Ultimate Cup Series / Paul Ricard – Saturday report

SINGLE-SEAT

Nicolas Cheers definitely has a big rock in his boot in the person of Jean-Baptiste Mela. The Franco-Swiss driver who is racing for CMR this season in the Ultimate Cup Series faces the young Corsican driver who proved formidable from qualifying.

Author of the double pole thanks to his two best times, Jean-Baptiste Mela made sure to start from first place on the grid for the first two races. Winner of two races out of three at Dijon-Prenois, the young 22-year-old driver triumphed this Saturday in both races at the wheel of the No. 3 Autosport GP F1R, without leaving the slightest opportunity to Nicolas Prost. The latter, leader of the championship, has never been able to seek victory consistently with a car that is not yet optimal.

A veteran of single-seater driving, Dylan Young is taking part in his first weekend in the Ultimate Cup Series this season with Graff. For his return to Europe, the Australian driver has already reached the podium twice, powerless against Jean-Baptiste Mela and Nico Prost.

Eric Trouillet (Graff) is not to be outdone in Gentleman F3R with two victories and two fourth places overall. He would be very tempted to climb onto the scratch podium in race 3 on Sunday... The French team came with no less than five F3Rs, all ranked in the top 7!

Note the first double victory in the FR2.0 category of Shannon Lugassy (CMR) in the discipline.

GT SPRINT

With 28 cars and no less than seven Renault R.S. 01 in the GT Class 3A category, the fight for victory is worth it. Three out of four races were contested this Saturday, seeing the two title candidates share the victories.

Marc Waechter got the ball rolling in race 1 by winning his third victory of the season after starting from 8th place on the grid. The G2 Racing AG driver quickly got back on the leading men, Charles-Henri Samani (Racetivity), polesitter, and Gilles Colombani (Team Clairet Sport) to later get rid of them. Once in the lead on the 4th lap, Marc Waechter was not worried until the checkered flag. He then won ahead of Charles-Henri Samani and Gilles Colombani.

Victim of a mechanical problem preventing him from completing a single lap, Bernard Delhez (AB Sport Auto) took his revenge twice. The Belgian led all laps of race 2 while he had to fight to get victory in race 3.

Pour l’instant, c’est un sans-faute pour Philippe Arrobio (2B Autosport) avec trois victoires sur trois dans la catégorie Porsche Cup. Maxime Mainguy (Breizh Motorsport 56) tentera de trouver la solution pour renouer avec la victoire dimanche, en course 4.

Jimmy Clairet was formidable throughout the race, particularly during the first two races which he won in the 308 Cup category, before losing to Xavier Fouineau (XF Kart) in race 3.

208 RACING CUP

Youth is in the spotlight on this first day in the 208 Racing Cup since Junior driver Joran Leneutre, aged only 16, won the opening race of this Var weekend. This is his second victory in the general classification for his first season in 208 and more generally in automobiles.

Following this victory, the JSB Competition driver started in 10th place on the grid for race 2 given the reversed grid for the top 10. This did not prevent the young man from moving up to third place. from the podium, 2 tenths from second place while Viny Beltramelli (Ropars Racing Team) won. The latter also fought well against Joran Leneutre for the victory of race 3, winning his second consecutive success with only 380 thousandths ahead of Joran Leneutre, under the checkerboard!

Relay 208

We know it and that’s what makes the charm of these Relay 208 races, nothing is decided until the last minutes. And for good reason, the victory was decided in the last ten minutes, depending on the last pit stops, but also the various penalties.

Of the 77 laps covered during the four hours of racing on Saturday evening, Sébastien Gehin and Thierry Blaise only completed four in the lead, but it was more than enough to give them victory in the gloom of Var. The duo of Peugeot 208 n°154/FG by New Team won ahead of the pair Pasquier/Blancardi (Gemo Sport) while third position went to the duo Andre/Sivignon (Jean Pat Racing).

PROTO LMP3/CN/EVO

Team Virage once again dominated qualifying for the Proto Challenge with a front row locked by its two Ligier JS P320s. The crew of the #88 Ligier, made up of Mathis Poulet, Julian Wagg and Miguel Cristovao, achieved the best average in 1:57.748, ahead of the sister car by 3 tenths. The #13 Mirage Racing Ligier and the Duqueine

D08 n°21 from DB Autosport will share the second row of the starting grid on Sunday afternoon. For its first appearance in the Ultimate Cup Series, the Ginetta G61-LT-P3 from MG-Sound Speed ​​Division brings up the rear.

ANS Motorsport consolidates its domination in CN by placing its three cars in the first three places. Pole went to team boss-driver Nicolas Schatz in 1:59.906 in the No. 71 Norma.

GT Endurance

The 4-hour race in the GT Endurance field should be very competitive on Sunday, judging by the gaps at the end of qualifying. Charles-Henri Samani and Emmanuel Collard put an end to the series of pole positions of Franck Dezoteux and Stéphane Tribaudini. We will therefore find the Mercedes-AMG GT3 n°83 from Racetivity on the front row, alongside the Renault R.S. 01 n°5 from FIT ITBC by 2SM Pilotage.