Le Mans: Fabio Carbone weekend summary

DOUBLE PODIUM FOR CARBONE AT LE MANS!

Ultimate Signature team driver Fabio Carbone has come away from the latest World Series by Renault round in Le Mans with two podium finishes.

This momentous achievement has now boosted Fabio up to second place in the drivers' standings, thanks to his third place in race one and second place in race two. The Brazilian's Ultimate Signature squad has also improved its prospects in the teams' standings, fighting in the top three of the championship.

The Le Mans circuit in France is best-known for the famous 24-hour race in June, but it provided an equally stern challenge for the highly-competitive World Series by Renault teams. Condition remained dry and warm throughout the weekend.

Fabio started race one from fifth place on the grid and made some solid overtaking manoeuvres to find his way quickly up to third place. Although he was faster than the second-placed man, he was unable to make up further positions and concentrated on consolidating a podium finish, in what has been a remarkable season to date resulting in two race wins. He had no problems at all throughout race one, striking exactly the right balance between speed and safety.

"It was a really good race for us: nice and clean, with a solid podium finish at the end of it," said Fabio. "The car felt very good and it was clear from the beginning that we were quick. In actual fact, I think we could have had the speed to get past some of the cars in front in that race, but there was no point in taking too many risks."

Fabio started race two from fourth place on the grid, making an excellent start to pass his team mate for second place at the first corner. On lap eight the leader came into the pits and Fabio led the race, but the Brazilian made his own pit stop a lap later. He came very close to taking the lead on a couple of occasions before the flag but eventually had to settle for second. Nonetheless he was pleased with the result, which moves him up to second overall in the drivers' rankings with just two race meetings (in Portugal and Spain) left to go.

"Sunday was another excellent day's work for us," added the 28 year-old, who celebrated his birthday on Thursday, two days before the first race at Le Mans. "To finish on the podium twice in one weekend is a great achievement for me personally and it's also fantastic for the team. This result has obviously done us a lot of good in terms of the championship so I'm in a very positive frame of mind; everything is going so well at the moment. I'd like to thank Ultimate Signature for an absolutely fantastic job all weekend: the car was quick from the very beginning, which enabled us just to focus on getting the job done."

The next race meeting, which is the penultimate round of the World Series by Renault this year, takes place at Estoril (formerly the venue for the Portuguese Grand Prix) from September 27-28.

-credit: fabiocarbone.com