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The Grid.co.uk the national & club motor racing website - est1998 |
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The Grid.co.uk the national & club motor racing website - est1998 |
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mail your news to editorthegrid@yahoo.co.uk V de V Challenge Endurance GT/Tourisme and Challenge Endurance VHC The Estoril 6 Hours Under the deluge In wet and slippery conditions due to regular showers over the track, the modern Tourisme and GT Cars alongside the historics, demonstrated their excellent driving skills while showing respect for the other drivers, all of which provided some excellent racing. Challenge Endurance GT/Tourisme First season and first title
The start and the rain came in the middle of the morning, Roland Bervillé leading away at the start in his Porsche 997 Cup ahead of pole sitterand local driver Barbosa in the Mosler MT900. Markus Palttala and his Porsche 997 Cup were third, followed by the other Mosler of Richard Depagneux who was followed by David Loger, who was being extremely cautious in the hazardous conditions in a Porsche 997 Cup S. Bernard Moreau, one of the pretenders to the title before the race, was also taking it easy, but kept on the pace of the leaders while Thierry Perrier, third possible champion with Jean-Paul Pagny, was relegated to the back of the grid in the Ferrari F430, after being disqualified in practice for overtaking on a red flag. With the alternating showers and dry periods, during which the Moslers were more drivable, both the Porsche and the Mosler shared the lead. The MT 900 of Ludovic Bour, Manuel Ferreira and Eric Van de Vyver performed perfectly and suffered no problems for its first outing for the V de V team. The conditions however meant that it could not finish better than eighth. Also in difficulty in the wet was the Viper GT1 of Pierre Perret, Eric Vaissière and Bob Arezina, finishinhg its first race of the season in second place in GTV1. A Safety Car triggered the first refuelling stops after an hour and a half of racing and another after two hours ten minues – the maximum driving time allowed by the rules for driver changes, allowed several cars to take the advantage.
Things looked clear-cut for the Ferrari in tenth place with Jean-Paul
Pagny at the wheel, despite not benefitting from the race
interruptions.
Meanwhile David Loger handed over the wheel of his Porsche to Eric Mouez after two hours nine minutes of racing. Michel Nourry then took before Loger finished off the last two hours with a win one lap ahead of the Porsche 996 RSR of Bernard Moreau and Miguel Langin who lost out when Jean-Charles Levy, their back-up for this race, took over for the final stint, the driver change probably costing them a win. The race of Markus Palttala and Oscar Slingerland in the Porsche 997 Cup of Speelover, saw them take the third step on the podium after taking the advantage over the Mosler of Joao Barbosa, Tony Samon, scoring his best-ever stint in his first participation in the car, and the marque’s English importer, Martin Short. David Loger and Eric Mouez who took the title in their Porsche 997 Cup S of Nourry Compétition to the immense pleasure of Michel Nourry, providing support for his drivers for the last race. Jean-Marc Bachelier and Eric Vincenot who were leading in GTV4 when a runaway Touring Cup seriously damaged their Porsche 993 RSR preventing them from continuing handing victory to Pierre Martinet, Gérard Tremblay, teamed up with Lucy Brecht, after a superb race in the Porsche 996 Cup of Porsche Almeras. In Group A, René Vaysse and Gérard Bertinetti were all alone in their category in their Renault Clio RS 3 but they still put in a good performance. They finished sixteenth overall. Finally the Silhouette category was mainly Touring Cars but numerous off-track excursions held everyone up and it was the Mercedes Silhouette of Jean-Pierre Lacoste, Julien Guerne and Christophe Lemée which scored top points ahead of the Racecar of Jérôme Galpin, Lucas Lasserre and Wilfried Boucenna who, in his second race, demonstrated the improvements made for endurance racing. Challenge Endurance VHC
Once again, the rain gave the advantage to the GTs over the Sport Prototypes just like the last race at Magny-Cours. Nevertheless, Lionel Robert shot into the lead in the Elva MK8 at the start of the race but Miguel Langin soon took over control and hung on to it for the whole of his stint. Michel Mitieus took over from him and Bernard Moreau drove the car to a win, at the same time celebrating his birthday in true fashion to take the GT category title. Behind the wheel of the brand-new Porsche 911 2.8 litres RSR straight out of the Marc De Siebenthal workshops, Didier Denat and Serge Kriknoff took third step on the final podium, assisted by Olivier De Siebenthal. In the Sports Prototypes, British drivers Paul Ingram, Chris Chiles senior and junior in their Chevron B8 took race second place but as they were not eligible for the Challenge, they left the two Elva MK8s of Meca Moteur to fight it out. The rain bestowed various misfortunes on the little English cars and it was eventually the car of Sylvain Guanzini, Marc Alloend-Bessand and Philippe Tissandier which finished ahead of that of Yann Le Calvez, Lionel Robert and Loïc Deman. Their third place in the category was sufficient for Yann Le Calvez and Lionel Robert to take the final victory in the Challenge Endurance VHC Sport Prototype ahead of Sylvain Guanzini and Marc Alloend-Bessand. In the GTS11 category, fighting was intense between the four Porsche 911 2-litres entered and it was Séverine Moreau-Langin and Franck Lamanna who took the title, confirming their good form at the end of season. Challenge Endurance Proto
David Zollinger jumped pole driver Fabien Rosier when the green lights came on and raced off on a still slightly damp track, in spite of the sun re-appearing. As the track dried out, he improved his lap time every lap and there was no-one to touch him. He handed over the wheel to Philippe Mondolot after two hours. Mondolot, continuing to improve, drove his best stint of the season and drove the car into the lead, enabling David Zollinger to drive the car past the chequered flag, taking the time, two laps from the end, to make a fuel stop to ensure a victorious finish. Behind, many were the teams aiming for the honours and the Ligiers were well-placed. The JS51 of David Caussanel and Julien Schell, reigning champions, looked the most capable of taking second place. Unfortunately, David Caussanel was compelled to return to the pits in the middle of his stint due to a rear wheel which was about to come adrift. The minute and a half lost in the exercise was impossible to make up. Both drivers gave it everything they had and took third step on the podium at 7 minutes from the end, to the expense of the Norma M20 F of Belgian driver Jean-Lou Rihon and British driver Nick Padmore. Having run a superb race, English drivers Simon Dolan and Sam Hancock took second step on the podium encountering no problems in their Jota Sport team Ligier JS49. A veritable race within a race, very exciting for the local spectators, Portuguese driver Manuel De Mello Breyner took the Challenge B crown for this season, who, like the Challenge A drivers, took victory on the day with his brother Pedro and the precious support of young French driver François Guillet-Arnaud. Manuel took third step on the Challenge genearl classification podium and his brother Pedro finished sixth and third in B. For Jean-François Yvon who could still entertain hopes before the race, too many problems with his Juno SSE and too many stops with his team-mates Philippe Papin and Miles Hulford prevented him from finishing better than second in the race, which he also occupies on final classification in Challenge B. He finished fifth on general classification in the Challenge between the De Mello Breyner brothers. To complete the jubilation of the Extrême Limite team and the Portuguese public, the second Norma M20 entered by the stable in Challenge B took the third step on the podium with a totally local team composed of Fernando Esperito Santo and Pedro Bastos Rezende. In the Challenge Gentlemen Drivers, it was finally the Norma M20 F team of Frédéric Da Rocha, Pierre Merche and Richard Mori which won. Driving a superb race seeing them regularly in the top five, they kept ahead of the other Palmyr Norma M20 F, of Didier Beck and Jean-Marc Menahem, who drove a scorching start of race and was lying fourth for a while. A broken clutch in the last quarter of an hour meant an unhappy end to a superb season.
