TROPHÉE ANDROS – ANDORRA GRANDVALIRA December 10, 2010 – Race 1

ALAIN PROST AND COPE WITH THEIR BALLAST HANDICAP

Despite the fast-changing track conditions in Andorra, Alain Prost succeeded in qualifying his Dacia Duster Glace in fifth place despite the 60kg of ballast he was carrying as a result of his strong performance at the 2010/2011 Trophée Andros' opening clash in Val Thorens.

The recent thaw in the Pyrenees Mountains provided an additional challenge at the winter's second encounter where hostilities kicked off on the Friday evening with a single free practice session and two qualifying runs ahead of the first race scheduled for Saturday morning.

The meagre snow cover and the amount of exposed asphalt prompted the organisers to modify the timetable and wait for the evening before allowing the Trophée Andros runners to take to the track. As a further measure, the qualifying sessions were reduced from the usual four laps to just three.

Free practice allowed Alain Prost and his team to work on the set-up of the Dacia Duster Glace which was carrying 60kg of ballast as a result of the third place and the win it picked up in Val Thorens. Meanwhile, one of the day's biggest problems was managing tyre quotas. "The track is changing all the time and there is very little ice cover, so we will use each session to prepare for the next one. Our objective is to have the most competitive possible when the conditions are at their best," explained the two-time Trophée Andros champion.

The first qualifying run saw Alain Prost finish in seventh place. After making one or two fine- tuning adjustments to the car's settings, and thanks to careful tyre management, the former F1 star was in a confident mood ahead of the second sequence of three laps.

The final run saw Alain Prost improve to finish just six hundredths of a second shy of the podium after bettering his first attempt by almost two seconds: "This isn't the best of places to be carrying 60kg of ballast. We prepared very thoroughly for the second qualifying session because the conditions were faster. We perhaps weren't consistent enough, but the ballast and the patches of exposed asphalt are no doubt to blame for that."

Friday's qualifying ended with Alain Prost in fifth place, and he followed that up on the next morning by ending the weekend's first race in the same position: "It's important to be positive, and the fact that we were fifth in today's finale means that we won't have to carry any ballast for the second race. There's less and less ice out there and that will have a big influence, especially as we were careful not to ask too much of our tyres. I said at the first round that we mustn't lose sight of the overall picture and, once again, the gaps between the main title contenders are very small. The three races so far have produced three different winners, which is something you rarely see. Finishing fifth in the first race could well be a good result as things play out…"

The 2010/2011 Trophée Andros continues with a second race at Grandvalira early this evening (Saturday).

Andorra, Race 1 – final positions: 1, Jean-Philippe Dayraut (Series 1 BMW). 2, Pierre Llorach ( Clio III). 3, Franck Lagorce (Skoda Fabia). 4, Olivier Panis (Skoda Fabia). 5, Alain Prost (Dacia Duster). 6, Bertrand Balas (Toyota Auris). 7, Jean-Baptiste Dubourg ( III). 8, Evens Stievenard (Skoda Fabia). 9, Alain Gaunot (Series 1 BMW). 10, Olivier Pernaut (Series 1 BMW). Etc. 2010/2011 Trophée Andros – provisional positions: 1, Dayraut (230 points). 2, Prost (225 points). 3, Balas (215 points). 4, Stievenard (211 points). 5, Dubourg (211 points). 6, Panis (209 points). 7, Pernaut (197 points). 8, Grosjean (195 points). 9, Knapick (186 points). 10, Llorach (180 points). Etc.

Media enquiries – Team Dacia: Frédéric Espinos +33 6 08 43 12 14 Media enquiries – Dacia: Freddy Cholière +33 1 76 84 63 36

Photos and press releases available the Monday after each race in the motorsport section of the Renault and media websites: http://www.media.renault.com/media/sport/home.cfm?rub=301 http://www.renault-sport.com/fr/media