of the series leaderboards with Raffaele Rusca in 2nd and Marin Morier in 3rd.
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Click here for official event video.
This weekend we remain in France, this time the ProSeries shall be returning to return to one of the most exciting tracks on the calendar – Anneau du Rhin! Expect high-speed intense battles as the Drift King, Keiichi Tsuchiya makes a special guest appearance from Japan for his first King of Europe event for 2016!