GT/Tourisme. Championnat de France and Challenge Endurance VHC Magny-Cours 4 Hours Rain as the decider
Jean-Marc Luco and Maurice Basso lined up at the start with a damaged brake calliper on their Chevron B26. It was the two local Elva MK8’s of Meca Moteur, including that Yann Le Calvez and Lionel Robert, and the Osella PA 4 who were in for a tough ride as soon as the red lights went out. The Porsche’s were straining at the leash behind them and they could not fight them off for very long, the pack of GT’s being more at ease under these conditions. The Osella PA 4 of Christian Perrier and Gérard Bouvet was forced to retire at mid-race which left the place in the Proto clas to the two Elva’s. They suffered various misfortunes and a gearbox selector problem on Sylvain Guanzini, Marc Alloend Bessand and Philippe Tissandier’s car handed victory to Yann Le Calvez and Lionel Robert, in spite of a tough start with their car suffering from the damp with water getting inside the car.. Bernard Moreau and Miguel Langin, provisional leaders in the GT Challenge before this race, dominated in the Porsche 911 3-litre RSR of Team Polybaie leading from start to finish. Reigning champions, Patrick Biehler and Marc De Siebe,nthal took second podium step in the RS version, only two laps behind. Their Swiss compatriots Didier Denat and Serge Kriknoff completed the podium in their 2.8-litre RSR. In group 3, the two 3-litre RS Porsches of LD Racing took the top 2 positions with Dominique Nury, teamed up for a one-off with Bernard Salam, taking the win ahead of that of Pierre Fontaine Christophe Decultot.
For this last round, all eyes were on the Championnat de France and those who could still claim the title. Provisional leader Fabio Spirgi, sharing the wheel of his Porsche 911 2-litre with Philippe Giauque, lost all chances of doing well after a broken rocker in the first third of the race. In spite of a lightning repair by his team (12 minutes), he could catch up with the pack. The TVR Griffith 200 Series of Philippe Burel and Eric van de Vyver took the honours after four hours, with a magnificent seventh overall. Taking second step on the podium, Séverine Moreau-Langin and Franck Lamanna had shaken off their jinx and finished second on final classification in the Championnat de France. Thisleft the final victory to the man on form, Sébastien Morales. Well supported by co-driver Laurent Cohen, and by Christian Morales for the longer races, Sébastien is Champion of France Endurance VHC 2009 after finishing on the third step of the podium in the class reserved for 2-litre Porsche 911’s.. For their come-back Damien Kohler and Richard Depagneux were no longer in the running for the Championnat podium but were placed second in the 2-litre category and took third step on the podium.
Challenge Endurance Proto Magny-Cours 6 Hours The gentleman and the youngster are champions
David started third on the grid, with Fabien Rosier ahead of him and the second Palmyr team driver, Grégory Fargier, on pole. The conditions were abysmal and caution was the watchword but the two drivers from the Lédenon stable made easy meat of it for the first hour and a half of the race, putting on a fine show, never separated by more than four seconds. A first safety car triggered fuel stops and driver changes. Setting off in fifteenth place on Ligier home soil, and of which they are the best representatives as reigning champions in their JS49, Julien Schell and David Caussanel in their Ligier JS51 put to advantage a perfectly honed strategy to take the chequered flag first under the eyes of Guy Ligier, visibly moved. The joy at Ligier was completed with the fourth place of the JS49 of IF Motorsport driven by Italian Massimo Vignali and British driver Bryce Wilson and the sixth place of the second Pegasus Racing car, that of Jean and Jean-Christophe Metz. After six hours racing, it was British drivers Chris Cappuccini and Ollie Hancock, incredible acrobats in the deluge, at the wheel of an old generation Juno SSE in Challenge B, who took second place. In doing so, they took the victory in class B with six laps lead over their direct rivals, Tony Freeman and Duncan Williams also in a Juno. Provisional leader in Challenge B, Protuguese driver Manuel De Mello Breyner, finished third in the company of his brother Pedro and François Guillet-Arnaud in the Extrême Limite Norma M20 and further substantiated his place for the title. An incredible race by Grégory Fargier who combined his turn of speed – fastest lap – with the strategy and intelligence of his co-driver Léo Van Sande. The Norma M20 F drivers took third podium step on general classification, while very cautious but waiting to pounce, Philippe Mondolot and David Zollinger finished a final fifth. This place is enough to ensure them of the title before the final race at Estoril in a month in which the whole of the Palmyr team will be celebrating.
The only two cars entered in the C3 category are no reflection of what the future could hold for it. With significant times and an albeit second past the chequered flag, the car of Yves Orhant, Serge Heriau and Patrice Houllier, the new Funyo 7 with the 1600 turbo engine and its low budget, looks to have a fine future. Next season, it will be up against the Radical’s and perhaps the SR3 of Richard Ryder and Charles Atherton who pocketed the win for the six hours. Finally, we have the return of the Arthur Barbosa ecurie, Formule Passion, entering a dream team. Alongside his son Romain, Philippe Alliot and David Hallyday were discovering the discipline and stated they were astonished by the performance of the Ligier JS49 and highly impressed by the quality and friendly atmosphere of the field... They will be back.
Challenge Endurance GT/Tourisme Magny-Cours 6 Hours Suspense maintained The misfortunes of the Porsche 997 Cup S of Challenge provisional leaders David Loger and Eric Mouez during this race opened the door wide to Jean-Paul Pagny, current champion, trying to score a double in his Visiom Ferrari F430 and in doing so give victory to his team-mate Thierry Perrier.
A safety car at the start of the race and the track drying out kept their lead to a minimum before the first tyres changes. Starting from the pits after a brake problem with the Mosler MT900 as the grid was forming, Eric Van de Vyver and Ludovic Bour moved up on their rivals to lead the race as the last third came up. After Ludovic Bour made a slight error, resulting in a tow-in which cost them five laps, third driver Manuel Ferreira proved the potential of the car by coming back during the last two hours of the race to get on the podium just two laps behind the winners. Bernard Moreau and Miguel Langin also made a come-back after dropping down in the field following an unscheduled pit-stop to change their wet tyres at the start of the race. Somewhat annoyed at this they considered stopping the car to save it for Estoril, however theyn soldiered on with Bernard scoring a magnificent third place, an advantage in view of the title.
