The third round of the 2017 Blancpain GT Endurance Cup, is in the south of France, at the Paul Ricard High Tech Test Track in Le Castellet, France. Formula 1 returns to this speedway, with the return of the French Grand Prix for 2018. But, this track has also seen many sports car races, and one particularly, is the Blancpain Endurance Cup Paul Ricard 1,000 Kilometers. 1,000 Kilometers/625 miles, or six hours in duration, is the distance of this event. This is the first, of two longer endurance eevents of the season.
Your pole sitter for today's 1,000 kilometer contest is the #4 Black Falcon Mercedes AMG GT3 shared by Luca Stolz of Germany, Dutchman Yelmer Buurman, and Brit Adam Christodoulou. The heat will play a factor in this annual precursor to the 24 Hours of Spa Francorchamps, with 58 cars on the grid. Will Stevens just won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in class, and he's ready to go this weekend. Stevens is sharing the #5 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT Audi R8 with his regular co-drivers Dries Vanthoor and Marcel Fassler, of Belgium and Switzerland respectively.
Oliver Jarvis was also a winner at Le Mans, and he's ready to return to GT racing. He's happy to be back racing the Bentley Continental GT3 alongside his regular team mates in the #7 car, Steven Kane, and Guy Smith. Former DTM champion Bruno Spengler will race for Rowe Racing in the BMW M6 GT3 #98. Spengler knows it is a learning experience. He relishes the opportunity. His co-drivers are Markus Palttala of Finland, and British BMW DTM ace Tom Blomqvist. Palttala has become a true veteran of BMW in the GT3 ranks.
Attempto Racing and Clement Mateu are ready to race with Lamborghini. Clement Mateu of France, is sharing the #67 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 with Italy's Giorgio Maggi, and Dutchman Max van Splunteren, another veteran of Blancpain Endurance and GT3 competition. Many Mercedes AMG GT3s are in the field. Jules Gounon, son of Formula 1 and sports car veteran Jean Marc Gounon, is one of the drivers for AKKA ASP. Jules Gounon is sharing the Pro Am #87 entry with fellow Frenchman Jean Luc Beaubelique, and Nico Bastian of Germany.
The Oman Racing Team Aston Martin is also set to race as Jonny Adam won class at Le Mans last weekend as well. Adam and team boss Ahmad al-Harthy welcome Turkish driver Salih Yoluc to the squad for this weekend's six hour adventure. This race will run into the night time hours before it ends. Six Hours of racing is ahead of us. Extra points are on offer even though it is a warmup for Spa. 33 points for a win, 24 for second, 19 for third, and so on.
We're set to go. SRO President Stephane Ratel, has had a lot to celebrate lately. He got married, and he has been in the racing business for 25 years. That will be celebrated in November. The grid is amazing. On pole, again is the Black Falcon Mercedes and Yelmer Buurman will start even though he's hurt after falling off his bicycle and hurting his shoulder. Adam Christodoulou is also in the car. Buurman's shoulder has been bothering him, but he still got the pole. The AMG Mercedes isn't the quickest car here this weekend.
Lots of drivers to watch on this grid. We're ready to race. Six hours, coming up, now! Lights out, and it's go time! Yelmer Buurman is inside along with Viktor Shaytar into turn one. A couple cars run off the road and get back on. Viktor Shaytar, Guy Smith, and Stephane Ortelli all battle. Bentley, Jaguar, and Ferrari. Katsumasa Chiyo flies past Dries Vanthoor. The Nissan's run 177 miles an hour on the Mistral straight. Oooh! He's off the road at Signes corner! Chiyo san has just run off the road! Yikes! He had the aero draft at 290 kilometers an hour. No damage to the car.
Michael Meadows and others run wide. Meadows is in the #90 AKKA ASP Mercedes AMG GT3, and the Briton is sharing with Italians Raffaele Marciello and Edoardo Mortara. Stephane Ortelli, Maximilian Buhk, and others, follow early on as the field is sorting itself out right now. We fast forward and Maximilian Buhk is trying Vincent Abril. It's a battle between Mercedes and Bentley early on in the six hour race.
