SHANES THIRD IN FRANCE

Pirates' reserve James Shanes achieved third place in the second round of the World Longtrack GP Championship held in France in the early hours of Sunday morning.

The VOLVO CARS POOLE PIRATES number 7 scored 18 points in his qualifying heats before finishing behind meeting winner Mathieu Trésarrieu and runner-up Michael Härtel.

Frenchman Tressarieu went through the card unbeaten and now assumes the championship lead but Shanes gave another excellent account of himself on his way to the rostrum occupation.

The pre-meeting championship leader, Jannick De Jong is currently serving a suspension having failed a drugs test. The third of the five rounds takes place on July 9th in Muhldorf.

La Reole scorers:

Mathieu Trésarrieu (FR) 26; Michael Härtel (DE) 24; James Shanes (GB) 18; Theo Pijper (NL) 17; Stephan Katt (DE) 18; Richard Hall (GB) 16; Stéphane Trésarrieu (FR) 15; Dirk Fabriek (NL) 13;Jesse Mustonen (FIN) 8;Theo Di Palma (F) 6; Josef Franc (CZ) 5; Chris Harris (GB) 5; Glen Phillips (GB) 4; Hynek Stichauer (CZ) 2; Jörg Tebbe (DE) 1; Jérôme Lespinasse (FR) 1; Gabriel Dubernard (FR) 1

Standings after 2 rounds:

Mathieu Trésarrieu (FR) 49; Michael Härtel (DE) 43; Stephan Katt (DE) 36; Theo Pijper (NL) 33; James Shanes (GB) 31; Richard Hall (GB) 24; Jannick de Jong (NL) 24; Josef Franc (CZ) 19;Hynek Stichauer (CZ) 18; Dirk Fabriek (NL) 16; Jörg Tebbe (DE) 11; Chris Harris (GB) 10; Glenn Phillips (GB) 9; Jesse Mustonen (FIN) 8; Theo di Palma (FR) 6