Running a good race in spite of a major shunt at mid-race, Pascal Gibon,
Christophe Bourret and Raymond Narac drove the Porsche 997 Cup of IMSA
Performance Matmut into second to take the GTV3 category. Sporadic
visitors to the Challenge this season, the first two drivers will be
serious contenders for the 2010 season which they have already entered
in their diaries. Helped by Philippe Hesnault in the longer races in the Ferrari F430, Jean-Paul Pagny and Thierry Perrier drove a perfect race leaving behind rivals Lukas Lichtner Hoyer, Vitus Eckert and Thomas Gruber sharing the wheel of the Porsche 997 Cup of Jetalliance Racing and then Xavier Pompidou and Gabriel Abergel who took third place in GTV3. With a lead of one lap, they scored a fine win bringing them closer to the title. Michel Nourry and Tony Samon pocketed second place in the GTV3 category in their 997 Cup. In the same GTV2 category as the Ferrari and after a superb race in their Porsche 996 RSR, Philippe Baudinière, Thierry Proust and Joël Vicaire completed the podium just behind the Mosler, in second. Jean-Marc Bachelier and Eric Vincenot, at ease under the precarious conditions at the start of the race in their Porsche 993 RSR, once again scored a win ahead of the 996 Cup of Claude Boueix and Patrick Dumas and the 993 Cup of Yvon Gindre, Jean-Claude Boillat and Fabio Spirgi. Finally, in the Tourisme catgegory, the tussle between the Silhouettes can be summed up as a battle right to the chequered flag between the two Touring Cups who finished in the same lap. Stéphane Pourquie, Christophe Massena and Philippe Charriol won ahead of Eric Gasperini, Grégoire Chaix and Guillaume Maillard. The show was also due to the numerous Renault Clio Cup’s entered. The three cars of the GT Auto Passion stable of Gilles Zaffini scored a triple, compensating him for his involvement in this race. Gérard and Jérôme Thiery, teamed up with Laurent Quilez took victory ahead of the team making the headlines for the weekend, Jean-Pierre Jaussaud and his son Eric, behind the wheel for the first time, teamed up with Gilles Zaffini himself. After a race which they often led, Patricia Bertapelle and Caroline Grifnée completed the podium. The last six-hour race of the season at the Portuguese Estoril track will therefore be magnificent and the suspense is maintained right to the end.
Championnat de France and Challenge Endurance VHC The Ledénon 3 Hours
Jean-Marc Luco and Maurice Basso easily took pole in their Rechsteiner prepared Chevron B26 with the two Elva MK8s of Meca Moteur hard on their heels. Right from the start, Jean-Marc Luco got the better of Yann Le Calvez, who had to fight off some opposition from his team-mate Marc Alloend Bessand in the other Elva MK8. The latter proved faster at the start of the race and took the lead on the seventh lap until a broken wishbone balljoint meant he had to pit, loosing 3 laps in the process. Bernard Moreau took advantage of this to move into third but was also forced to stop after an hour’s racing. The stop proved permanent as the clutch of his Porsche 911 3-litre RSR had given up the ghost. Serge Kriknoff then moved into first position in Group 4 which he held on to the finish, taking his first win with Didier Denat, fourth on scratch and first in GT. Laurent Bayers, Denis Fruleux and Eric Martin completed the podium in their Porsche 911 3-litre RSR. At mid-race, Marc Alloend Bessand had moved into third behind the other two Sport Prototypes and it was at this point that Jean-Marc Luco refueled and handed over the wheel to Maurice Basso. This sadly cost them too much time and Yann Le Calvez took advantage and claimed the lead. However it wasn;t long before he too had to stop.
It did not look as though he could make it, but at two laps from the finish, Maurice Basso was slowed by a massive loss of power from his BMW engine caused by an exhaust problem. Lionel Robert gave his car all he could and was into the lead down the finishing straight on the final lap to take the chequered flag. In Group 3, the Porsche 911 3-litre RS cars of LD Racing were once again supreme and they had a problem-free weekend, bringing Christophe Decultot and Pierre Fontaine their fourth win of the season ahead of Dominique Nury, teamed up for the occasion with Jean-Marc Rivet-Fusil. Third were Jean-Pierre Grave, Tiziano Carugati and Bernard Salam in a Porsche 911 3-litre RSR after a superb race. In the Championnat de France, Eric Van de Vyver was in the lead at the start of the race, battling it out with the Porsche 3-litre cars and the Alpine M63 B of Marc Peccolo and Gérard Besson. The latter pairing unfortunately slowed by a problem later on. However before the elader could hand over the wheel to his team-mate Philippe Burel, hec was brought to a halt on the track, followed by a long tow to replace a faulty accelerator cable. The Porsche 911 2-litre cars then took things in hand, with lots of overtaking in this hotly disputed category. It was during one of these manoeuvres that Franck Lamanna accidentally came together in a shunt with Patrick Brossard, after the driver change from Jean-Pierre Mothe. Franck Lamanna lost a lot of time for repairs and any hope of a podium with his co-driver Séverine Moreau-Langin. Already delayed duringrefuelling, Patrick Brossard nevertheless took third step on the podium. Fabio Spirgi, who put in a good performance finishing second with team-mate Philippe Giauque. Christian and Sébastien Morales took a superb second consecutive win having led the race practically from start to finish, while the MBG of Jean-Pierre Maingault and Vincent Le Besne finished the race unchallenged
Challenge Endurance GT/Tourisme The Ledénon 3 Hours
At the start, Challenge provisional leader, David Loger, made an impressive move into third, then second in his Porsche 997 Cup S chasing after Philippe Polette for the first third of the race. For Thierry Perrier, problems at the start race meant he could not make the most of the power of his Ferrari in the first ten laps, but managed to keep his place in the top three and even took over the lead when David Loger stopped for fuel. Philippe Polette then handed over to Raymond Narac at mid-race, Narac taking control of events as his rivals stopped to refuel. He hung onto the lead up to the chequered flag, scoring a superb win. Behind in second driving the Ferrari Visiom was Thierry Perrier who chased down Miguel Langin for third. He took the place twenty laps from the finish before moving into second ahead of Eric Mouez one lap later.. Langin also passed Mouez late in the race to take the third podium step along with Bernard Moreau.
A skirmish then broke out six laps from the finish. Stéphane Pourquie and Christophe Massena moved into first, until then occupied by Eric Gasperini and Grégoire Chaix. Guillaume Maillard and Michel Pulinx took third step on the podium. In GTV3, Pascal Gibon and Christophe Bourret completed the celebrations at the IMSA Performance Matmut stable, taking the category win. They were ahead of the other Porsche 997 Cup of Sébastien Viale and Jean-Michel Gérome when the other competitors were forced to retire. In GTV4 a double for the Porsche 996 Cup of the local Dog Racing team, with a superb eleventh overall for winners Jean-Pierre Martin and Olivier Biotteau ahead of Claude Boueix and Patrick Dumas. Winner in the category at Dijon with his son Ludovic, Jean-Louis Alloin took a second podium, this time on the third step, with his other son, Jérémy. All three of them will be in the Almeras Porsche 996 Cup for the Estoril event. There was an outstanding debut for the car built by Team FJ in the S2 category. In the hands of Eric Van de Vyver and Wilfried Boucenna, it finished eighteenth in practice and in the middle of the faster S1 pack. During the race, the team had an overheating problem in the car which had not happened in the Sprint event. A puncture and a too-long repair cost the team a lot of time but they will be back again at Magny-Cours and Estoril.
