Charly Bourachot: “We hope for three Toyota CMRs in FFSA GT”

Between the GT World Challenge at Bentley, the FFSAGT and the GT4 European series with Toyota, CMR was not idle in a pivotal 2020 season. His boss Charly Bourachot gave us a few minutes to talk about the present and future of the team, particularly in France.

You had to manage the GT World Challenge sprint and endurance, plus the FFSA GT and finally the GT4 European series. A hell of a sequence!

“It’s a lot, it’s true with the context of Covid and the tightening of the season, certainly too much even. At Spa, it was very hard with the GT4 Europe and the GT3, we endure the events, especially when there are difficulties. Next year it will be worse because we will have FFSA GT and the 24 Hours of Spa. In Magny-Cours there was also a disaster with a car burning. Afterwards if I had to do it again I wouldn't hesitate, I have no regrets. We all had a big workload but we are satisfied to have managed to get to the end. This sequence forced us to progress enormously. Today, we are very motivated to leave, the guys returned to the workshop at full speed, without me asking them. The key will be to prepare well in advance. »

The 2020 season was your debut with Toyota in GT4. What assessment do you draw from this year?

“It went from strength to strength. In the end, the car had a lot of performance and reliability, although we still have to make progress in understanding the car. Toyota is in any case very satisfied. But frankly, from my point of view, it is the product that best corresponds to the GT4 philosophy, it is very coherent. We progressed very quickly during the year because Toyota was very responsive, we received the developments in record time. That surprised me, coming from such a big factory. Their involvement in the project is impressive, in terms of intensity and also humility. This is their first client competition program, they know they are new to it and know what they still have to learn. »

You also had Alpine entered in FFSA GT and you narrowly missed the Pro-Am title, like in 2019…

“Already, I would like to highlight the performance of the silver crew of Paul Evrard and Andrea Benezet who drove for the first time in a car. They managed to get a podium at the end of the season, which bodes well for the future. For Nicholas Cheers and Christopher Campbell, they both have a lot of experience and a particular way of working. It took us a while to understand it but now we're used to it. I'm just disappointed with the final result because we really had the potential to play for the title. Twice second in these conditions is frustrating. »

You have developed theAlpine and the Toyota. What were the differences?

"TheAlpine is a small, very artisanal prototype. It was directly very efficient, but suffered from many deficiencies: above all, it had to be made reliable. The Toyota was more of a production car that had to be transformed into a racing car. It worked because they have already sold 30! »

Will we still see the Toyota Supra GT4 in CMR colors next year?

“Yes, we will enter two in GT4 Europe and we hope to field three in FFSA GT, one in each category while trying to be stable in the composition of the crews. We will also continue with Alpine. It hurt us to miss the title twice, we want to put it at the bottom with this car and then the two have a different philosophy, so it allows us to run drivers with different driving styles. »

CMR is expected to continue in GT World Challenge Europe in 2021 in addition to FFSA GT. Will the team have another program next season?

“We are thinking about entering TC France, the new SRO championship. We would like to come with Toyota. They don't yet have an eligible car and our wish would be to build one with them. We are also planning on participating in Le Mans in GTE-Am, we have two cars. But we are not planning to achieve a complete championship, we are not strong enough to go there without risk. »

Why TC France?

“Already because I believe in SRO, I think it will work, we need quality motorsport at a low price. The BOP will be difficult to set up, but they manage to run a Camaro and a Alpine. Then, I have always been attached to the notion of sector and the TC could constitute the basis before the GT4 then the GT3. This would return to my initial logic.

What will be the challenges of 2021?

“For once, we should manage to complete two identical full years, whether in GT4 or GT3, which will change us! So we want to take advantage of this year of continuity to obtain the fruits of our efforts in 2020, we want to win races in all categories. I'm confident. »

Find the GT World Challenge Europe part of the interview in AUTOhebdo magazine n°2291.