The FFSA GT returns to the track at Nogaro

Le FFSAGT is preparing its 2020 season with the resumption of activities which began this Tuesday and Wednesday in Nogaro (Gers) for official tests with 30 cars and 14 hours of driving.

At the end of the four sessions, it is Mercedes-AMG GT4 n°87 from AKKA-ASP Team driven by Jean-Luc Beaubelique and Jim Pla who finished in the lead with a time of 1'31''817. The #88 AKKA-ASP Mercedes of Thomas Drouet and Paul Petit followed in second place ahead of the #4 L'Espace Bienvenue BMW M17 entrusted to Ricardo van der Ende and Benjamin Lessennes.

“What a pleasure to rediscover the atmosphere of the circuits!, rejoiced Olivier Estèves, the representative of Saintéloc Racing. I hadn't driven a competitive car since the end of 2019 and I was torn between excitement and a touch of stress as I settled into the Audi R8 LMS GT4. But I quickly felt in my element. Both on the side of SRO Motorsports Group and my Saintéloc team, I found both the professionalism and the conviviality which are the strength of this French FFSA GT Championship. Despite the period we are going through, we feel that it is a championship that is alive and these two days were a magnificent breath of fresh air. »

“There is still work to be done to be at the top, but we worked hard during these two days, added Charly Bourachot whose CMR team aligns the news Toyota GR Supra. The car is well established and everything is moving in the right direction. We expect to experience a very intense season with Toyotas and Alpine in GT4, in addition to our commitment in GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS with Bentley Continental GT3s. Preparation work is therefore essential. »

The official tests allowed the teams to accumulate experience, with some structures like AGS Events learning to work with new mounts.

“We had already carried out seven days of testing with our new Aston Martin Vantage GT4 before arriving at Nogaro, specified Nicolas Gomar, the boss-pilot of the Hérault structure. With four cars entered for these two days, we were able to go in very different directions for the settings and it was particularly interesting. The car is reliable and we particularly worked on the pace in qualifying. On a purely personal level, I am very impressed by the speed of my teammate Mike Parisy's action. It reaches a level after three turns that it takes me eight turns to approach. In any case, the atmosphere is great both in the team and in the paddock and we had two very nice days. Looking forward to the first event of the season! »

The 2020 FFSA GT season will begin on the weekend of August 23 with the Nogaro Easter Cups with a program of 5 meetings entirely contested in France.