Ultimate Cup Series – Van Hoepen and Waechter show themselves… the summary of Saturday at Magny-Cours

Nine 20-minute Sprint races and one Endurance of 4 hours, the day was lively in Nièvre, to say the least with multiple incidents.

Single seat : Van Hoepen strikes a double blow, Cheers collect the points

Absent this weekend at Magny-Cours, Jean-Baptiste Mela (CMR) left Nicolas Prost and Laurens van Hoepen (Graff) to compete alone for the victories at stake. The three races were on the program this Saturday for the drivers of the single-seater field with an identical first line at the start of each of them.

The young Dutchman from Graff set the two best times in qualifying, a few thousandths ahead of Nico Prost. The latter tried to surprise van Hoepen at the start of the first two races, without success. He thus imposed the No. 3 F13R in races 1 and 2, already posting four victories in six races contested since his first participation at Le Mans. At the wheel of the No. 3 CMR F12R, Prost won the third and final race by finding the opening on the inside of the first turn. Added to the two previous second places, this victory allows him to score big points in the championship and move closer to the title.

Discreet in front of the two men, Théo Vaucher (Graff) still had the luxury of completing the three podiums.

Carmen Jorda, who was discovering the discipline, did not achieve any brilliant feat. The old Lotus development driver and Renault en F1 failed to place CMR's F3R in the top 10. She will nevertheless remain as the first woman to have participated in the Ultimate Cup Series, in single-seaters, since 2019.

Kennol GT-Touring Sprint: Marc Waechter received three out of three

The duel between the two Renault RS 01s which have been livening up the debates on the Ultimate GT Sprint field since the opening round at Le Castellet, has resumed with a vengeance in Burgundy.

Three of the four races on the menu delivered their verdict in favor of Marc Waechter. The driver of the No. 4 G2 Racing Racing Renault was 9 points behind and will make up for it thanks to the three victories won this Saturday. The Swiss, author of the four pole positions at stake thanks to the four best times achieved in qualifying, has already transformed the test three times and intends to achieve the grand slam during the Sunday race, the start of which will be given at 8 a.m. Bernard Delhez therefore lost, but secures the points for second place.

The 308 Cup category is the most populated with seven cars out of the dozen entered. Jimmy Clairet from Team Clairet Sport took the honors at the end of each race.

Peugeot 208 Racing Cup: between Safety Car and red flag…

With 40 cars lined up on the grid, the first two confrontations of the weekend were particularly muscular and hectic. There were so many incidents that the race management had to display the red flag twice. Four laps were completed in race 2, including two behind the safety car…

This Nivernaise event has the merit of seeing two drivers, Guillaume Blancardi (Gemo Motorsport) and Calvin Comte (Comte Racing Team) win overall for the very first time this season.

Two other 20-minute races are on the program on Sunday…

Peugeot Relais 208: Pasquier / Blancardi at the end of the night

The day ended with the 208 Relay race lasting 4 hours for the 35 cars at the start. Among these crews, the one formed by the Sébastien couple Loeb and Laurène Godey. For their first participation as a duo in a Peugeot 208, the nine-time World Rally Champion and his partner finished in 5^e position at the end of a very good race. They will return to the track on Sunday morning, behind the wheel of a Vortex, in GT Endurance.

The victory of Relay 208 went to the Pasquier / Blancardi pair on the No. 208 Gemo Sport 27.

In addition to the last Sprint, the Proto and GT endurance races will take place on Sunday, at 9:55 a.m. and 15:50 p.m. respectively. The NAPA GT-Touring pole was decided in 39 thousandths of a second in favor of the Mercedes-AMG GT3 n°83/Racetivity, of Manu Collard and Charles-Henri Samani, ahead of the Renault RS 01 n°5/FIT ITBC by AB Sport Auto, driven by Franck Dezoteux and Stéphane Tribaudini.