Welcome back, everybody, to the Paul Ricard circuit in Le Castellet, France. As promised, it is time to cover race two of the weekend for the SRO GT2 European Series. Earlier, we saw a thrilling 50-minute encounter, and this next one of the same duration should be no different. I have discovered I have time to bring you the second race, today. That was not the original plan, but I am generous, so, you shall receive a bonus. So, we are set to get underway as the cars have been released for the pit lane. Race one we had this morning was great. New drivers, teams, and cars in the championship this year. SRO have worked on advancing the category. A good entry stimulates a good entry. We have 17 cars entered. This morning's race that we brought to you earlier was another victory for the Maserati GT2 and the #1 LP Racing entry of Leonardo Gorini and Carlo Tamburini.
Carlo Tamburini is making his way to the grid now. Leonardo Gorini has made the switch from Porsche in 2023 to Maserati in 2024. We saw the other Maserati with Philippe Prette at the controls, tagged into a spin in race one earlier today. Poor old Philippe Prette lost time but came third in the Am class. The mandatory pit delta time here is 128 seconds, but then, factor in the pit stop penalty situation that we discussed at length in the first race of the day today. You carry 10, 7, or 5 extra seconds. Safety cars will also put the cat among the pigeons. Now we look at the #61 Mercedes-AMG GT2. This is the #61 Akkodis ASP car of Benjamin and Mauro Ricci, and Benjamin is taking the start.
Mauro Ricci is Benjamin's dad. The SRO story began here with the old BPR GT series in 1994 after Group C prototypes went away. Back then, there were Porsche's, Ferrari's, and Venturi's, and 30 years later, it is still going strong. We have a good look at the #10 Racing Lab KTM Crossbow with Danish driver Jacob Mathiassen starting the race. He is sharing the car with Ronnie Bremer. Matthiasen was tagged into a spin in race one this morning. The car is run by a team that Ronnie Bremer owns. We are also taking a look at the Maserati of Philippe Prette. His son, Louis Prette, races in Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe for the GT3 cars also here this weekend of course.
The grid here is based on a standalone qualifying session. The Am class pole sitting car is the second Akkodis ASP Mercedes-AMG GT2, the #87 entry shared by the French duo of Gilles Vannelet and Jean Luc Beaubelique. Vannelet will start this 50-minute race and Beaubelique will finish. We had two KTM's retire from the first race earlier today. Both of them, KTM's. Speaking of KTM, Simon Birch is also ready to go again. We'll be keeping an eye on him as he begins the race from fourth on the grid. Incidentally, David Addison in the commentary box, and Antonia Rankin in the pit lane, will take us through this second GT2 race of the day.
Leonardo Gorini and the team at LP Racing are confident they can sweep. He will do the second stint having done the opening race in race one. Mato Homola, the touring car racer from Croatia, he starts the #89 RTR Projects KTM Crossbow that he will hand over later in the race, to co-driver Jan Krabec from the Czech Republic. Keep an eye too on the dayglow green and black #812 KTM Crossbow. This is the MZR Motosportzentrum-Ried KTM being shared by Martin Koch and Reinhard Kofler. Kofler was quick but he copped a penalty for a collision with Philippe Prette and did not lose a place, thankfully.
Alright. The engines fire up and the mechanics leave the grid, and then, we'll be in business. Some drivers use a co-driver in these short races while others fly Marco Solo. With a co-driver you can split costs and that driver isn't cream crackered by the end of the two races in the same day. Of course, by cream crackered, I mean absolutely spent. Other drivers want to have the car to themselves and fly solo so they can maximize their track time and focus on their own races. Carlo Tamburini makes the move up to GT2 in SRO in 2024 after racing in the Italian GT Championship last year.
Our manufacturer breakdown shows seven KTM Crossbows (they are very economical to race), three Maserati's, five Mercedes', a Porsche, and an Audi. Last year's GT2 Pro-Am champions, Henry Hassid and Anthony Beltoise, they are not in the championship in 2024. Jan Krabec steps up to Pro-Am from Am. He won the 2023 Am championship title. Other former champions have also moved on to other motorsports or retired, and these drivers include such names as Stijns Longin and Nicolas Saelens, have moved on. The same is true for the original 2020 GT2 champions, Mark Patterson and Anders Fjordbach.