Challenge Endurance Proto The Ledénon 3 Hours Zollinger and Mondolot in control
However the man on form at this end of season, Fabien Rosier snatched pole from David Zollinger. At the start, it was Rosier’s team-mate Rémy Boudoul who took the wheel of the Norma M20 F of the Extrême Limite stable. He caused some panic in the pack while the Ligier JS49 of Simon Dolan and the Norma M20 F of Ryan Hooker took it in turns at the front! Reaching the bridge bend four abreast, there was some involuntary shunting between the cars. Grégory Fargier and Rémi Boudoul loosing a lot of time in the process. The polemen’s race already looked compromised before gearbox problems put them out completely some time later. David Zollinger now took off after Ryan Hooker but the British driver would not be passed. They ran side-by-side for over sixty laps while the rest of the race took shape behind them. José Ibanez moved to third, Denis Caillon fourth and Grégory Fargier, back from last position after a start-of-race shunt, eventually took the lead before handing over to his team-mate, gentleman driver Léo Van Sande. After the last changeover and into the final; hour, it was Derrick Collin, taking over from Ryan Hooker who had the Norma UK entry back in the lead. Sadly he was not able to fight off the challenge of Philippe Thirion, now in place of Denis Caillon, who moved into the lead and sped off to victory. Lionel Robert was second with Philippe Mondolot third after he overtook the British Norma to consolidate the title he shares with team-mate David Zollinger. The retirement of Philippe Haezebrouck and Marc Faggionato, third in the challenge before this event and the absence of Ander and Andres Vilariño for the last two races, means that the Palmyr team now have a hand on the title. The team joy was completed by the win of Didier Beck and Gérard Le Corre in the Challenge Gentlemen Drivers reserved for drivers of over fifty years old. They finished ahead of Pedro and Manuel De Mello Breyner. On the third step of the podium, Yves Orhant and Serge Heriau were pleased to drive past the chequered flag for the first time with the new Funyo 7, the development of which is beginning to bear fruit. A win in Challenge B went to British drivers from Jota Sport, Chris Cappuccini and Ollie Hancock, in the Juno SSE. They toppled the De Mello Breyner brothers who took third step on the podium, behind the Ligier JS49 of Optimum Racing driven by Stéphane Adler and Stéphane Salini, a finish that restored the morale of the team after their retirement in Dijon. And last but not least, fifth overall for Xavier Michel and Romain Iannetta who are showing that the Norma M20 F of Sirius Compétition is in with a podium chance in the future
Championnat de France and Challenge Endurance VHC The Denis Lelièvre - Dijon 6 Hours I David Ferrer took Jean-Marc Luco by surprise right from the start, snatching the lead. A few laps later, Jean-Marc Luco took the lead back and as David Ferrer head for the pits with a gearbox problem. Battling it out at the front right from the start were the two Elva MK8’s of Meca Moteurs, the Chevron B16 of the Scemama brothers plus the of the English team. The latter sadly retiring later on while running in the top three. However it was now just a fight for the other two lower steps on the podium as Maurice Basso, now at the wheel of the Lola T286, pulled away to score a magnificent win. The last half-hour of the race was a cliff-hanger with the Chevron B16 moving up on the Elva MK8 of Yann Le Calvez. The Scemama brothers gradually gained ground and overtook them ten minutes from the finish before the Elva re-took them and then retired the very next lap leaving Swiss drivers Michel, Philippe and Yves Scemama the second step of the podium.
In the Championnat de France category, the TVR Griffith of Eric Van de Vyver and Philippe Burel were in charge of the proceedings for three quarters of the race before dropping out with a broken valve spring. The fight for first was now between the Porsche 911 2-litre cars. Classification leaders, Séverine Moreau-Langin and Franck Lamanna, leading the pack until engine problems intervened forcing them out. Patrick Brossard and Jean-Pierre Mothe were held back by a broken accelerator cable after having been much in the lead since the start of the race. They eventually stepped up onto an unexpected third. Philippe Giauque, Fabio Spirgi and Gérard De Ville de Goyet took over second place just five laps behind the unchallenged winners, Laurent Cohen, Christian and Sébastien Morales.
Challenge Endurance Proto The Dijon 3 Hours Mondolot and Zollinger, one more time
Zollinger sped off into the lead at the start of the race, but in hot pursuit was Fabien Rosier moving up through the field after starting eleventh on the grid due to qualification problems. Rosier overtook David Zollinger and built up a comfort zone of 40secs before refuelling. Back on the track, he immediately blew his engine, handing the position back to Zollinger and Mondolot. Fourth on the grid, Julien Schell used a different strategy by stopping little before mid-race to refuel and hand over the wheel of the Ligier to David Caussanel. This tactic paid off enabling them to take over the lead. But with only six minutes from the finish, the Ligier stopped, out of fuel! This handed the win to Zollinger and Mondolot, their second consecutive win in the Challenge. Jean Metz and the Pegasus Racing team lost second place to Belgian Jean-Lou Rihonand and British driver Nick Padmore in their Norma M20 F right at the end. Jean and Jean-Christophe Metz took the third step on the podium after qualifying second in practice, concluding a fine weekend for their team with their return to racing after two years’ absence. In Challenge B, for the older generation cars, the De Mello Breyner, Pedro and Manuel brothers, scored another win in their Norma M20 Extrême Limite in the colours of their native Portugal. Jean-François Yvon, teamed up with Philippe Papin, improved on his general classification position, coming second in the Juno SSE. Another Juno SSE finished third in the hands of Italian newcomers Marco Maneschi and Giuseppe Barresi.
Challenge Endurance GT/Tourisme The Dijon 3 Hours Mosler on a cloud
Poleman, Barnes made a very quick getaway opening up the gap on his rival, Thierry Perrier, in the Ferrari F430 Visiom, who was hotly pursued by Bernard Moreau holding on to his position before handing over the wheel to Miguel Langin. Up with the pack was Anne-Sophie Nourry moving into fourth with a remarkable performance, somewhat facilitated by Damien Kohler having to retire in the other Mosler, smitten by the same bug for a number of races, a mysterious water leak Back home in the Michel Nourry team, the Challenge leaders with Eric Mouez at the wheel driving the last stint, held onto the lead for the second part of the race. A Safety-Car brought everyone together again and several cars made the most of it to re-fuel. At the re-start, the Mosler was still ahead and Jon Barnes quickly handed over the wheel to Martin Short after two hours’ driving. He finished after keeping up his searing pace to score an unchallenged win. Miguel Langin in third was now catching Jean-Paul Pagny who had taken over the Ferrari F430 and was now running in second place. Behind them was David Loger who had taken over from Eric Mouez and was aiming at third position behind the Ferrari. However the Porsche driver‘s progress was interrupted by his tyres giving up and he came to a standstill right at the chequered flag. Miguel Langin eventually past Jean-Paul Pagny to give the Polybaie stable and his team-mate father-in-law Bernard Moreau second place. Third at the chequered flag, Jean-Paul Pagny and Thierry Perrier were finally victims of Challenge organiser Eric Van de Vyver’s commitment, for many years, to have the FIA rules complied with in terms of noise and enable the sport to continue with respect for everyone. They received a penalty and lost their third place, which helped David Loger and Eric Mouez take the lead in the Challenge. Anne-Sophie and Michel Nourry finally scored a win in GTV3 and finished fourth on scratch while there was a fierce battling raging in GVT4. The two Porsche 996 Cup Almeras fought hard to topple the leaders in the category, multiple winners over the last few years, Eric Vincenot and Jean-Marc Bachelier. At the wheel of their Porsche 993 RSR, they finished second, leaving victory to the Alloin family, Jean-Louis the father, with the support for the first time of his son Ludovic while Pierre Martinet and Gérard Tremblay completed the podium on the third step, much to the great pleasure of the team. In S1, the premature retirement of the Renault Mégane Trophy of Guillaume Rousseau and Christophe Lemée left the Touring Cup field wide open. Guillaume Maillard and Eric Gasperini’s car finished first, ahead of the Philippe Charriol and Michel Krine team. And then, as a last-minute substitute for Philippe Baudinière, in ill health, and not able to take the wheel of the Porsche 996 RSR of Nourry Compétition, Eric Van de Vyver, teamed up with Thierry Proust, to finish fifth and take the third step on the podium in the GTV2 category.
