December 08, 2016

 

We met up with Stephane Rouault, driver for Deltec Racing Team in the 2016 GPVWC Formula Challenge series, over a cup of coffee.
Stephane how was the 2016 season for you?

Overall the 2016 season has been amazing. Last year I came back from a very long (4 years) break from SimRacing. Dethan Rootring convinced me to drive again, and Marius gave me the opportunity to drive at Deltec Team. The previous season relit my SimRacing fire, so I went into the 2016 season being very excited and motivated.

One of the best races I had this year, was without a doubt the Monaco Grand Prix. To win twice on that track, must have been the highlight of my season. The fight with James Johnson was so much fun. On track we were hard but fair in my opinion, and we were constantly pushing each other to go faster. The fact that we could take the championship fight to the last race shows how close we were. He is such a strong driver; I hope we can race together again soon. This season the competition in Formula Challenge has been great and the quality of drivers very high. I think we provided very high entertainment value, and I want to say thank you for everyone who made it possible for us to have a race every other week.

You scored a record of 13 wins this season, beating the record of Petar Brljak set in 2014. He had 12 wins. This makes you the single driver with the highest wins overall in the GPVWC League. How do you feel about this record, and what does it mean to you?

Other than a championship win, this is probably the best I can hope to achieve. Getting the record for most wins in a single season feels amazing. However, to have won the most races, and not the championship, shows that there is still a lot of room for improvement. I will have to go back and analyze my season, to see where I can improve for next season.

How do you motivate yourself?

I always want to do the best I can. However, I can't deny that a lot of the motivation this season came from wanting to beat JJ (James Johnson). I might have spent a bit too much time working on the car, trying to get that little extra speed...

Finally, tell us your plans for the 2017?

For next season I hope to find a seat in SuperCup. There are some plans, and hopefully we can finalize them and announce something pretty soon; to be continued?