FFSA GTs Nogaro, April 8-9 – Race 1
Ayari And His New Team-mate Victorious

Qualifying – Narac’s Oreca Pole
The strategies were different for this opening qualifying session of the season, with some drivers rushing out as soon as the green flag felll whereas some, like the Oreca men, stayed in the pits for a while. Laurent Cazenave (#5 SRT C5-R) was quickest at the beginning of the session, ahead another C5-R, the #8 Luc Alphand Aventures entry, driven by Gabriel Balthazard.

Cazenave improved soon after with a lap time of 1'26''518, before pitting at the half-way mark of the session. He was ahead of Balthazard, Debard (#4 Tarrès Saleen S7R) and Lesoudier (#10 Mirabeau MTO Viper). Then Patrick Bornhauser (#3 Larbre ANAVEO Aston Martin DBR9) turned some flying laps at the wheel of his new car. He couldn't improve on Cazenave's lap time but was second quickest. At the end of the session, the Oreca Saleens were pushing hard and eventually Raymond Narac (#9 Oreca S7R) claimed the pole, while his team-mate, Bruno Hernandez (#1Oreca Saleen) was held up in the trafic and couldn't do better than fourth place. It was the first pole position for Raymond Narac in the FFSA GT championship.

In the GT2 Trophy, Michel Lecourt (the 2006 Trophy winner with Narac) set the pole position with the brand new #36 IMSA Performance MATMUT Porsche 997 RSR, ahead of the 996 RSR of the Monteiro brothers (Estoril Racing) and of Brandela / Stepec (Red Racing).

In GT3 it was a first pole position for a Lamborgini Gallardo, the #71 First Racing entry, driven by Eric Hélias, ahead of Snobeck / Campbell (#75 Sport Garage Ferrari 430) and Dubreuil / Amadou (#70 First Racing Lamborghini Gallardo). The two Hexis Racing DBRS9s (Yvon / Brière and Rodrigues / Rodrigues) were fourth and fifth quickest.

Race 1
Narac #9 Oreca Saleen) was the best starter, ahead of Cazenave (#5 SRT Corvette C5-R), Bornhauser #3 (Larbre Aston Martin DBR9) and Hernandez (#1 Oreca Saleen).

These four men widened a small gap over Police #16 (PSI Corvette C5-R), Lebon (#17 PSI Corvette C6.R), Balthazard (#8 Luc Alphand Aventures C5-R) and Debard (#4 Tarrès Saleen).

Narac was pushing hard and soon had a five second lead on Cazenave and ten seconds on Bornhauser and Hernandez. The PSI drivers were fighting over fifth, Lebon succeeding in passing his team-mate Police (below) and in catching Bornhauser and Hernandez.

The leaders then arrived upon some backmarkers. In the traffic, Hernandez tried to overtake Bornhauser but he made a mistake, had a slight off and while he was returning to the track, made contact with Lebon who had to retire.

Narac missed making his pitstop and Cazenave tried to take advantage of Narac's misunderstanding to pass him but went into the gravel trap. After the driver changes, Ayari who had taken over from Narac, was leading. Makowiecki, now a the wheel of the DBR9, had a left front puncture and had to pit to change his tyres, then had to retire due to an overheating engine. Behind Ayari, Zangarelli (#16 PSI C5-R) passed Cayrolle (#5 SRTC5-R) for second place. Due to his worn tyres, Cayrolle couldn't do anything against Policand's comeback with the #8 LAA C5-R, which was now in third place.

Thévenin (#4 Tarrès Saleen) and Groppi (#1 Oreca Saleen) passed Cayrolle too, then Groppi overtook Thévenin, who retired soon after with a gearbox problem.

So Ayari claimed the win, ahead of Zangarelli, Policand and Groppi. Cayrolle had an off and Dupuy (#7 Protek Saleen) was now in fifth place. The #16 Corvette had a 30 seconds penalty (overtaking under yellow) and fell down to third place. Hernandez and Groppi had the same penalty but saved their fourth place.

GT2 Trophy
Lecourt (#36 IMSA Performance MATMUT Porsche 997 RSR) took the lead, and in the early laps the #37 Estoril Porsche 996 RSR was very close, but Lecourt widened a large gap. After the driver change, Balandras who had taken over from Lecourt was an easy winner. The Monteiro brothers (#37 Porsche) were in second place, ahead Brandela / Stepec (#39 Red Racing Porsche 996).

GT3
Hélias (#71 First Racing Lamborghini Gallardo) soon had a large lead in the early stages, ahead of Snobeck (#75 Sport Grage Ferrari 430), Dubreuil (#70 First Racing Lamborghini Gallardo) and the two DBRS9s of the Hexis Racing team. Giroix took over from Hélias and won the GT3 category, ninth overall. The fight for second place had been rife. Yvon (#76 Aston Martin) had moved up to second and resisted Amado (#70 Lamborghini) who finished third, ahead of another First Racing Lamborghini driven by Tuchbant and Leclerc, Snobeck / Campbell finished in fifth place with their Ferrari 430.
Claude Foubert