Laura Kraihamer and Hubert Trunkenpolz start their KTM Crossbow shotgun on the field and Hubert Trunkenpolz and his family are the T in the KTM name. Now, we have a problem. One of the Mercedes' is laboring at the back of the queue and not catching up to everyone else. This is odd. That could be Jorg Viebahn's car, the #888 NM Racing Team Mercedes-AMG GT2 the German is sharing with Frenchman Stephane Perrin. Jorg Viebahn is now rolling again and will need to start at the back. Viebahn appears to have an intermittent issue because the car speeds up and then it immediately slows.
Maybe he is running the gas pedal against the brake pedal to get temperature into the brakes and tires. He should be fine now. Viebahn has raced GT4 cars for years. It is five minutes before 7:00 P.M. in the evening here at Paul Ricard. It is possible we could end the race in the darkness. Stay with us to find out. OK. Fanatec GT2 European Series Paul Ricard race two is about to begin. The light flash green and away we go! Tamburini gets the jump and poor old Reinhard Kofler is left eating his dust. Everyone survives turn one even though it appears the Mercedes of Loris Hezemans gets loose.
Simon Birch is in third place and we have a couple cars running wide over the curbs and onto to those distinctive painted lines on the outside of the circuit. That paint is very rough, like sandpaper. It has tungsten in it I believe and is a replacement for either gravel traps or fully paved runoff here at Paul Ricard. That was the Gilles Vannelet Mercedes that ran wide. Benjamin Ricci in another Mercedes is also delayed slightly. The drone is in fifth spot, look, as we get these great pictures from just above the track surface of the cars racing around.
Through Virage du Camp they go. The pack has scattered and shuffled, and poor old Gilles Vannelet has falled down the order. Patrick Dinkeldein in the Porsche 911 GT2 RS, the #77 Proton Competition car, defends from the Mercedes of Gilles Vannelet. These two have gone around Laura Kraihamer in the KTM. Stephane Ratel, the SRO boss, he is also back there in his Audi. Vannelet, a man on a mission and poor old Patrick Dinkeldein gets hung out to dry. Tamburini runs wide out of the chicane and now Reinhard Kofler sees his chance. No dice on the outside as Tamburini slams the door in his face. Kofler tries doing the switcheroo on the inside towards Signe corner. No dice there as Simon Birch has a birds' eye view of all this.
Kofler does make his move on Tamburini! Well, well, well. The battle we expected in race one is indeed happening in race two and Simon Birch says, "they're having a little party, and they didn't invite me!" So, he is going to barge in as an uninvited guest, definitely. Discretion though, is the better part of valor. It is now a battle of the KTM's down into the first turn, Homola vs. Birch. No dice, again as Birch goes through unscathed. The first lap incident was between Vannelet and Ricci, noted by Race Control. Hezemans wants a bite of the cherry now and to get past Mathiasen. Jorg Viebahn is just fine. He has solved the issues the car had before the race started.
Stephane Ratel has just uncorked the fastest lap of the race so far. However, it was right at the start of the race. The road is clear as Gilles Vannelet is going for a pass on Klaus Angerhofer in another of the KTM's. Angerhofer in the #16 True Racing KTM Crossbow he shares with Sehdi Sarmini. Birch hanging on to the place. Razoon more than racing vs. RTR Projects. The gap is 1.2 seconds between leader Reinhard Kofler and second place driver Carlo Tamburini. There are five KTM's in the top six as we speak.
Tamburini's Maserati is the interloper. Let's take a quick peek at the running order.