Into L'Ecole (turn four, the racing school turn), Nico Muller and Felix Serralles battle. Seralles in the Mercedces has the power over Muller. We're six minutes into the race. In case you are wondering, Felix Seralles, the Puerto Rican shares the car with Spain's Daniel Juncadella, and for this event at Paul Ricard, they are joined by Renger van der Zande of Holland, a name we hear a lot on the United States sports car scene, especially in IMSA competition. Katsumasa Chiyo will be kicking himself trying to go past the BMW. Turbo V6 vs. turbo V8. Chiyo, I believe is trying to get around either Maxime Martin or Bruno Spengler, in one of the two Rowe Racing M6 GT3's.
Both of those cars have strong lineups. The #98 is shared by Spengler, Markus Palttala, and Tom Blomqvist, while #99 has on the driver's strength, Philipp Eng, Maxime Martin, and Alexander Sims.
Through Signes corner. Chiyo passes and is now 25th. Contact and Pasin Lathouras spins off at Signes corner. Jake Dennis makes contact with him, trying to make a pass. This kerfuffle is a nil nil draw. Pasin Lathouras is way down in 34th spot, and the Thai driver shares his Ferrari 488 GT3 with experienced Italians, in the form of Alessandro Pier Guidi and Michele Rugolo.
Pasin Lathouras is way down in 34th spot. Jake Dennis, if you are wondering, he's British, and sharing one of the Team WRT Audi R8s, (car #17), in this race with fellow Brit Stuart Leonard, and a hot shoe for Audi, Robin Frijns from Holland who has also starred in Formula E. This team, is littered with star power in terms of it's driver squads for this race and any Blancpain Endurance race. Their #1 entry is being piloted by GT ace Antonio Garcia of Spain, who recently raced with Corvette Racing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Garcia is paired up with Nico Muller and Rene Rast. The #2 WRT car has a slightly different lineup here at Paul Ricard from the past couple races, and features Christopher Mies of Germany, Pieter Schothorst from Holland, and Belgium's Frederic Vervisch.
Vervisch has been running quite frequently in Blancpain GT competition in endurance and in sprint.
Eight laps in as Yelmer Buurman is followed by Viktor Shaytar. Shaytar is driving the opening stint in the #72 SMP Racing Ferrari 488 GT3. Shaytar of Russia, is sharing with former Audi DTM racer Miguel Molina who is now a factory Ferrari GT driver and Davide Rigon, the Italian, a familiar name to Ferrari fans in Blancpain and perhaps also in the FIA World Endurance Championship. Rigon has made some starts in the IMSA endurance races as well to my knowledge.
Fredrric Vervisch and Marco Seefried scrap. Vervisch is off the road and here comes Maxime Martin who can't squeeze past. So, some definite contact between the Audi and the BMW. The #51 Ferrari for AF Corse is crunched, and so is a Porsche and its unclear who is in that other car. Well, if it's a Porsche 911 and it's the Blancpain Endurance Series, that means it cane be one and only one. The #911 Herberth Motorsports entry shared by the German trio of our pals Jurgen Haring, and the Renauer brothers, Altfrid and Robert.
It's a fraught race for the Herberth squad and all the names aforementioned. Yikes! We have a full course yellow. Marco Seefried almost rams into Felix Seralles! Porsche #76 tries to enter the corner over the Ferrari, and pays dearly. Another Porsche, you ask. OK. Let's find out who this chap is. My apologies, and a correction. #76 happens to be an Audi. This is the second ISR entered Audi R8 for this race, in the hands of Jamie Green, Kelvin van der Linde of South Africa, and Frank Stippler. You will recall, Kelvin van der Linde was part of the winning Land Motorsports Audi squad in the Nurburgring 24 Hours last month. Maximilian Buhk is stuck in traffic nas a half hour into this race is the Reiter Lamborghini Huracan GT3 of Tomas Enge.
In the lane is Maximilian Buhk for a pit stop. Now, did someone go over the curb? Someone ran off the road, over a curb on the test track. Tomas Enge is the one who crashed and he's out of it. Game over. Enge is a guest driver in the #24 Reiter Young Stars Lamborghini Gallardo GT3. This is a Pro class entry, but it is an older Lamborghini Gallardo as opposed to the new Huracan model. The Czech sports car veteran is sharing the driving chores with Finland's Marko Helikastangas, and Australia's Caitlin Wood, who are the young rookie drivers on this team, getting their feet wet in GT racing.
