Ultimate Cup Series – Nicolas Prost 2021 single-seater champion!

Saturday was punctuated by several incidents at Estoril in the Ultimate Cup Series. They certainly disrupted the initial program somewhat, but each of the races on the menu was able to take place.

Single seat : the last two victories for L. van Hoepen, the title for N. Cheers

Considering Nicolas Prost's comfortable lead in the championship, to say the least, the suspense was minimal in F3R. The CMR driver insisted on competing in the last two single-seater races, but was already assured of the title yesterday evening, at the end of race 1.

Outside of the title race since he made his debut at Le Mans, mid-season, Laurens van Hoepen retained his thirst for victory to make a little more impression. The winner of the day before and triple pole-sitter, repeated this Saturday with a bit of success in race 2. A red flag at the start of the race forced the drivers to return to the grid, in the same places as for the start. However, the young Dutchman was overtaken by Prost in the first corner. The situation therefore benefited him since he perfectly mastered the restart and retained the leadership which he transformed into victory. Again in race 3, this time with clear and flawless domination from start to finish.

The F3R races were punctuated by a few incidents. Credit: Hugues Laroche

Théo Vaucher was the only one who could mathematically deprive Nicolas Prost of the title. Despite his good performances and his three podiums, the Graff driver finished F3R vice-champion.

Carmen Jorda was also present within the CMR team to compete in her second race weekend at the wheel of this F3R. She notably reached 7th place in her category in race 1.

208 Racing Cup: the last for Joran Leneutre

It's finally no longer four races of Peugeot 208 Racing Cup, but three which were contested this weekend. The last confrontation of the 2021 season took place on Saturday morning for the 26 competing drivers.

Two abreast at the start of the first turn, Joran Leneutre managed to get the better of the pole sitter, Florian Briché. The two JSB Competition drivers were above the rest and the gap between the two was never more than a few tenths.

The checkered flag sounds the death knell for this season for the 208 RC with the victory of the Junior in the general classification, ahead of Florian Briché and Viny Beltramelli (Ropars Racing Team).

GT Sprint: Bernard Delhez crowned by one point

The duel was close and intense until the finish of the fourth and final race of this Portuguese weekend for the candidates for the Kennol GT-Touring Sprint title.

Marc Waechter and Bernard Delhez only had the title in mind and each of them knew that they had to finish in front of the other to be titled, especially since the first mentioned had won a few hours earlier, to rebalance a little more the match.

From the start of race 4, both Renault RS 01 are neck and neck in the straight. The climb towards the first corner is tense and is also the source of the decisive overtaking for the rest of the race since Delhez took control from Waechter. Therefore, the latter was not able to fight back. The G2 Racing AG driver bowed and lost the title by a single point against the Belgian from AB Sport Auto.

Bernard Delhez is crowned by one point in GT Sprint. Credit: Hugues Laroche.

GT Sprint: Gilles Colombani, the freelancer who casts a shadow

Marc Waechter took all four possible pole positions in qualifying. The driver of the No. 01 Renault RS 4 (G2 Racing AG), however, did not confirm in race 1, the victory of which went to Gilles Colombani, who returned for a second stint at the wheel of the Clairet Sport Renault.

The presence of the Corsican thus reshuffles the cards somewhat in this GT Class 3A category which until then was only marked by the duel between Marc Waechter and Bernard Delhez (AB Sport Auto). The latter also gave up a lot of ground in the last, to the point of finishing 4th overall, behind theAston Martin Vantage GT4 from PROsport Racing, entered in GT Class 5A.

The result of race 2 was not confirmed on Friday evening, given the red flag at the end of the race. We will therefore have to wait for the next few hours to find out, even if Bernard Delhez was in the lead at that time...

Endurance GT and Proto…

The two flagship grids of the Ultimate Cup Series, the NAPA GT-Touring Endurance and the Endurance Proto will take place on Sunday, for a 4 and 3 hour race.

Pole position in GT came down to consistency since it is the average of the best times in each session which determines the starting grid. Having achieved no best time, but appearing at the forefront, Stéphane Tribaudini and Franck Dezoteux took pole at the wheel of the No. 01 Renault RS 5 of FIT ITBC by AB Sport Auto. Manu Collard and Charles-Henri Samani failed by less than 3 tenths on behalf of the Mercedes AMG GT3 n°83 from Racetivity. The second line will be shared by the Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo n°1 from Visiom and the Porsche 911 GT3 R n°76IMSA Performance. Beautiful people will be gathered on the starting grid, Sunday morning, at 8:45 a.m.…

As for the Proto championship, Team Virage reigns supreme as its two Ligier JS P320 n°88 and 77 monopolize the front row. Next came the Ginetta G61-LT-P3 from Konrad Motorsport and the No. 08 Duqueine D21 from DB Autosport. The latter encountered a technical problem in Q3, preventing Mathias Beche from taking to the track to set a time. The start will be given on Sunday afternoon, at 14 p.m.