Lilja picks up where he left off with victory in France

Lilja, who won the final race of the 2013 season at Monza, took the chequered flag ahead of the young Italian duo of Jonathan Giacon and Manuel Buffoli, after a spectacular race at the French circuit.

After the lights went out, pole sitter Luca Anselmi from Italy lead the group with Lilja behind him followed by Alex Campani, the reigning champion who moved up from fifth to third place on the first lap, and Giacon.

This quartet treated the sizeable audience in the grandstands to a series of overtaking manoeuvres and continuous exchanges of positions.

On lap 11, Campani was hit by Anselmi and went off the track. Anselmi was punished with the black flag and at this point Giacon and Buffoli tried to attack Lilja, but without success. The Swede resisted all efforts and crossed the winning line in first place.

Of note was the performance recorded ​​by the new Abarth 695 Assetto Corse Evoluzione during the qualifying session. The car's fastest lap’s average speed was more than 134 km/h.