News
Patience is a virtue! Julien Jousse finally wins in Zolder
23/07/2010
Julien Jousse had a close guard this week-end in Zolder. Always surrounded by his intimate circle composed with his manager, his father, and his three younger brothers (whose elderly is winning races in Formula Palmer), the Frenchman has clinched his maiden victory in the series after a number of strong drives. This week-end his bulb of protection was not superfluous, taking into account the redundant technical he faced until Sunday at lunch. Until the skies went suddenly brighter above his head.
All along the week-end, Jousse had to deal with an endless clutch problem. Found out, but not resolved, the pain was affecting the car since Friday’s practice sessions. Every time the team thought it was over, this bad running-gag was showing up again. Suffering, like Yelmer Buurman and Andy Soucek, from a pressure problem messing up the downshifting of his gears, Jousse arrived frequently two or three gears upper than how he should in most corners. “How do you want to do anything in such conditions”, he moaned after race 1 (15th position). “There is nothing to do. We thought 3 times all along the week-end that the problem was over; that it was repaired. But it came back all the time. Just on a single lap, I faced the problem up to four times. As a consequence, I arrived too wide in the breaking zones and was terribly slow in the exit. We really need to find how to end this because we keep on facing technical problems since my pole in Nürburgring. I’m worried for the rest of the championship”.
But the story has a nice ending. In race 2, the pressure is finally stable and Jousse overtakes Flamengo in the pits to get the leadership of the race. Noone will ever see him again before the chequered flag. “The rhythm is marvellous in new tyres”. Jousse clinches his first win in SuperLeague Formula and even gets a ticket for the SuperFinale. But don’t expect him to be satisfied just with that. The Frenchman wants more. “It’s very encouraging for the following, and I’m still expecting a lot from the second half of the championship”!, he warns…