Challenge Funyo A sombre weekend The event started off well on Friday evening with a bitterly disputed race with François Heriau taking the win ahead of David Monclair and Jean-Baptiste Lahaye. The accident in the second race which cost track marshal Denis Lelièvre his life, plunged the paddock into disarray and naturally put an end to the weekend for this Challenge.
A magnificent course and magnificent racing. 8H EuroSpeedway Lausitz V de V - 26-27-28 juin 2009
Challenge Endurance GT/Tourisme and Endurance VHC The Lausitz EuroSpeedway 8 Hours Moderns and historics fighting for the spotlight Just as last year, the mix of modern GT/Tourisme cars and VHCs was superb and the fair-play by all of the drivers, along with their competitiveness, made for some exceptional racing, full of surprises.
Making a comeback to V de V, Jean-Charles Levy slipped into first place
at the wheel of the Porsche 996 RSR of Bernard Moreau and Miguel Langin
at the start. Polesitter in the Ferrari F430, Thierry Perrier, soon took
back the lead however and ran a perfect first part of the race until
Jean-Paul Pagny was victim of a nudge with the Porsche 997 Cup S of
Christian Kelders and Philippe Greisch, punting him into the gravel trap
for four laps and losing him all hope of a win. The Belgian team took over the lead a little later in spite of a penalty after a mistake by Philippe Greisch who took a short-cut across the track in the rain which fell mid-race. This re-shuffled the cards a little, favouring teams which had not yet refuelled, allowing them to make the most of the stop to change to wets. Having run well in practice and having made a good start, the Mosler of Ludovic Bour / Manuel Ferreira retired with an engine problem while they were in second place. The similar car of Richard Depagneux and Denis Caillon, now in the hands of Damien Kolher who had taken over the wheel for his second stint in the dry, was also forced out with a coolant leak. Also running a fine race and showing their engine some respect, David Loger and Eric Mouez plus team boss, Michel Nourry, had no problems with their Porsche 997 Cup S. They fought off the return of Thierry Perrier in the Visiom Ferrari F430 to the end, and took third, boding well for the Challenge title. Thierry Perrier finished just off the podium with Jean-Paul Pagny and Philippe Hesnault. During the last half hour, Jean-Charles Levy took over the wheel of the Porsche after the superb stints by Miguel Langin and Bernard Moreau. The leading Porsche driven by Christian Kelders was meanwhile showing signs of fatigue in the braking areas and just made the finish with the brakes completely shot. Jean-Charles Levy took over the lead once and for all, just a few minutes from the finish while Christian Kelders and Philippe Greisch held for second place. Christophe Lemée and Guillaume Rousseau took fifth place in their Renault Mégane Trophy after a perfect race but the competition would have let them do better. Rémy Brouard, Philippe Nozière and Eric Havette took the win in GTV3 in the Porsche 997 Cup of Champion Racing while Jean-Marc Bachelier, Eric Vincenot and Pierre Benoist finished the race on five cylinders but held onto the GTV4 win at the flag just ahead of the Porsche Cayman S of Christian Billard, Jacques Fontbonne and Carlos Revenga Cerro. There was also a fine performance by the Renault Clio RS3 of René Vaysse, Pierre Pelosi and Denis Mourgues who drove like clockwork for eight hours. The historic field also shone. Val de Vienne winners, Yann Le Calvez and Lionel Robert in the 1965 Elva MK8 repeated their performance. In spite of an worry towards the end of the race with a loose oil hose, which cost them four laps,, they still ook the win in front of their team-mates in the other Meca Moteur Elva MK8. Marc Alloend Bessand, Sylvain Guanzini and Philippe Tissandier were hoping to take over the lead, but they also had mechanical problems with a broken wishbone pin, also losing them four laps. Bernard Moreau and Miguel Langin, Challenge leaders before this event, teamed up with Michel Mitieus and finished on the third step of the podium despite electrical gremlins and changing the battery several times. It’s worth mentioning that the two Polybaie drivers took part in two different Porsches, the modern 996 RSR and the 911 3 litres RSR and they got two podiums! . The Series 200 TVR Griffith which Eric Van de Vyver shared with Guillaume Maillard, was unfortunately slowed down at the start of the race with a leaky hydraulic clutch. The rest of the race went perfectly but too much time had been lost earlier on. Nurturing high hopes at the wheel of the superb Porsche 911 3 litres RSR, Didier Denat and Serge Kriknoff were victims of a rare failure, a seat bracket broke meaning they had to make a long stop to repair it. In the hotly disputed GTS11 category reserved for the 2-litre Porsche 911s, the battle was hectic and in the end it was Franck Lamanna and Séverine Moreau-Langin who scored a win just nine seconds lead with a struggling engine, after 8 hours' racing, ahead of the n°6 of Patrick Brossard and Philippe Haezebrouck.
Challenge Endurance Proto The Lausitz EuroSpeedway 8 Hours Victory under pressure!
Starting on pole, David Zollinger could justly feel proud of himself, with the field sitting at the back of him. It was Fabien Rosier, Ander Vilariño, Grégory Fargier, Alain Ferté, Julien Schell and Ryan Hooker ready to start hot on his heels. Only one problem was to interfere with the race of the Palmyr team's #40 Norma M20 F. Philippe Mondolot, taking over from David, was still in first place when he complained of rear end problems and poor handling halfway through his stint. He came in for David to take over and he soon confirm there was an issue. It turned out that a very worn rear tyre after only three hour's racing was the reason for the poor handling! However they pressed on and made the most of their rivals' errors. Philippe Thirion, Philippe Illiano and Alain Ferté lost the lead after a shunt and a broken suspension yoke in spite of completing three perfect stints. Andres Vilariño had a brush with Fabien Rosier and twisted a rear suspension arm then Angela was slowed by a steering rod problem. Ander finished the race in order to retain his chances in the Challenge and notched up a welcome fifth place. The Norma M20 F of Fabien Rosier and Rémi Boudoul looked to be the most threatening in spite of two unscheduled stops to change burst tyres, the result of the brush with the Vilariño family Norma M20 F. At 1hr 45 mins from the finish, the top drivers took over the wheels for the last stint. There were four cars in the same lap. Philippe Haezebrouck and Marc Faggionato lost all hope of a podium when a wheel nut went on walkabout, losing them ten laps.
