Debard champion, Panis boss

Olivier Panis, installed at the wheel of the Corvette of the DKR Engineering team, had only one objective, to help his teammate Eric Debard win the title of French GT1 champion. Not having participated in the Dijon event, due to Le Mans Series, the Grenoblois did not have the same number of points as his partner and therefore could not claim the title of champion. Olivier Panis started the race perfectly, taking the lead at the cost of a very good overtake on Soheil Ayari and Laurent Groppi, before continuing his efforts and handing over the wheel to Eric Debard in the best conditions.

"JI'm happy for the whole DKR team, for Eric, declared Olivier Panis at the end of the race. I had two programs so I couldn't be in Dijon but my goal was to help Eric, Laurent and Jean-Claude to progress and fight for the title. I had a great season, in a championship I hadn't played in for a long time. We had as much fun as we performed. I thank Soheil (Ayari) for his sportsmanship because there are others who have a little less. »

Eric Debard, who started in first position halfway through the race, was able to take advantage of his teammate's efforts to manage his race, slipping to fourth position securing him the title of French champion. If Laurent Groppi and Patrick Bornhauser, winners of the race and second in the French championship, did not appear after the race to share their feelings, Eric Debard was delighted with his acquired title.

« There is the satisfaction of the title but we have a little pang in our hearts because it is the end of GT1 and they were beautiful cars, commented the Albigensian in the epilogue of this season. We spent four or five seasons with these cars. Today, I didn't have 120 kg of ballast but 240 kg. I had 120 kg of ballast and 120 kg of pressure. It was heavy to carry! In the last laps, I didn't really know what was happening to me. But hey? The goal has been achieved. I would like to thank Soheil (Ayari), because he introduced me to Olivier (Panis). If he came to the championship this year, it’s thanks to Soheil. It shows his state of mind. I knew the pilot, but I also discovered a man and that was just as important. The title is the icing on the cake but we had a superb season, we had fun. »

Invited by Larbre Compétition to team up with Roland Bervillé, Sébastien Bourdais was happy to have been able to participate in this weekend. After a good start to the race, Le Manceau saw his teammate finish in second position. “ It was a tactical race with many cars but few scoring points. I did not want to get involved in this fight which was not ours. Olivier (Panis) gets a good start and passes in front. Then, with these cars, it becomes difficult to overtake. Especially since Soheil (Ayari) did his job well. The cars had to go to Japan, so we had orders to bring it back in one piece. »

In GT3, Stéphane Ortelli and Yvan Lebon won, giving Audi its third victory of the season. As in GT1, the sacred crew finished in fourth place in the second race, securing the missing points. The title therefore goes to Mike Parisy and Philippe Gaillard, the drivers of Ruffier Racing.