RDV Competition’s Franck Violas shared his thoughts on the key element that allowed RDV to win both the EuroNASCAR 2 and Team’s Championship title in 2023.
RDV Competition are back on top of the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series after they secured both the EuroNASCAR 2 and the Team’s Championship with Paul Jouffreau in the EuroNASCAR Finals at Circuit Zolder.
RDV had previously won both championships in 2018 with the driver line-up of Frédéric Gabillon and Ulysse Delsaux in their flagship No. 3 car, but they entered a four-year period of struggle before they returned to top form in 2023.
One major change that RDV made during the winter break of 2022-23 is the signing of Paul Jouffreau, who was signed to replace the departing Delsaux. Jouffreau’s signing, as it turns out, was the piece of the puzzle that the team needed.
Jouffreau immediately brought the team back to podium contention in EN2 before news broke out that sponsorship issues forced Gabillon to withdraw his entry. Gabillon chose to give Jouffreau his EuroNASCAR PRO seat for the rest of the season.
There were both pressure and doubts on Jouffreau’s ability to compete against the elites, but all of those concerns were squashed when the Frenchman unexpectedly took third place and the fastest lap in his debut ENPRO race.
He followed it up with a shock victory in mixed weather conditions at Most, a win that made the 19-year old the youngest winner in top class history. Jouffreau also went on fire in his main division as he became one of the leading contenders for the title with two wins and ten top-5 finishes entering the Finals weekend.
A victory on Sunday allowed Jouffreau to win the EuroNASCAR 2 title by six points from the Cypriot. With Alberto Naska and Gianmarco Ercoli having problems in the Finals, Jouffreau’s consistent finishes were enough for RDV to snatch the Team’s title away from long-time season leaders CAAL Racing.
“RDV has returned to its best level with the EuroNASCAR 2 and Teams title in their pocket!” said Franck Violas, RDV’s owner and team manager, to us on their key to win the double. “In one season we made up time and got ourselves back into ‘the game’.”
“This victory is made possible by sharing the great experience of my team and that of Frederic Gabillon to the youth and talent of Paul Jouffreau, who came to us in the off-season.”
The success of 2023 has made RDV Competition confident on what the future has to offer, with plans for 2024 being in the works by the longest existing team in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series.
“We are already preparing for 2024 and announcements will soon arrive!” said Violas on what to expect from RDV.
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