1. #812 Koch/Kofler MZR Motorsportzentrum-Reid KTM X-Bow GT2
2. #1 Gorini/Tamburini LP Racing Maserati GT2
3. #80 Andersen/Birch Razoon - More Than Racing KTM X-Bow GT2
4. #89 Krabc/Homola RTR Projects KTM X-Bow GT2
5. #90 Liebl/Olbert Razoon - More Than Racing KTM X-Bow GT2
6. #10 Mathiassen/Bremer RacingLab KTM X-Bow GT2
7. #98 Hezemans/De Doncker Motorsport 98 Mercedes-AMG GT2
8. #2 Prette LP Racing Maserati GT2
9. #61 Ricci/Ricci Akkodis ASP Team Mercedes-AMG GT2
10. #888 Perrin/Viebahn NM Racing Team Mercedes-AMG GT2
11. #24 Leroy TFT Racing Maserati GT2
12. #87 Beaubelique/Vannelet Akkodis ASP Team Mercedes-AMG GT2
13. #16 Angerhofer/Sarmini True Racing KTM X-Bow GT2
14. #53 Gibbon/Bourret Akkodis ASP Team Mercedes-AMG GT2
15. #88 Ratel LP Racing Audi R8 LMS GT2
16. #77 Dinkeldein Proton Competition Porsche 911 GT2 RS
17. #17 Trunkenpolz/Kraihamer True Racing KTM X-Bow GT2
So, the field accelerates to turn four and we have raced for five minutes and Homola rides over the curb and gets sideways. Kraihamer continues to struggle, and Kofler is motoring ahead of Olbert. Five KTM's in the top six as we said. The pit window is between 20-30 minutes into the race. Tamburini, Birch, Homola, all of them run wide and use the curbs but there is track limits of course. So, everyone must be careful. Kofler and Tamburini are clear. Birch is third. Proton Competition with the sole Porsche in the field, have been in the SRO ranks for the last 30 years and of course they also have prototype racing efforts too, in other global endurance championships.
Ratel is chasing Bourret for position. Loris Hezemans sharing with Eric De Doncker. De Doncker is the one driver here who was on the original grid for the BPR race here at Paul Ricard in 1994. Birch third ahead now of Homola who goes off the road and then back on. He loses the spot. So, Birch must dig deep and fight back. No mopre concerns about the Ricci and Vannelet argy bargy. Reinhard Kofler's lead gap is shrinking. Reinhard Kofler will hand his KTM to Martin Koch for the second stint in the race and of course Carlo Tamburini will hand over the Maserati to Leonardo Gorini.
Kofler can take the lead back once the pit stops cycle through. The two leaders are pulling a gap over Homola and Birch. Currently, and we have indeed just checked this, but to reiterate, the top ten is Kofler, Tamburini, Homola, Birch, Olbert, Mathiassen, Hezemans, Prette, Ricci, and Viebahn. Gilles Vannelet is scrapping for and wants 11th place. But to get there, first, he must pass Alexandre Leroy. So, this battle, Mercedes vs. Maserati, is one to watch. Kofler leads Tamburini and the rest. KTM #812 leads. Reinhard Kofler started in open wheel cars, the money ran out, but then he came back to race with KTM in GT2, GT4, and the German ADAC GT Championship.
Homola, Birch, Olbert, Mathiasen, this is the battle for third through sixth I believe. Olbert getting his only running of the day as he never had a chance to race in race one earlier today. Mechanical troubles for the Audi of Stephane Ratel. He had to do a Control, Alt, Delete in race one and might do the same here. Ah. Ratel does the reset and rejoins the race. Kofler extends his lead over Tamburini. So, the KTM leads the Maserati, making good it's escape. Speaking of KTM, there are two more with Homola and Birch and Matej Homola is now being harried by Simon Birch for position.
He goes wide and then Olbert and Birch touch and make a pig's breakfast out of a great battle for position as both of them rotate! Loris Hezemans is a jolly lucky chap to get through the smoke cloud unscathed! He chose just the right moment to escape being heavily damaged and caught up in that little shemozzle. Philippe Prette also survives the melee. Local Yellows in the first sector. So, two stranded KTM Crossbow's in sector one. Remember, hot racing engines are not easy to refire. Homola and Birch come through the chicane on the Mistral straight.