Result
1 NARAC R / AYARI S ORECA SALEEN S7-R GT1 1h00:43.657 1:27.167 / 4
2 BALTHAZARD G / POLICAND J LUC ALPHAND AVENTURES CORVETTE C5-R GT1 1h01:35.140 51.483 1:28.334 / 22
3 POLICE J C / ZANGARELLI M PSI EXPERIENCE CORVETTE C5-R GT1 1h01:48.931 1:05.274 1:28.792 / 21
4 HERNANDEZ B / GROPPI L ORECA SALEEN SR-7 GT1 1h02:15.619 1:31.962 1:28.180 / 3
5 DUPUY D / FIAT F PROTEK SALEEN SR-7 GT1 1h00:50.826 1 Trs 1:29.189 / 18
6 CAZENAVE L / CAYROLLE E SRT CORVETTE C5-7 GT1 1h01:03.431 1 Trs 1:27.642 / 3
7 LESOUDIER G / BELTOISE A MIRABEAU MTO CHRYSLER VIPER GTS-R GT1 1h02:02.685 1 Trs 1:30.976 / 2
8 LECOURT M / BALANDRAS R IMSA PERFORMANCE MATMUT PORSCHE 997 RSR GT2 1h01:05.700 2 Trs 1:32.929 / 9
9 HELIAS C / GIROIX F FIRST RACING LAMBORGHINI GALLARDO GT3 1h01:12.767 2 Trs 1:31.175 / 3
10 YVON R / BRIERE B HEXIS RACING ASTON MARTIN DBRS 9 GT3 1h01:39.143 2 Trs 1:33.926 / 5
11 DUBREUIL B / AMADO U FIRST RACING LAMBORGHINI GALLARDO GT3 1h01:39.256 2 Trs 1:33.972 / 6
12 LECLERC A / TUCHBANT D FIRST RACING LAMBORGHINI GALLARDO GT3 1h01:55.844 2 Trs 1:33.933 / 24
13 SNOBECK D / CAMPBELL C SPORT GARAGE FERRARI 430 GT3 1h01:58.956 2 Trs 1:32.934 / 5
14 ADAM J Y / ZACCHIA S LARBRE COMPETITION FERRARI 550 Maranello GT1 1h02:03.688 2 Trs 1:29.341 / 19
15 RODRIGUES M / RODRIGUES J HEXIS RACING ASTON MARTIN DBRS 9 GT3 1h02:10.016 2 Trs 1:33.901 / 5
16 LABESCAT F / PHILIPPON C ESPACE RACING CHRYSLER VIPER GTS-R GT1 1h00:44.929 3 Trs 1:33.562 / 23
17 BRIGAND E / BACHELIER J M G C R DODGE VIPER GT3 1h01:17.158 3 Trs 1:35.142 / 7
18 CABANNES G / PEREIRA E RUFFIER RACING DODGE VIPER GT3 1h01:36.734 3 Trs 1:35.585 / 23
19 CLAIRAY G / LAURIN J G C R DODGE VIPER GT3 1h01:58.796 3 Trs 1:35.889 / 6
20 MONTEIRO M / MONTEIRO C ESTORIL RACING PORSCHE 996 RSR GT2 1h02:11.975 3 Trs 1:33.152 / 3
21 BRANDELA R / STEPEC T RED RACING PORSCHE 996 RSR GT2 1h00:50.914 4 Trs 1:34.056 / 3
22 BEROUJON C / MERAFINA W SPORT GARAGE FERRARI 430 GT3 1h01:10.122 4 Trs 1:34.442 / 8
23 MAILLET AVENEL N / PRIGNAUD G RED RACING CHRYSLER VIPER GTS-R GT1 1h01:29.718 4 Trs 1:34.473 / 3
24 QUINTAL E / CASSOU D B L S PORSCHE 996 CUP GT3 1h02:17.965 4 Trs 1:36.687 / 21
25 RUFFIER J / LE ROCH J F RUFFIER RACING DODGE VIPER GT3 57:52.791 5 Trs 1:34.786 / 19
26 COMAR N / RAMBEAU P GPA RACING FERRARI 55 MARANELLO GT2 1h02:05.517 5 Trs 1:35.848 / 23
27 MOUEZ E / LOGER D NOURRY COMPETITION PORSCHE 996 RSR GT2 1h01:24.762 6 Trs 1:33.133 / 18
28 DEBARD E / THEVENIN O TARRES TEAM SALEEN SR-7 GT1 47:25.894 10 Trs 1:29.089 / 24
29 CORMERECHE D / PORTA O TARRES TEAM CHRYSLER VIPER GTS-R GT1 39:27.446 16 Trs 1:31.245 / 23
30 BORNHAUSER P / MACKOWIECKI F LARBRE COMPETITION ASTON MARTIN DBR 9 GT1 37:58.905 17 Trs 1:27.839 / 3
31 PEYROLES A / MOUREU D PILOTAGE PASSION DODGE VIPER GT3 37:12.102 18 Trs 1:34.393 / 6
32 ORGEVAL E / BOUVET J B PELSI RACING TOYOTA SUPRA BI TURBO GT2 57:21.894 19 Trs 1:34.270 / 11
33 LEBON Y / BOUCHUT C PSI EXPERIENCE CORVETTE C6-R GT1 19:58.157 27 Trs 1:28.923 / 5
34 PETIT M / VANNELET G SPORT GARAGE FERRARI 430 GT3 14:33.182 31 Trs 1:34.462 / 4
35 LELIEVRE F / POLETTE P IMSA PORSCHE ROUEN PORSCHE 996 CUP GT3 8:21.307 35 Trs 1:36.213 / 4