The spectacular Andros Trophy Ice Racing Championship was back in action over the weekend for the penultimate round at Saint-Dié des Vosges, in eastern France.  

He may not have taken the top step of the podium but former triple F1 world champion Alain Prost, driving the Dacia Lodgy Glace, managed to pull out a gap over title rival Jean-Philippe Dayraut beating him in both races. However, Benjamin Rivière also kept himself in the championship hunt with a strong run in the Vosges Mountains. There’s very little in it now between these three ahead of next weekend’s final round at Super Besse (Auvergne).

Unusually mild weather at the Geoparc circuit meant there was less ice on the ground than normal, so given the weather conditions, each driver was allocated eight tyres instead of the usual six.

Prost, like many of the competitors, lamented the lack of traditional wintery weather, “Our car is designed to race on ice, not asphalt. Unfortunately, there was practically no ice left after free practice. It’s the same for everyone, I know, but it’s a shame that this winter’s Andros Trophy will be settled on asphalt given how close it has turned out to be.”

The Dacia team, which includes Prost, Evens Stievenart and Prost’s son Nicolas took a cautious approach during free practice in order to save their tyres as much as possible. However, Nicolas and Stievenart were a little too cautious during first qualifying, while Alain was forced to stop after his first flying lap due to transmission problems.

It certainly wasn’t the ideal start to Race 1, but the three drivers were at least able to bounce back in Q2. Despite carrying 40kg of ballast, Alain qualified fifth with Evens and Nicolas following in eighth and 12th places which is where they finished at the end of the first race.  

Sixth place in the final standings at least allowed Alain to pull out a small gap over Dayraut. “It didn’t end too badly because it’s never good to start with a technical problem, although it’s the first time that has happened to us this season. True, Benjamin Rivière picked up a lot of points, but it was important to finish ahead of Jean-Philippe,” noted Prost.

The action continued in the second race on Saturday evening, and the challenge once again was to be as competitive as possible through the puddles which were all that remained of the ice. Both qualifying sessions were again hard fought with Stievenart lining-up third, Prost fifth, and Nicolas eighth.

Nicolas survived his finale unscathed, but the main finale for Alain and Evens was much more aggressive with door to door contact keeping the drivers and spectators entertained. The battle resulted in the season’s eighth different winner with Alain finishing fourth and teammates Stievenart and Nicolas coming home 7^th and 8^th.

Although Alain arrived in St-Dié equal on points with Dayraut, he will go into the last round level at the top of the table with Benjamin Rivière. That should result in an exciting championship showdown, although keep in mind, each driver’s two "least good" results will be subtracted from their final scores, a rule which on paper, doesn’t work in Prost’s favour.

Nevertheless Alain remained optimistic and ready for the final fight, “It’s great to be in with a chance for the title at Super Besse, even though the scoring system promises to make it difficult for me. We will do all we can to win but it’s a shame that the championship will be settled on this type of circuit. I am a little disappointed by the way today’s finale unfolded because the behaviour of our rivals was over the top. You’ve got to salute Benjamin Rivière’s performance this weekend, though. He’s got a strong car and he’s a good driver. So ‘bravo’ to him! Super Besse will be complex. We will just try to win and see how the points work out afterwards. It’s good for the spectators that the decision has gone down to the wire.”