Scott Mansell fully endorsed his selection as a finalist in this year’s Autosport/McLaren Young Driver award with a mature drive to third place to win the 2004 EuroBOSS Championship.

Scott’s route to the final race has included four wins, four pole positions, and four fastest laps. However last year’s champion Klaas Zwart had an outside chance of retaining his crown. He had to achieve pole position, win the race, and set fastest lap, and Scott had to finish 4th or higher.

Zwart (Ascari Judd 4.0 V10), took an immediate lead of the fifteen lap race, with Frenchman Patrick d’Aubreby (Benetton Ford 3.5 V8) anxious to impress on home soil, grabbing second place from Mansell (Benetton Judd 4.0 V10) at the Dunlop chicane. These three front runners set a frantic lap record breaking pace until lap twelve when Mansell started to drop back. No apparent cause for worry for the spectators but not the case for the driver and his pit crew. Mansell only had fifth gear for the remaining very tense three laps.

Zwart broke the outright lap record no fewer than four times on his way to victory to leave it at a stunning 1m 25.965s a speed of 175.047 kph. d’Aubreby finished an impressive second, and a jubilant Mansell nursed the Benetton home in third, and winner of the championship.

2004 EuroBOSS Championship - Race Result, Round Eight
Le Mans Bugatti, France.

1. Klaas Zwart – Ascari Judd V10 – 21.43.318
2. Patrick d’Aubreby – Benetton Ford V8
3. Scott Mansell – Benetton Judd V10
4. Karl-Heinz Becker – Minardi Cosworth V8
5. Joachim Ryschka – Indy Chevrolet V8
6. Terry Sayles – Dallara Judd V8
7. Jean Claude Monbaron – Reynard Judd V8
8. David Hallyday – Dallara IRL Chevrolet V8
9. Patrick Dewandeleer – Arrows Cosworth V8

The new outright lap record time is 1:25.965s.