Dominik Olbert, the Austrian driver, is still stranded and trying to get his KTM started again. Safety Car scramble. Safety Car scramble. The field will all bunch up, seven minutes away from the pit window. Mathiasen on the inside went through the turn, ran wide, Olbert did not see him, and tried going around the outside. Olbert had a long, lazy spin. They just barely touched and both Loris Hezemans and Philippe Prette were a couple jolly lucky blokes to get through that mess without any damage. All of these laps count under the safety car within the 50 minutes of the race scheduled. Stephane Ratel, sadly, into the pit lane, and more woe for the Audi.
Reinhard Kofler will be fuming in his helmet because his lead over Carlo Tamburini has evaporated. He has to push, push, push and pour on the steam before handing the car to Martin Koch. Safety Car lights off. We need a GT2 spec Lamborghini Super Trofeo car in one of these races. We have a lovely looking Lamborghini safety car leading the field. Come on, Lamborghini. I know you have the prototype program and the GT3 cars but give us a couple of Super Trofeo's here in the GT2 Europe championship. We have one or two in the GT America series in SRO America here stateside.
OK. Safety car in this lap. Reinhard Kofler controls the pace and when we go back to green, he can get the hole shot on Carlo Tamburini. Kofler accelerates at the last moment as we are back to green. Kofler is 6/10ths of a second ahead as Simon Birch passes Loris Hezemans under braking. If one of the two drivers who is quicker in the pairs, will stay on track as long as possible. Now the KTM's are ganging up on the Maserati. Through they turn at Signes at the end of the Mistral straight. Philippe Prette fending off the challenge of Benjamin Ricci. Prette, Ricci, Viebahn in a battle of their own but the difference is that I believe Ricci is a Pro-Am while Prette and Viebahn are Am rated drivers.
Mauro Ricci, Benjamin Ricci's dad, will take over the car. Reinhard Kofler sets fastest lap at 2:05 dead. 2:05.068. Kofler away and gone and Carlo Tamburini is being harried by Matej Homola. Tamburini must try fending off Homola, with a background in TCR touring cars. Tamburini is a touring car turned GT racer. Tamburini's Maserati GT2 is a bit twitchy. I am not sure the handling is right on the money and the KTM Crossbow of Homola seems more planted through the turns.
The pit window is open for those running at the rear, and for the frontrunners, they will run another lap before hitting the lane. No pit stops yet. Homola wants to pass towards the chicane. Homola goes inside and just about squeezes up the inside of Tamburini! Very strange that the KTM's are coming to the fore in race two. He must be mindful of the KTM of Simon Birch as well as Gilles Vannelet and Jorg Viebahn have their own battle among the two Mercedes'. Carlo Tamburini, a lap before halfway, he pits to hand over to Leonardo Gorini, and so does Philippe Prette.
So, LP Racing are in a position now of double stacking their cars. 128 seconds in the pit lane line to line plus ten additional seconds of time for having finished first, second or third in race one. A very confusing pit rule for the GT2 cars if you ask me. Gorini and Prette will come back on the track and Reinhard Kofler, the Austrian, leads Matej Homola, the Slovakian driver. Leonardo Gorini will be ready to go after a 2:18 pit stop. Like it was for a long time in SRO America (but is no longer), there is a minimum pit stop time with a one second joker granted, but the team can use it in only one of the two scheduled races each weekend.
Prette leads Gorini and Gorini has more overtaking to do. Kofler has clear road ahead. That is the MZR KTM #812. Reinhard Kofler making up ground before he hands the car over to Jan Krabec for the second stint. Homola though, has uncorked fastest lap of the race at 2;04.8. Homola's best, a 2:04.9. In sector one he is a whisker slower than Kofler, but Homola goes quicker in sector two. He is giving it everything. Now, car #10 which has rejoined the race, is Jacob Mathiasen. He was under investigation for his pit stop time and his co-driver he handed the car to, Ronnie Bremer, is under the sword of Damocles for that and could cop a penalty from the stewards.
Mathiasen's day has been fraught. Both KTM's have rejoined the race down the order with a puff of smoke out of Homola's KTM. Kofler resets fastest lap at 2:04.6. Net advantage to Homola. A couple of cars have just rejoined the race including Alexandre Leroy's Maserati and Sehdi Sarmini's KTM. Many track limits warnings and driving standards flags. Laura Kraihamer must serve a five second penalty on the pit stop. A bad race this evening for Laura Kraihamer and Hubert Trunkenpolz. Seven track limit warnings. Six is grounds for a penalty. Reinhard Kofler has now run 13 laps, into the second half of the race, 47 miles.
