SPEED EuroSeries, Round One - Paul Ricard

“They just swamped me,” said WFR’s Warren Hughes recalling the way the lighter Wolfs (Wolves?) went off the line at the start of the very first Honda-powered SPEED EuroSeries race. However, within a couple of laps he was up to second and for 27 laps he dogged former Formula 1 driver Alex Caffi, the pair rarely more than a second or so apart. They then pitted together and the whole story of the race changed.

Within just 31 seconds Warren’s co-driver Jody Firth was heading back on track while it seemed an age before Maurizio Fratti followed him out in the evocatively liveried Wolf. Hardly had this happened when the latter stopped with an, as yet undiagnosed, engine problem.

By the end of the 90-minute race it was game, set and match for the brand new WFR03s, Nigel Moore having snatched second place on the penultimate lap.

Team boss Jonathan France was understandably delighted, particularly as the engine in Warren and Jody’s car had been changed overnight. The weight difference between the WFRs and the Wolfs was such that Warren observed how much quicker he could be under braking only to lose out on acceleration. Teething troubles also meant a sticking throttle without which Warren reckons he could have taken the lead prior to the stops. Nigel, who spun at one stage, inexorably pulled in Jono Coleman’s Ligier towards the end to take second for himself and Joey Foster, a great result for Peter Elleray’s latest design.

The first half of the race saw not only the two-way battle for the lead but also an initially close scrap for third between Ivan Bellarosa (Wolf), Nigel Greensall in the HGRT Ligier shared with Jono and Joey. Humaid al Masaood (Ligier) had already fallen back from third on the grid, losing out in the initial scramble, although the HMR team was pleased with his performance and growing improvement.

The pit stops spread the cars out with Jono second by lap 30 and the remaining Wolf, now driven by Mastro Bellardini, falling back. Nigel Moore, though, was closing in to present Jonathan France with the ultimate result at the finish. Steven Kane also looked to be moving up the field, having taken over from Humaid. However, the team noted a big engine spike and he was backed off. Nevertheless he was still able to make fifth place. The team now faces another race to change the engine before the second 90-minute contest later this afternoon.

Race Result

1 1 Warren Hughes/Jody Firth WF03 Team WFR 43 laps 1:30:07.742 - 167.2 17 2:01.839 172.6
2 2 Joey Foster/Nigel Moore WF03 Team WFR +42.867
3 27 Jono Coleman/Nigel Greensall Ligier HGRT +46.498
4 8 Dean Stirling/Massimo Vignali Ligier If Motorsport +1:09.266
5 42 Humaid al Masaood/Steven Kane Ligier HMR +1 Lap
6 3 Lars Viljoen/James Rigby Ligier RLR Msport +1 Lap
7 45 Ivan Bellarosa/Antonio Mastrobernardin Wolf Wolf +2 Laps
8 21 Alex Craven/Robbie Kerr Ligier Lanan Racing 41 +2 Laps
9 24 Sarah Reader/Darren Burke Juno TFL Racing +6 Laps
10 18 Marco Maneschi/Beppe Barresi/Francesco MannJiuno Island Motorsport +7 Laps

Not Classified:
11 22 Amandine Foulard/Ines Taittinger Ligier Springbox Concept 31 laps
12 44 Alex Caffi/Maurizio Fratti Wolf Wolf 28 laps
13 23 Philippe Alliot/Didier Wozniak Ligier Springbox Concept 26 laps
14 9 Julian Schell/David Caussanel Ligier Pegasus 14 laps
15 20 Bruce Jouanny/Jazeman Jaafar Ligier Lanan Racing 13 laps

Did Not Start:
16 7 Lucas Foresti/Harry Tincknell Ligier If Motorsport