With 1hr 15 mins to go it looked as though the die were cast between the first two cars, but with 40 seconds between them out came the Safety-Car came out after the aileron of the Juno of Yvon/Bernans/Bernans was torn off. At the re-start, the first four were all within 18 seconds, Fabien Rosier gunned it and made contact with David Zollinger. The last half-hour of the race was enthralling and the gap between the two Normas was never more than a second. Neither driver would give quarter and it was David Zollinger who finally scored the win with a 0.6 secs in hand. His co-driver Philippe Mondolot, who had held on to the position during each of his stints, had the win he had dreamed of. Fabien Rosier and Rémi Boudoul took second with the Norma M20 F of Extrême Limite, disappointed at not scoring the win which was within arms' length. But their shunt at the start of the race, followed by two punctures, cost them dear. The second Palmyr team car, the Norma M20 F of Grégory Fargier, Gérard Le Corre and Leo Van Sande, , took sixth after running a splendid race and had even been running as high as second at one point. In Challenge B, the Ligier JS49 of Alexis Delb and Philippe Papin had to give up with a broken transmission which left three cars to battle it out. One Juno SSE and two Norma 20s were hard at it for eight hours with each one best with its own string of problems which altered the classification all the time. Manuel De Mello Breyner took another win with the help of Sébastien Le Bras and François Guillet-Arnaud, his team-mates for the day in the Norma M20 from Extrême Limite. A last problem on the Norma M20 IRS in the last quarter of an hour, lost the second place for Damien Delafosse, Luc Davoise and José Ibanez handing it on a plate to the tired Juno SSE of Richard and Nicola Bernans, teamed up with Jean-François Yvon, winner of the LMP2 category at the Le Mans 24 Hours two weeks ago.
Paul Ricard 4 Hours April 24-26 Back on track The changing weather conditions on Sunday 26 April in no way affected the enthusiasm of the competitors at Paul Ricard, now HTTT, nor the passion of the public or the professionalism and generosity of the team headed by track manager Gérard Neveu, who had made every effort to please all those involved. Everyone was over the moon with the weekend and it has already been pencilled in for the 2010 season. Challenge Endurance Proto The Paul Ricard 4-Hours Number two for the Vilariño family
So for it’s second race, the Ligier JS51, in the hands of reigning champion David Caussanel and Julien Schell, took pole. Right from the start, Julien Schell settled into his usual race rhythm and did not get mixed up in the cut and thrust between Ander Vilariño and David Zollinger for the lead. The young Spanish driver took a few lengths lead over the French Formula Ford twice-champion, who nevertheless did not lose contact. Just as usual, Ander handed over the wheel to his father mid-race for a fast stint, then took over again with the bit between his teeth. Continually improving his lap times, he kept his rivals on their toes. David Caussanel, taking over from Julien Schell, and David Zollinger, taking over from team-mate Philippe Mondolot for the end of the race, both looked threatening, so things were not yet over, but the young Spaniard inexorably continued to widen the gap. Over-enthusiastic in his quest for second place, David Caussanel took a spin, spent a long time getting his car restarted, and lost all hope of doing better than fifth at the finish, just ahead of the Norma M20 F of Fabien Rosier and Rémi Boudoul.
In Challenge B, for the older cars, the two Juno SSE's drove the race from the front and Jean-François Yvon, teamed up with Chris Lake, took the honours ahead of the car of Italian drivers Raffaele Sangiuolo and Guiseppe De Pasquale happy to provide Laurent Fort, boss of the local Esprit Compétition ecurie with a podium. Belgian driver Dirk De Groof and British driver Nigel Greensall took the third podium step in their radical SR5. Of note was the entry of a new Sport Proto entered by the AB Sport Auto team in order to test out its possible inclusion in the Challenge in the future. For this, no-one better than Eric Van de Vyver at the wheel, teamed up with the young and fast Dimitri Lazardeux proving that he is a force to be reckoned with, after his final thirteenth place. In the Challenge overall classification, with two wins, one of which carries a 1.5 coefficient bonus, the Vilariño's have a good lead over their direct rivals comprised of Marc Faggionato and Philippe Haezebrouck, second, and Philippe Mondolot and David Zollinger, third. These two teams, very consistent and always in the front-runners, will be giving no quarter to the Spanish drivers if they make a mistake. Race classification:
Challenge Endurance Proto and Challenge A classification: 1. Ander and Andres Vilariño, Norma M20 F, 87.5 pts, 2. Philippe Haezebrouck and Marc Faggionato, Norma M20 F, 60 pts, 3. Philippe Mondolot and David Zollinger, Norma M20 F, 52.5 pts, etc… Challenge B classification: 1. Jean-François Yvon, Juno SSE, 39 pts, 2. Rafaele Sangiuolo, Giuseppe De Pasquale, Juno SSE, 26 pts, 3. Chris Lake, Juno SSE, 24 pts, etc… Gentlemen drivers classification: 1. Philippe Haezebrouck and Marc Faggionato, Norma M20 F, 60 pts, etc…
Endurance GT/Tourisme challenge The Paul Ricard 4-Hours
The Lamborghini Gallardo's of Ruffier Racing looked threatening in the first part of the race with experienced drivers Arnaud Peyroles and Yannick Mallegol in #105 taking the lead for a moment, and Nicolas Maillet Avenel and Olivier Porta in #104. The rain dashed all their hopes for a win, along with those of the Ferrari F430's, and Challenge leaders, Thierry Perrier and Jean-Paul Pagny or those of Team Sofrev ASP. Regular competitors in the Challenge suffered, including the Renault Mégane Trophy of Guillaume Rousseau and Christophe Lemée, handicapped with oil pressure problems right from the start of the weekend, and they withdrew before their engine had the chance to blow. The Porsche 997 Cup S of Philippe Greisch and Christian Kelders, in with a chance, lost a lot of time due to battery problems. The team drivers from the Belgian stable First Motorsport in their Porsche 997 Cup, Jean-Michel Gérome and François Leandri, provided them with some consolation by taking the win in the GTV3 category. The numerous Touring Cups entered were suffering at the end of the race with worn tyres and there were lots of spins. Gérard Tonelli finished the race after taking over the wheel from Fabien Barthez, enabling him to do what he had set out to do, take the win in the Silhouette category. Shortly before mid-race, the Safety-Car came out due to several spin-offs along the long Garlaban straight rendered undrivable by the rain, enabling different driver strategies to be put into effect. Eric Mouez went in for refuelling and handed over to David Loger just after one lap. Result: they did not lose a lap and at this point, lying fourth, were looking good for a win. At the
restart, the rain came down in buckets and under these difficult restart
conditions, the
In the driving rain, the little Porsche 993 RSR of Jean-Marc Bachelier and Eric Vincenot drove a fabulous race. During the first laps, it moved up from its fourteenth place on the grid, slotting into fifth and then fourth. Keeping up with the top five throughout the race, it moved up into third, heading for a win at just thirty minutes from the finish. The adventure continued with fine performance by overtaking the Lamborghini Gallardo of Arnaud Peyroles and Yannick Mallegol in the last lap. Jean-Marc Bachelier took second on the podium with his team-mate Eric Vincenot for Perspective Racing. Of note, was the performance of the little Renault Clio RS3 of the very affable drivers Gilles Zaffini and Laurent Quilez who finished in twenty-sixth place overall, making the best of the abyssmal conditions. Running a superb race, Eric Mouez and David Loger scored a win but not that easily, as there were five cars in the same lap. Race classification:
Fastest lap: Arnaud Peyroles and Yannick Mallegol, Lamborghini Gallardo in 2′33″523, (136.99 km/h) Challenge Endurance GT/Tourisme classification on www.vdev.fr.
