Niki continued in France where he had left off in Germany two weeks earlier with the talented Finnish rider taking another podium finish. After a hard fought battle, Niki secured second place from eventual winner Jules Cluzel who currently holds third place in the World Championship standings.

Niki drove strongly throughout the weekend and started the race from 7th place on the 3rd row of the grid. Niki made a good start to the race and quickly closed the gap to leaders before the middle of the race. Race leader Kenan Sofuouglu crashed on lap 12 and just a little after that incident Niki took his place at the front of the pack.

”I got a good start to the race and got myself a few positions higher during the opening laps. It was a tight battle throughout the race but I managed to get myself behind Cluzel and Sofuoglu when the race was at it’s halfway point. Kenan crashed and just a little after that Cluzel made a small mistake and that offered me a chance to take the lead”, said a happy Niki.

Niki led the pack until the last lap when the frenchmen Cluzel made his move at the end of the back straight into the tight hairpin, braking in front of the fanatic french fans.

”Cluzel overtook me on the last lap and after that I concentrated to see if he made a mistake. I didn’t want to risk the podium with too risky an overtake attempt. Cluzel was very strong on the final lap and deserved the win in front of a home crowd after a tight battle”, added Niki.

Niki continues his season in the World Championship at the Jerez round with another wild card entry on the 14-15th October.

”After good races in France and Germany I will head to Jerez with great confidence. It will be my last race of this season in the World Championship”, added Tuuli.

Photo: Philippe Damiens

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