22 minutes and change left on the board. In Am, Gilles Vannelet leads Jorg Viebahn who will hand over to Stephane Perrin and Jean Luc Beaubelique will serve a time penalty after winning the Am class in race one. Alexnadre Leroy rejoins the race. Everyone else is pitting this time by including Kofler, Homola, Birch, Hezemans, Vannelet, and more. Leonardo Gorini goes by and Philippe Prette unlaps himself. Martin Koch is getting into his KTM and so is Jan Krabec. Prette and Gorini are back on the lead lap and where will they cycle through when the KTM's come back on track?
Leonardo Gorini came into this championship with Porsche but is now driving for the trident of Maserati. Simon Birch hands his KTM to Thomas Andersson, so Andersson, look, leapfrogs Jan Krabec. Prette and Gorini in the Maserati's were the big losers. Eric De Doncker, the Belgian veteran racer, has moved up to second and De Doncker is the only driver who was here for the first BPR endurance GT sports car race, the precursor to modern day SRO competition, 30 years ago, at Paul Ricard, for the first race in the championship's history, back in 1994. It would be awesome to see him on the podium,
Mauro Ricci is ahead of Stephane Perrin who has taken over the #888 Akkodis ASP Mercedes-AMG GT2 from Jorg Viebahn. The boys down at the Maserati pit must be wondering how everything has become unraveled and how they have to rework their strategy for what is left of this race now with 18 minutes remaining on the board. Oy yoy yoy. Now, Stephane Perrin is under investigation for the pit stop time by the SRO stewards. He was three seconds short and may cop a penalty for that transgression. He is the Am leader but may not do so much longer.
Philippe Prette passes offline through Virage du Pont. The top ten has reshuffled entirely. Koch leading Andersen, Krabec, De Doncker, Ricci, Prette, Perrin, Gorini, Beaubelique, and Leroy, the top ten. Gorini was lapping in the 2:06 range, two full seconds slower than Kofler and Homola at 2:04. Leonardo Gorini has a mountain to climb in the last 16 minutes as Krabec passes Andersen. Eric De Doncker is next up. He has raced BPR, GT3 Europe, and GT4, over his 30-year career, so a lot of time in this specific championship in several different cars and specifications and rulesets through the years. The man knows his way around a Grand Touring racer.
Philippe Prette leads the Am division and just needs to bring it home. Winning in class is his main objective. Prette is a champion in Ferrari Challenge, and he is right on Eric De Doncker's six now. 15 minutes of racing now remaining as Prette makes the pass on De Doncker through Virage de l'Hotel. Gorini is continuing to close on De Doncker and has made his way around Mauro Ricci. Gorini out of Signes corner and into Le Beauseilles. Gorini chasing De Doncker. The Maserati seems to have more pace than the Mercedes does. De Doncker goes wide, opening the door and Gorini goes through. Man, oh man. That Maserati is a loose race car! Gorini is hanging onto that beast as it wags it's tail through the turn!
The lead battle of the KTM's is heating up and Jan Krabec will soon be all over Martin Koch like a cheap suit. 9/10ths of a second between these two chaps. Down the Mistral again. Krabec is quicker eating 4/10ths out of the gap in sector one alone! Krabec cannot pass and has to duck back in. Martin Koch knows Krabec is right there, and Thomas Andersen is falling away. 17 laps now done. 61 miles in the books. 11 minutes remaining. Krabec is gaining steadily on Koch. This is going to be a humdinger to the bitter end, ladies and gentlemen. Nobody has this one in the bag yet.
Krabec has a Captain Cook to the inside but, no. Koch cannot afford to give an inch. Through Virage du Camp and onto San Boem corner. Jan Krabec is focusing on his target, and I think we are going to end this race before dark. No worries about that. Thomas Andersen is third and Philippe Prette is reeling him in. Prette is taking Leonardo Gorini with him. Martin Koch ahead of Jan Krabec. Krabec actually came out of the 24 Hour Series, the Creventic endurance championship we have covered so many videos of races from that championship on the blog before.
