Sport – Girls make Carole sparks! –

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Girls make sparks at Carole !

Sport - Girls make Carole sparks! -

The first Dream Cup, a 100% female speed race bringing together experienced pilots and beginners with panache, offered this weekend on the Carole circuit a spectacle of very high quality. Bitter struggles, laughter, tears and gas on all floors !

Ten years after the interruption of the Women’s Trophy (read and du), the Dream Cup 2004 successfully passed the milestone of its first edition, this weekend on the Carole circuit.

To the delight of the organizers and spectators, but also – and above all! – the competitors themselves !

Trial gallop before the 2005 season which should offer a Cup or a Championship over several events, with if possible "Le Mans, Alès, Le Vigeant, Croix en Ternois, Nogaro and Carole", hopes the organizer, the Dream Cup 2004 brought together 21 competitors in three categories (500 cc, 600 cc and 750 cc). Note the absence of Agnès Dupuy, the most serious contender, who could not line up on the grid following a broken ankle.

Between showers and clearings, the 21 competitors fought throughout the weekend in a fierce battle for the first places, while in the package the pace increased significantly over the practice sessions and races..

Saturday afternoon, the few drops that fall at the very beginning of the session are enough to wet the visors and sow confusion in the minds of the pilots. But the track remains dry and the times drop very quickly, proof of the unwavering determination of the competitors. !

Carole Le Guellec, civilian metro driver, engaged since 2003 in the French Endurance Championship, thus signs a superb pole position in 1’10.875. A stopwatch that would put her in a good position in a men’s Roadster Cup, when she has just discovered her Yamaha Fazer FZ6 loaned by Jouy Moto !

She thus relegates to almost two seconds the other two sizes, Evelyne Roques, former winner of the Women’s Trophy in 1993 (Honda 600 Hornet n ° 95, 1’12.582), and Magalï Langlois (Yamaha 600 Fazer n ° 67, 1’12.831 ), 26th scratch at Le Mans this year (read) and who will start the Bol d’Or riding a 2004 Yamaha R1 (read).

The three leading girls widen a significant gap on the second group, composed of Sandrine Martin (Honda 600 Hornet n ° 56), Marilyne Lafay (Suzuki SV650 n ° 5) and Carole Mancel (Suzuki SV650 n ° 29). In the rest of the peloton follow courageous beginners on the track, including our charming colleagues from Sport Bike (Diane de Salve, n ° 13) and from Moto Journal (Elodie Lantelme, n ° 44).

We also salute the presence of the highly motivated Charline Dieu (Honda 500 CB n ° 33), just 18 years old, who dreams of becoming an "instructor pilot like Christophe Guyot!" after having raced the Moto Tour 2003 as part of the Peugeot scooter operation … While waiting for the results of the bac, Charline conscientiously potash the instructions taped on the tank of her 500 CB (see photo): "the 1st at the bottom, the throttle on the right, the brake too, but above all: GAS! "

Sunday at 9:00 am, the first round takes place on a cold but dry track. Carole Le Guellec misses her start by letting go of the clutch too quickly and Magalï Langlois immediately takes the helm ahead of Evelyne Roques. But Carole quickly increases the pace, passes Evelyne and follows in the wake of Magalï, determined to defend her place..

On the 3rd lap, at the cost of a particularly daring and almost blind overtaking in Beta, Carole manages to get inside Magalï and widens a slight gap that she maintains until the finish. In the wheel of Magalï, Evelyne uses all her experience of the track to delay her braking at Hotel on the last lap, pushing Magalï to widen her trajectory slightly, and snatch a very nice second place. Behind follow, in reverse order of practice, Carole Mancel, Marilyne Lafay and Sandrine Martin, then the other competitors who improve all their times compared to practice.

At 2:00 p.m., for the second round, the sky is still overcast but the track, warmer, promises to be faster than in the morning.

Carole Le Guellec again loses time at the start and finds herself behind Evelyne Roques and Magalï Langlois. In the second lap, Magalï passed Evelyne and took the lead. Carole then increases the pace and her very smooth steering, of a formidable efficiency, allows her to pass Evelyne without incident. She then lined up several very fast laps and caught up with Magalï halfway through the race..

Faster in the winding and coming out very strongly from the pif-paf, Carole puts pressure on Magalï, forces her to delay her braking when entering the Parabolic and to come out a little wide, allowing her to switch to re-acceleration. The duel in the lead is then at its height and Carole takes the opportunity to improve her qualifying time by two tenths..

On the tenth lap, Magalï came out stronger from the pit entrance pin. She manages to get ahead of Carole by one wheel in the straight line, gets on her path to prepare Alpha’s left, but Carole on her right does not give up her hand: the shock is inevitable, her front wheel rises in the ‘grass and it’s the fall, fortunately not serious for her but the Fazer is seriously crumpled…

Evelyne, uncomfortable on her Pilot Power, does not manage to catch up with Magalï, who then has all the free field to win the race after this muscular action. Big disappointment for Carole and slight confusion at the finish, where the abrupt outcome of this superb fight proves if there was any need for it that in terms of the rage to win, the girls have nothing to envy the boys! In the chasing group, Marilyne Lafay takes the advantage during the race and completes the podium ahead of Sandrine Martin and Carole Mancel.

A real success from its first edition, the Dream Cup shows that there is still a place in France for a women’s speed competition, in order to trigger the desire to get out on the track and then be able to join in the fight with the boys in other categories.

There remains the question of the type of motorcycles authorized: the most experienced girls are already equipped with sports (R1, R6, GSXR …), they may have difficulty obtaining a roadster for the duration of the cup or of the 2005 championship. But it would be a shame to discourage the big names, even if it is important to facilitate the access of the beginners … Anyway, congratulations to all and see you in 2005 for a championship which promises already to be rich in emotions !

Dream Cup 2004 – Final scratch classification
1 Magali Langlois Yamaha 41 points (one win)
2 Evelyne Roques Honda 40 points
3 Carole Le Guellec Yamaha 27 points (one win)
4 Maryline Lafay Suzuki 27 points (1st 750)
5 Carole Mancel Suzuki 24 points (2nd 750)
6 Sandrine Martin Honda 23 points
7 Sandrine Warion Yamaha 19 points
8 Benedict Masson Honda 15 points (1st 500)
9 Anne-Laure Moulin Ducati 15 points (3rd 750)
10 Claire Tourres Yamaha 11 points
11 Charline god Honda 11 points (2nd 500 and Espoir Cup)
12 Magali Cobetto Suzuki 10 points
13 Sandrine Mayor Honda 8 points
14 Marielle Pfend Honda 6 points (3rd 500)
15 Christine Goncalves Honda 4 points
16 Patricia gaigeard Honda 1 point
17 Diane de Salve Yamaha 0 point
18 Elodie Lantelme Ducati 0 point
19 Nathalie Gallo Ducati 0 point
20 Joelle De Souza Ducati 0 point
21 Delphine Nicolas Honda 0 point
Best lap in the race: Carole Le Guellec (1’10.684)

Eric MICHEL and Benoît LACOSTE

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