Now, second, third, fourth, and others pit except for Black Falcon. Can't really pick out who else is in the top five as the pit stops happen. Viktor Shaytar and Yelmer Buurman stay out. The Bentley is way wide making a pass as Guy Smith challenges the Lamborghini. Guy Smith passes Ezequiel Perez Companc at Virage du Pont, turn ten. Smith stays left, and nudges Companc. That's a little love tap. Hour one done and dusted as we have had at least two or three retirements including Rob Bell and Come Ledogar, last year's Paul Ricard winners, will not defend their title. It is game over for the #58 entry from Strakka Racing that Ledogar and Bell share with Ben Barnicoat, who like Bell is British, while Ledogar is French. It's a shame he's out of his home race.
One hour in, and pit stop time for the #4 car, Can Marco Cioci pass Maximilian Buhk? Yes. Albert Costa in the Jaguar now leads. Buhk wants to run strategy. Costa has real pace. They made room for each other into Signes corner. That is good, clean racing between the Mercedes driver, and the Jaguar pilot. Buhk is sharing with regular team mates for HTP Motorsport, Franck Perera of France, and Sweden's Jimmy Erikson. Jaguar's lineup is also the same from previous rounds. Albert Costa, who took the race lead, shares Jaguar #14 with the car owner Lorenz Frey from Switzerland, and the veteran, and Le Mans winner, Monagasque Stephane Ortelli.
In the sister Jag, it's two rapid Pro Am drivers in Jonathan Hirschi of Switzerland and Germany's Marco Seefried, better known as a Porsche specialist, along with former Formula 1 star Christian Klien from Austria. Klien drove for Jaguar, and then, for the same team when they were rebranded as Red Bull. But now, he's found a home in GT3 racing thanks to Emil and Lorenz Frey and the Jaguar squad. We're an hour and 15 minutes into this long race. Now, we're an hour and 23 in and Andrea Pizzoli is leading Pro Am. Nico Bastian is second in Pro Am, and Guy Smith is slow. Oliver Jarvis should take over the #7 Bentley. The pit stop has to be a minute and a half. It's on it's jacks and will be wheled in on the dollies. The Bentley race is fading again. Giorgio Maggi is losing water from his Lamboghini.
Oil on the tires for one of the Audi's. That's a loose wheel for the #5 car. Marcel Fassler at the cotnrols and he has to limp the car to the lane. It's finger trouble as the wheel nut was not tightened. You have to get it on with the air impact rattle gun, and then put clips in place to hold the nut. Odds are, those clips weren't secured. Down in the lane there's drama and the Nissan is fighting with Audi #1. Alex Buncombe is battling Fabian Schiller, and Buncombe is going to roar past. That's a piece of cake pass and he does not have to move to the center of the road. Buncombe in the Nissan GT-R and Schiller in the Mercedes AMG GT3.
Schiller is again sharing a second HTP car #85, and the German is teamed with Sweden's Edward Sandstrom, and Austrian Dominik Baumann. Mercedes #88 makes it's third pit stop. You've picked a fine time to leave me loose wheel down the Mistral straight. That's Alex Fontana and the #89 Mercedes grinding along the tarmac and showering sparks. Fontana, the Swiss driver should get that car to the pit lane before even more damage is done. Fontana is sharing with countryman Daniele Perfetti, and French GT veteran Ludovic Badey.
Tom Blomquist has a rear tire gone on the #98 Rowe Racing BMW as well! Ugh! We're now into the third hour. You can't see the carbon fiber on the road and you just don't know if you'll cut down a tire. One Rowe Racing BMW has taken a hit and the Italian debutant driver is now going for it. Christian Klien passes Lorenz Frey. There's confusion ovr the condition of the Rowe BMW #98.
This race has seen loads of drama. Lorenz Frey has Miguel Molina whistling by him. Molina is going for the pass, and makes it on the outside. The leader will get a drive through penalty for crossing the white line at pit in. Tick all your boxes. James Calado is now in a battle with Christopher Mies, Raffaele Marciello, Alexander Sims, and others.
