Riccardo Berton snatches the win at 2024 Montpellier GP

The famous Montpellier GP was held this weekend at the MBM track located in the south of France, near the Mediterranean Sea. This year, the club had decided not to run a warm-up in January as usual, to save the track and avoid costs for drivers who had to come twice in 3 weeks. On the other hand, the 3-day race has been extended by an extra day for practice. From the very start, Riccardo Berton and Juan Carlos Canas engaged in an intense 4-day duel. Ricky took the pace in practice, before Juan Carlos came out on top in qualifying. Qualifying was reduced to 4 rounds instead of 5 due to bad weather conditions on Saturday morning.

The track, beautifully prepared by the club crew, will be covered to preserve the line, and this long and demanding process will be rewarded as, once the rain has stopped, the staff will restore the track to its original condition, as if nothing had happened. Absolutely stunning! On the other hand, the track will be back to its Thursday grip conditions, which will have an impact on lap times. The speed gap between the A and B semi-finals attests to this, with a one-lap difference between the 2 semi-finals, even though the drivers had similar speeds.

Juan Carlos won the A semi-final by just over 2s from David Ronnefalk, while Eliott Boots came 3rd, 6s behind the Swedish driver. Ricky won the B semi-final by more than 5s over three-time world champion Davide Ongaro. British racer Jonny Skidmore completed the top 3 one lap further on. It’s remarkable to note that the 2 fastest drivers didn’t use tires generally used in Montpellier. Juan Carlos with his JConcepts and Riccardo with his OGOs were to spring a surprise by getting the better of such European favorites as 6MIK and Hot Race. Interesting stuff.

The hour-long finale was predicted to be epic, and it will be. In the ten years I’ve been covering this event, it’s certainly the most thrilling and exciting final I’ve ever witnessed. Grip conditions improved in the early stages of the final before dropping slightly towards the end, allowing Davide to be fairly competitive, as his Matrix tires were on the back foot when the track was cold and slippery. Unfortunately, a mistake early on in the final seriously compromised Davide’s chances, and his mistake led to David Ronnefalk’s crash. In the meantime, the 2 fastest drivers since the start of the competition, Juan Carlos and Riccardo, are in a heated battle. But that’s without counting on the return of Davide, who once again impresses with his unbelievable pace. Davide managed to take the lead for a short while, which seemed unreal given the speed of Juan Carlos and Ricky at that point in the race. Davide managed to take the lead for a short while, which seemed unreal given the speed of Juan Carlos and Ricky at that point in the race. Riccardo eventually managed to take the lead and keep it, but under constant threat from Juan Carlos who, like Davide, was also able to catch up with him at the end of the race. The gap between Ricky and Juan Carlos was less than a second at the end of the final, and Davide finished 3rd, less than half a second behind Juan Carlos!

Photo gallery.