Championnat de France and Challenge Endurance VHC The Paul Ricard 4-Hours The Deluge
In pole position, the Lola T298 of Jacques Nicolet and Patrice Lafargue were all alone on the front line after the withdrawal of the Chevron B36 of Nigel Greensall and Richard Bryan, fearing the worst for their car under the weather conditions. Richard Mille and Dominique Guenat also withdrew their Lola T70 with its 650 bhp proving difficult to control, followed by Patrick Biehler and Olivier De Siebenthal with their Porsche 911 3-litre RSR. Right from the start, the GT's took the lead over the Sport Prototypes with the BMW M1 of Stanislas de Sadeleer and Christian Traber. The Chevron B26 of Jean-Marc Luco, with Maurice Basso at the wheel, was forced to abandon during the first lap with electrical problems while the two Elva's were obliged to return to the pits regularly in order to remove the water which was inundating their distributors. Miguel Langin made his way through the pack and moved up to first place before handing over the wheel to Bernard Moreau for the second part of the race. The Ford GT 40 of Claude Nahum, Bernard Thuner and also Andrew Newall, slightly handicapped by its fuel consumption, edged its way up the final podium. Bernard Moreau gradually moved up on the BMW M1 to take over the lead and hang on to it with one lap ahead of the chequered flag over De Sadeleer and Traber, who took a magnificent second in their fabulous car. In difficulty at the start of the race, British drivers Paul Ingram, Chris Chiles father and son, drove consistently to take the third step on the podium at the expense of the Ford GT40 but which did take the win in the SP2 category. Decidedly not at ease and not able to move up enough during the rare quieter moments, the Sport Prototypes of Nicolet and Lafargue or of Laurent Fort and Brian Casey (Crossle 9S), could do not better than sixth and seventh place, ahead of the pack of Chevron B16's and Elva MK8's. In Group 3, Dominique Mathon and Christophe Decultot took their second win in the Porsche 911 3-litre RS of LD Racing. The fighting was still ferocious in this category, Jean-Pierre Grave and Michel Artero, for whom victory looked promised right from the start of the race and who were even third on scratch at mid-race, had to be contented with the second step on the podium with Eric Havette just missing snatching it from them before the chequered flag after taking over the wheel from Dominique Nury in the third 911 3-litre RS. In the Championnat de France, the TVR Griffith of Eric Van de Vyver and Philippe Burel encountered misting up problems obliging it to make frequent pit-stops and finished third. It was Philippe Giauque and Fabio Spirgi who won in their Porsche 911 2-litre ahead of that of Séverine Moreau Langin and Franck Lamanna, decidedly very on form this season after their win at Jarama.
Race classification:
Fastest lap: Bernard Moreau and Miguel Langin, Porsche 911 3-litre RSR in 2′48″107, (125.10 km/h) Championnat de France Endurance VHC classification on www.vdev.fr. Challenge Endurance VHC classification on www.vdev.fr. Challenge Funyo Race 1: A promising start for Lahaye
Right from the first run through the Verrerie S-bends, Hottinguer and Lahaye overtook Peltier. Hottinguer seemed to be getting away, when, in the third lap, the amazing Lahaye made an unsuccessful plunge on him through the Mistrale chicane. Behind them, constructor Yves Orhant, had snatched third place from Peltier, decidedly not on pace for the first race but holding off a hungry pack with lots of cut and thrust between Heriau, Monclair and Poussin. The two leaders put on a good show and at mid-race Lahaye eventually got the better of Hottinguer. Unstoppable, Heriau dispatched all of this rivals moving up to third with Hottinguer, still a threat. For his first race, Desmoulins took a promising sixth place at the chequered flag, just behind Orhant, outdistanced by the leading group. The battle was still raging behind Lahaye and positions changed regularly. Hottinguer was stripped of third place by Peltier taking a podium place at home. Monclair was helpless in spite of attacking flat out and finished second, at only one tenth of a second from Lahaye, scoring a win in his first race. The advice of his brother Mathieu had borne its first fruit and his "sponsor" for the weekend, Jacques Nicolet, was there to present the trophy. Race 1 classification 1:
Fastest lap: Michel-Thierry Peltier, Funyo 4 RC in 2′26″096, (143.95 km/h)
Race 2: A first for Monclair
On the third lap, Heriau was ahead of Lahaye, Monclair and Peltier, but positions kept changing and the podium was uncertain right to the finish. The North chicane, the entry to Signes or the double right-hander at Beausset, were the theatres of lots of overtaking in the leading group but also in the different bunches of cars which had formed in the rest of the pack. At three laps from the finish, Lahaye, slip-streaming Heriau through the Signes bend, seemed to have lost it and did a magnificent spin preventing him from taking a second podium place in spite of fighting hard to get back. Heriau, in the lead three minutes from the finish, was defending his position but could not hold off the very fast Monclair, and a last slip at the Verrerie calmed him down and meant he had to give it all he had to hold onto his second place at the line ahead of the threat from Peltier. Monclair scored his first win of the season. Race 2 classification:
Fastest lap: Jean-Baptiste Lahaye, Funyo 4 RC en 2′23″970, (146.08 km/h) Race 3: Confirmation by Monclair
In their battle for fourth place, Peltier and Hottinguer lost touch with the leading bunch and ended up in a very manly dispute at the chequered flag with Hottinguer taking the advantage. Jacques Fontbonne cut his losses and took sixth place. Ahead, Monclair, Lahaye and Heriau were closely bunched and swapped places every lap if not every bend. They put on a splendid show, of a rare ferociousness. Monclair broke away a little and the battle between Lahaye and Heriau profited Hottinguer and Peltier who made the most of a little slip by Heriau to pose him a threat. He fought back hard and got the advantage of Lahaye to take second place. Monclair confirmed his ambitions for the season by winning by a margin of two and a half seconds, quite a distance in this very hotly disputed Challenge. Race 3 classification :
Fastest lap: Michel-Thierry Peltier, Funyo 4 RC in 2′27″026, (143.04 km/h) Challenge Funyo classification: 1. David Monclair, 116 pts, 2. Jean-Baptiste Lahaye, 99 pts, 3. François Heriau, 98 pts, etc… 23 finishers.
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There
was no room for pussy-footing in this last event of the season with
three contenders for the title all going head-to-head. After losing the
lead in the Challenge at Magny-Cours, David Loger and Eric Mouez were
under pressure with Nourry Compétition team boss, Michel Nourry. However
they kept their nerve and drove a perfect race in spite of much faster
cars.
With
the support of Michel Mitieus in the Porsche 911 3-litre RSR of the Team
Polybaie, Bernard Moreau and Miguel Langin were able to enter this race
with their two Porsches. Second in the modern class, they won in VHC and
took the title by successfully racing two cars designed 30 years apart.
In the category reserved for Sport Protoypes, Yann Le Calvez and Lionel
Robert won in their Elva MK8 in spite of a difficult race.
Title
winners a month ago at the Magny-Cours 6 Hours, gentleman driver
Philippe Mondolot and champion David Zollinger were intent on finishing
the season in style. In spite of the presence of numerous British and
Portuguese drivers all intent on winning, the drivers of the Team Picard
Norma M20 F honed by the Lédenon Palmyr stable, took an undisputed win
after occupying the lead position for 6 hours.