Koch needs a good exit of the final turn to retain his momentum. Koch has one warning on track limits and Krabec has two. Andersen and Prette run third and fourth. Gorini runs in fifth spot. Andersen runs wide and now Prette makes the pass and Andersen has to give it up. Gorini too, makes the pass. Gorini wants by Prette and gets the job done but Andersen dives back past Prette. Prette is fighting back out of the chicane and says, "dude, I was ahead of you!" Hat tip to Andersen for a cheeky move. The Jorg Viebahn and Stephane Perrin Mercedes will have 13 seconds of a time penalty and at the same time, ten seconds of a time penalty will be added to the Ronnie Bremer and Jacob Mathiassen KTM.
Koch ahead of Krabec, a KTM 1-2. Gorini's last lap was a 2:06.7 and is over a second a lap quicker than Koch who ran a 2:08. Just under six minutes to go and Gorini is flying right now. The KTM's might be taken by surprise. Koch leads Krabec. Gorini and Prette are both closing in. Andersen in fifth and Beaubelique in sixth. Koch is motoring away from Krabec who is falling into Gorini's clutches and that might potentially save Martin Koch's bacon on this one. Koch is a second clear of Krabec while Gorini seems to be much quicker than his rivals ahead. Gorini is truly going for it right now. The Maserati can stretch it's legs on the straightaways compared to the KTM's.
Gorini is the shark and the KTM's are the minnows in this situation. Koch leads and Krabec has his hands full with Gorini. Gorini can see both KTM's ahead through Virage du Pont. Gorini has a chance to beat the KTM's. Gorini is a man on a mission! He rattles over the curbs. The KTM's are nimble through the turns. Gorini brakes late. No gap through turn five or turn six. The Maserati absolute screams onto the straightaway. Krabec the king of the late brakers and goes back to the inside and takes the spot away! He knew his speed was not there and he put the Maserati on ice.
You can hear Gorini cheering himself on, saying, "I know I can get him! I will get him! I will win this race!" He is running out of time. One lap to go after this. Koch might have a get out of jail free card. Krabec catching Koch and the top three are tied together up to the Virage de la Tour. Krabec knows he can't screw up through Virage de la Tour, but Gorini makes a sneaky move and he absolutely whistles past both of the KTM's in one fell swoop! Now the KTM's are giving him payback! They split Gorini in the Maserati, saying, "take that!"
Gorini is now in a world of pain because he also has fallen into the clutches of Philippe Prette! That was bananas! Damage to the Maserati, and in his overexuberance to get back past his rivals, Gorini spins off the road! Around he goes! On the last lap, Leonardo Gorini throws it away! Local Yellow flag in sector one. Half a lap remaining. Koch could have gained an advantage, but no. Leonardo Gorini is stopped dead stick. He's out of it! The top three is Koch, Krabec, and Prette. Maserati's thunder has been stolen by KTM!
Martin Koch is living a charmed life with a lap to go. But as soon as I say that, well, it's the commentator's curse! Koch runs wide and Krabec walks right through the open door and takes the lead! We have had three leaders within a lap! Martin Koch is not giving this one up easily. He will not roll over and have his tummy scratched here. He is going to fight Jan Krabec for this one! Krabec ahead of Koch. Checkers are waving. Jan Krabec and Matej Homola win by seven hundredths of a second! Philippe Prette is the Am class winner.
Overall/Pro-Am: #89 Krabec/Homola RTR Projects KTM X-Bow GT2
Am: #2 Philippe Prette LP Racing Maserati GT2
What a race! What a race! That was a great one! The burgeoning GT2 field will be one to watch as their season continues. Next time we speak to you it will be for the GT2 cars being support events for GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup at the Misano Adriatico circuit on the Adriatic coast of Italy coming up in just over two weeks. So, we'll have plenty more GT2 racing for you in a very short while. We'll see you in Italy. Bye bye for now, everyone.
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