Matt Parry is also in a tough spot. That was in the Virage Du Pont. Parry is in the #22 sister Nissan GT-R to the car #23 driven by the trio of Katsumasa Chiyo, Alex Buncombe, and Lucas Ordonez. So, he shares with Struan Moore and Matt Simmons. Christopher Mies passes Lorenz Frey who is sinking down the order. Alexander Sims got wrong footed and tried Matt Parry in the Nissan. Parry goes all the way around the perimeter of the wall, and loses spots. Lorenz Frey has also lost another place. The #75 Audi passes. Alex Buncombe and Miguel Molina battle as Antonio Garcia is also pushing. Alex Buincombe, Fabian Schiller, and Antonio Garcia are the protagonists in this scrum. Can the Nissan make the pass? Alex Buncombe is trying to go for it. Now, halfway through the race, is Alexander Sims slow? He's being caught hand over fist. Maxime Martin is in the car at sunset.
Now, the Pro Am battle is getting hot. Martin Kodric passes the Aston Martin of Johnny Adam. It's bragging rights between Lamborghini and Aston Martin. Kodric, the Croatian, shares with Finland's Patrick Kujala, and Adrian Amstutz of Switzerland, in the first of two Barwell Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3's. Katsumasa Chiyo passes Daniel Juncadella. This is on the Mistral straight before Signes. Oooh. The Aston Martin from Oman Racing is off the road! Yikes! We have two and a half hours to go, and the Aston, was touched by Audi #76.
That's the second ISR entry, the Green/van der Linde/Stippler car. Now, we mvoe ahead to darkness with an hour and a half to go and Franck Perera is stopped dead stick. Problems are beginning to set in for some of the heavy hitters, ladies and gentlemen. With an hour to go, Alessandro Pier Guidi is staggering to the lane with a tire down. The leader is in as darkness is now fully shrouding the track here at Paul Ricard. Maxime Soulet in Bentley #8 leads. So, Bentley is looking good for another Paul Ricard triumph. Alessandro Pier Guidi is having trouble and will be refueled and serviced in the garage. Jonny Adam tries to pass Matt Griffin. Check that. It's Renger van der Zande. van der Zande passes and Alex Buncombe has to be patient and not do anything silly. Rene Rast walks through the open door and slams it in Alex Buncombe's face.
We spoke of Griffin, and here at Paul Ricard, he's not driving a Ferrari. He's in the third Black Falcon Mercedes Benz AMG GT3 sharing car #16. The Irishman shares that ride with Briton Oliver Morley, and Morley's other regular co-driver, Spaniard Miguel Toril. Where is the leading Black Falcon Mercedes? It's in the lane for the final stop. Luca Stolz out. Going to the checkers it is another of the drivers, and they came in too late. They are third ahead of Renger van der Zande with a half hour to go. It's Luca Stolz and Stolz is back in the lane, and he's stopped dead stick with no power. Poor old Luca Stolz. It's amazing that the leaders of this race have suffered so many technical issues. Maxime Soulet leads Davide Rigon. The top three is nearly settled. Patrick Kujala is leading Pro Am. He's trying to hold off Jonny Adam as David Perelle is penalized in Pro Am for exceeding the minimum drive time. Stephane Campenhoudt is the class leader. This is Am.
Well, the race is going to end with firworks, and Bentley is going to win at Paul Ricard in the Six Hours! Andy Soucek, Vincent Abril, and Andy Soucek run 170 laps and win Paul Ricard! On this 3.642 circuit, the Bentley boys have covered just short of 1,000 kilometers. 619 miles, 990 kilometers.
We see a repeat winner in Barwell in Pro Am, with their Lamborghini, and that squad also won round two at Silverstone back in May. Two wins on the trot for Adrian Amstutz, Patrick Kujala, and Martin Kodric. There are new winners in the Am category as well. Three different winners in the Am category in as many races. Congratulations, to Walkenhorst Motorsport and their drivers Stef van Campenhout of Belgium, and his German co-drivers David Schiwietz, and team owner/driver Henry Walkenhorst.
So, your winners in the third round of the Blancpain Endurance Series:
Overall/Pro: #8 Abril/Soucek/Soulet Bentley Continental GT3
Pro Am: #77 Amstutz/Kujala/Kodric Lamborghini Huracan GT3
Am: #36 van Campenhout/Schiwietz/Walkenhorst BMW M6 GT3
The next race is the crown jewel of the series. The Paul Ricard 1,000 Kilometers, serves as the dress rehearsal for the main stage production of the 24 Hours of Spa Francorchamps, coming up in a month's time. That race will be a barn burner, and yours truly is looking forward to covering it. We'll see ytou in a month, from Spa. It's going to be a doozy! We'll see you then. So long for now.
No comments:
Post a Comment