Blancpain Endurance Series, Magny Cours - Race Report

Marc VDS Racing Team won the fourth round of the Blancpain Endurance Series at Magny-Cours. The Belgian squad, which had started on the second row, took the lead early in the race and never let go anymore.

A rather clean start meant all cars made it through the first couple of corners - including the Adelaide hairpin - without incidents. Gianluca Roda lost a position when Bas Leinders moved up into third place, behind the Vita4One Ferrari of Filip Salaquarda and the Belgian Audi Club Audi of Stephane Ortelli.

In dramatic, but somewhat Lamborghini-own, style Fabien Giroix and Cédric Leimer collided on lap 3, causing a lot of damage to the nr 64 AutoVitesse car and leaving the Gulf Racing nr 45 with a big dent in the right door.

At the front Vita4One Ferrari nr 29, WRT Audi nr 32 and Marc VDS Racing Team BMW nr 40 kept battling for the lead, the drivers attacking each other on every corner. Salaquarda did however do just enough to keep the lead, until lap 10. Into the Adelaide hairpin the Ferrari went a little bit wide and Ortelli tried to move to the inside and pass Salaquarda. Unfortunately his attempt failed and the two cars collided, with the bonnet on the Audi popping up and blocking Ortelli’s view. The nr 32 Audi returned to the pit where the bonnet was fastened with tape. Bas Leinders took advantage to move into the lead.

The BMW slowly got away after taking the lead, but that was until lap 15 when the safety car was deployed after Alessandro Bonetti spun the nr 18 De Lorenzi Racing Porsche at the Adelaide hairpin. With Bonetti uncertain of what to do, his Porsche was stationary for over a lap before the race director decided to send out the safety car. Ironically just as the safety car came out Bonetti managed to get the nose pointing in the right direction again and drove off.

With Ludovic Badey, nr 20 SOFREV ASP Ferrari and Salaquarda fighting for second position and only having an eye for each other, the Marc VDS Racing Team BMW pulled away. Just before the one hour mark the gap between first and second was over six seconds. AutOrlando Sport hit some trouble at the end of the first hour - with Gianluca Roda making contact with the nr 51 Ferrari and then running wide through the gravel at turn 2.

As most cars came in for their pit stops the race leader stayed out for some additional laps in order to increase the lead. The nr 32 Audi R8 LMS got into trouble again when it hit the nr 42 Sport Garage Ferrari. The contact resulted in the bonnet coming loose again and onto the final corner it blew off the car, followed by the left front headlight a couple of corners later. Ortelli was given the ‘meatball’ flag and came into the pit again. After 40 laps the nr 40 BMW finally came in and Bas Leinders handed over his car to Markus Palttala.

Palttala returned to the track over ten seconds clear of the nr 1 Vita4One Ferrari 458 Italia of Nico Verdonck, who had managed to gain a lot of ground in the round of pit stops. But the Belgian driver was much quicker than Palttala, who had not raced in the BMW before. Behind Verdonck the nr 33 Audi of Greg Franchi was catching the nr 29 Vita4One Ferrari for third.

Verdonck got a scare on lap 50 when Alvaro Parente spun his McLaren GT MP4-12C right in front of him at the last corner. Fortunately the cars did not hit and Verdonck was able to continue in his hunt for the leading BMW.

Patrice Goueslard in the nr 10 SOFREV ASP Ferrari 458 Italia then crashed out of sixth place after hitting the nr 100 DVB Racing BMW M3. The Ferrari went into the wall, but Goueslard got out of the car without injury.

Meanwhile the BMW had hit traffic, resulting in the Vita4One Ferrari now within a second of the leader. Verdonck’s teammate Paul van Splunteren, who had managed to get the nr 2 Ferrari into seventh position spun at the final corner, but quickly rejoined.

On lap 66 the BMW and Ferrari pitted at the same moment, but a slower pit stop at Vita4One, due to one of the mechanics putting a wrong wheel on the car, meant Maxime Martin was able to rejoin the race in first place of the cars that pitted.

Vita4One’s problems had increased when the nr 1 Ferrari suddenly pitted again after 79 laps. It returned after being looked after by the Ferrari mechanics, but it quickly slowed again and it returned to the pit. A gear box issue meant downshifting was now impossible on the Ferrari.

As a result of the problems of others Marc VDS Racing Team’s lead had increased to over fifty seconds by lap 80. The nr 33 Belgian Audi Club Audi R8 LMS of Marcel Fässler was second. Behind him Paolo Ruberti was about to take third in the race after catching the nr 29 Ferrari. On lap 83 Ruberti made the move and moved into third place, still some 20 seconds behind Fässler.

The gaps between the top three were reduced to naught when the safety car was deployed again. Julien Rodrigues crashed his nr 3 Hexis AMR Aston Martin DBRS9 on the run down to the Adelaide hairpin. On the straight the car just veered to the left and went into the wall at high speed. A completely wrecked Aston Martin DBRS9 was the result and with debris all over the track it took over 10 minutes to clear the track.

The green flag was shown with just under ten minutes left in the race. Shortly after the restart Louis Machiels made his move on the SOFREV ASP nr 20, moving up to sixth overall and into the Pro-Am lead. The BMW Z4 GT3 was still some 15 seconds ahead of the second placed Audi of Fässler, who was now right in front of Ruberti.

Ruberti passed the Audi to take second place, but the two cars remained within striking distance of each other and there was contact when Fässler ran into the back of the Porsche. Ruberti kept in control of his car and regained second position again.

At the front Maxime Martin stayed out of trouble and took the chequered flag to win after 100 laps. Paolo Ruberti finished second for AutOrlando Sport, with Fässler taking third in his Audi.

The nr 2 Vita4One Ferrari finished in sixth overall, taking the Pro-Am category win - a sweet victory after the Spa drama.

JRM's Nissan GT-R GT3 took an excellent eighth place finish on its debut race. Having started in sixteenth place overall and considering it was just a test race for the new Nissan, finishing this high felt like a victory for the British team, a strong performance for what looks like a very reliable new GT3 contender from the Japanese manufacturer. The other newcomers, the two McLarens, were out of the race before the end of the second hour...

Ruffier Racing won the Gentlemen Trophy with their Lamborghini Gallardo, with the RJN Motorsport Nissan 370Z of Alex Buncombe, Jordan Tresson and Christopher Ward taking the class win in GT4. Having started behind two Lotus Evora’s and a BMW M3 the Nissan finished nine seconds clear of the first of the Lotus.

The final round of the Blancpain Endurance Series will take place at the Silverstone circuit on October 9th. On the English circuit the drivers will fight for the Drivers Championship - in which Belgium's Greg Franchi is currently leading.

Marcel ten Caat

Evening shots courtesy of Jurgen Evers / Evers Media