The Pla-Beaubelique duo wins in race 2 in Dijon

As in Nogaro in race 2 earlier in the season, Jim Pla and Jean-Luc Beaubelique (Mercedes-AMG GT4 n°87 – AKKA-ASP) won the second race of the Dijon weekend, third round of the FFSAGT 2018.

Jim Pla had to battle for many laps against the two Audi R8 LMS GT4 – Saintéloc Racing of Simon Gachet and then the first leader and pole sitter Grégory Guilvert in the first stint to take the advantage before widening the gap on his pursuers.

Behind the new leader, Steven Palette (Porsche Cayman GT4 n°27 – IMSA Performance) emerges for a time in second position when the driver changes begin, but his teammate Mickaël Blanchemain will be penalized with a drive-through for having cut the line leaving the pit lane.

AKKA-ASP returns to the top

The second part of the race therefore saw Jean-Luc Beaubelique easily manage his lead, while the fight raged for second place between Alexandre Bardinon (Mercedes-AMG GT4 n°68 – Muller Racing), teammate of Thomas Laurent, Fabien Michal (Audi R8 LMS GT4 n°42 – Saintéloc Racing), Christophe Hamon (Audi R8 LMS GT4 n°5 – Saintéloc Racing) and Alain Gaunot (Ginetta G55 GT4 n°71 – Schatz-Lestienne Racing).

The rain that arrived at the very end of the event did not call into question the victory of Jean-Luc Beaubelique who preceded Alexandre Bardinon and Fabien Michal who ultimately retained their second and third places.

Winner yesterday with Nicolas Schatz, Alain Gaunot took fourth place ahead of Stéphane Tribaudini (Alpine A110 GT4 n°36 – CMR), once again the author of a very good comeback in his stint, on a circuit where he won in 2017.

The victory in Am went to the No. 4 Maserati Gran Turismo GT34 – GP34 by Gemo Motorsport of Olivier and Arnaud Gomez. Several favorites lost big in the category, notably Rodolphe Wallgren (Ginetta G55 GT4 n°4 – SpeedCar), victim of mechanical problems, or Nicolas Gomar and Julien Lambert (Porsche Cayman GT4 n°25 – AGS Events) penalized during the 'test.

Race 2 ranking

Discover the full report of the Dijon FFSA GT events, produced by our special correspondent, in issue 2174 of AUTOhebdo, available tomorrow evening in digital version, and from this Wednesday on newsstands.