Generally
finding it easy against the GT’s, the Sport Prototypes almost always
take the overall win but with rain on Saturday morning, the GT’s left
them standing right from the first laps, monopolising the top positions.
But
the Challenge is not over yet, neither in GT, nor in Proto and the last
rendez-vous at Estoril will decide the championship.
The
Palmyr marque and its leading team in the Challenge, Philippe Mondolot
and David Zollinger, had to contend with managing the last two races
with the Norma provided by the Team Picard. Although a win was not
essential, panache was needed. On a rain-soaked track, half of the race
run at night, the task was somewhat perilous.
The
team has multiple reasons for celebrating with its third car which took
victory in the very coveted gentlemen drivers category for drivers of
over fifty years old. Jean-Marc Menahem, Gérard Le Corre and Didier Beck
finished ahead of Tony Freeman and Duncan Williams while Marc Faggionato
and Philippe Haezebrouck completed the podium.
Sunday
morning saw sunshine bathing the field of Tourisme and GT cars with the
track still a little damp at the start. The cars running wet tyres
included the Ferrari F430 with a space behind them and only Xavier
Pompidou keeping up as the former took the lead.
The
three Sport Prototypes powered by BMW 2-litre engines which occupied the
front of the start put in some superb racing with the outcome uncertain
right to the finish.
Lionel
Robert took off in second putting in a tremendous performance to bring
him within a few lengths of the Chevron B26 with the finish in view.
For
their third outing Team Imsa Performance Matmut got stuck in right from
practice, qualifying their Porsche 997 RSR of Raymond Narac and Philippe
Polette on pole ahead of the stars of the Challenge, Jean-Paul Pagny and
Thierry Perrier in a Ferrari F430 and Miguel Langin and Bernard Moreau
in a Porsche 996 RSR.
The
Silhouettes proved particularly brilliant, while the Mercedes of
Jean-Pierre Lacoste and Julien Guerne threw in the towel at mid-race,
the Renault Mégane Trophy driven by Christophe Lemée was battling it out
with the Ferrari F430 of Daniel Desbruères and the Porsche 997 Cup S of
Philippe Greisch. It was lying second at mid-race but unfortunately
retired twenty-five minutes from the finish with a faulty petrol pump.
On
the Palmyr team’s home territory, where its two favourite drivers grew
up, David Zollinger, teamed up with Philippe Mondolot and Grégory
Fargier partnered Léo Van Sande. They had no intention of letting anyone
else take pole either.
nitially
programmed to run 6 hours, the racing only lasted 3 hrs 40 min. Polemen
in the Lola T286, Jean-Marc Luco and Maurice Basso had hoped for a good
race, but they didn't get it all their own way, the rapid Lola T70 of
David Ferrer and Dominique Guenat alongside them on the grid saw to that
Yann
Le Calvez and Lionel Robert made in-roads into the Challenge general
classification. In the company of Loïc Deman, they finished just ahead
of the other Elva MK8 of the team headed by Sylvain Guanzini and Marc
Alloend-Bessand, teaming up for this race with Philippe Tissandier.
This
race was another cliff-hanger and the change in the Challenge landscape
continued with the clear-cut win by polemen David Zollinger and Philippe
Mondolot in the Palmyr team Norma M20F.
In
brilliant sunshine, this 3-hour race saw a third Mosler MT900 R entered
by the British importer for the marque, Martin Short, sharing the drive
with his compatriot Jon Barnes. 
The
weather, which looked uncertain, spared most of the weekend allowing for
some great t racing on this fabulous track. The mix of modern GTs and
VHCs was another great success which resulted in several cliff-hangers
in both categories while the Sport Protos once again demonstrated their
high level of competitiveness. All in all everyone left really impressed
by the EuroSpeedway. 
Once again, the Sport Protos 8-hour race was excellent, with only 0.6
seconds between the first two at the flag. 
British drivers Ryan Hooker and Derrick Collin, having run a superb race
in the Norma M20 F of Norma UK, took third step on the podium in spite
of a late ’splash and dash’ 20 minutes from the finish which enabled
them to fight off Julien Schell and David Caussanel. They had made their
way back up from the bask of the field after losing laps at the end of
their first handover, running out of fuel on the track with the Ligier
JS51!
For
once the Sport Protos enjoyed the last sunny day of the
weekend(Saturday) and they ranunder ideal weather conditions. Ander and
Andres Vilariño notched up their second win in a row but only after they
dealt with problems early on. A big off for Angela on Friday, though
fortunately not serious. did some damage in the Norma M20 F shared with
Jordi Pujol plus there were problems with his car's set-up. As a result
Ander could do no better than seventh in practice. 
Surely
the most well-matched team on the grid, Philippe Haezebrouck and Marc
Faggionato ran a perfect race to take third place at the finish in their
Norma M20 F, after fighting off the very fast Norma M20 F of Grégory
Fargier and Jean-Marc Menahem, in fourth place. David Zollinger provided
his co-driver Philippe Mondolot with his first podium, in second place,
behind Ander and Andres Vilariño, for their second win in two races.
The
track was rain-drenched for Sunday morning and the very full field of
thirty-five GT and Tourisme cars had to contend with a rain-soaked
track. Starting from pole, the Porsche 997 Cup S of Nourry Compétition,
in the hands of David Loger and Eric Mouez, had a trouble-free run
taking advantage of the experience of Michel Nourry to take a win.
Mosler
MT900 R of Manuel Ferreira and Ludovic Bour moved up with the leaders
until the steering wheel gearbox controls failed resigning Ludovic Bour
once again to the bottom step of the podium.
The
rain seemed to have held off for the mid-day break, but was twice as
heavy for the start, and the VHC competitors had quite a difficult race,
resulting in lots of pit stops, leaving the way open to Bernard Moreau
and Miguel Langin, second in Spain, to take their first and superb win
at the wheel of their Porsche 911 3-litre RSR. 
The
smallest car in the field, the MGB of Jean-Pierre Maingault and Vincent
Le Besne enabled its drivers to fulfil their initial objective, which
was to finish their first race. Unfortunately, they were derived of the
third step on the GTS11 podium just a few lengths from the finish by the
Porsche 911 2-litre of Patrick Brossard and Jean-Pierre Mothe.
The
practice session, unique for the Funyos, saw the event's local man,
Marseille driver Michel-Thierry Peltier, take a superb pole position
ahead of rookie Jean-Baptiste Lahaye, just 17 years old. Come-back man
Philippe Hottinguer, a former Endurance and Sprint Proto champion, took
third place.
Monclair
started from pole but was under threat from a pack headed by Lahaye,
Heriau, Peltier, Orhant and Fontbonne, the reigning Champion, who was
finally on pace. After a little slip in the first lap, Hottinguer was in
the middle of the pack and had a slight brush with Brulon through
Signes. Havette, surprised by his return to the track, hit him while
reversing, and his race ended there.
With
a start grid the same as for the second race for the front positions,
the race start was hectic again. Yves Orhant caused panic in the bunch
by doing a perfect pirouette at the Signes bend. Nobody touched, but
Lahaye, Monclair and Heriau made the most of it to put some air between
themselves and the pack.