FFSA Val de Vienne
Race Two Report
In the qualifying session, for top-seeded drivers, Soheil Ayari (#9 SRT Corvette C6.R) had set the pole position, ahead of Olivier Thévenin (#4 Tarrès Team Saleen S7R), Olivier Porta (#6 Tarrès Team Saleen S7R) and rookie Julien Canal (#3 DKR Engineering Corvette C5-R.) Jean-Philippe Dayrault (#2 DKR Engineering Corvette C6.R) was in seventh place, due to the non-conformity of his Corvette which had a hole in the airbox.
Ayari was the best starter but Dayrault was flying and on lap three he was in Ayari's exhaust. Ayari kept the lead but made a slight mistake on lap 23, enabling Dayrault to pass him, just before the driver changes.
Yvan Lebon took over from Dayraut but, soon after, he had an off on lap 27.
So, Bruno Hernandez, who was now at the wheel of the #9 SRT Corvette C6.R, was the new leader and he remained unthreatened until the finish line.In the late stages, Lebon made another mistake and Laurent Cazenave succeeded in passing him with the "old" DKR Engineering C5-R for second place, the two DKR Engineering cars being on the podium.
Thévenin/Debard, who had started from the front row, had a drive problem. It was a bad day, too, for Larbre Competition. Merafina/Makowiecki (#8 Saleen S7R) had to pit early in the race and finish in fourth place while Bornhauser (#7 Saleen S7R) had an off. Both Larbre Saleens were having to carry 120 kg of ballast.
In the GT2 category, Raymond Narac/Philippe Polette (#36 IMSA Performance Porsche 997 RSR) took their second win of the weekend. Loger/Mouez (#35 Nourry Porsche 996 RSR) were second, ahead of Champeau/Bregeon (# 34 Pro GT Porsche 997 RSR), while the second IMSA Performance Porsche 997 RSR, #39, could not better fourth place. The GT1 and GT2 standings are here
GT3
Arnaud Peyroles and James Ruffier (#42 Ruffier Racing Lamborghini Gallardo), as on Saturday, were winners. They are the only drivers to have won twice since the start of the season. The previous seven races had seven different winners. James Ruffier had set the pole position, ahead of Eric Hélary (#61 Ruffier Racing Lamborghini Gallardo). As early as the second lap, Hélary passed Ruffier and had a strong lead until lap 18 before being delayed with mechanical problems. So Ruffier, then Peyroles, could take the win, in spite of a great race from the #55 AS Events Ferrari 430 driven by the reigning champion, Christopher Campbell and by François Jakubowski. Though they had a stop and go, Parisy and Moureu (#57 AS Events Ferrari 430) were in third position.
In the championship standings, three pairings are tied in first place: Peyroles/Ruffier, Jakubowski/Campbell and Moureu/Parisy.
The standings are here.Claude Foubert |
