4H Endurance Proto: Paul Ricard does not decide between the championship leaders

At the top of the general classification, the No. 8 TFT Norma asserts its ambitions from qualifying by setting the best time. She is followed very closely by another Norma, that of Accary/Delafosse at CD Sport; Accary being second in the championship. Absent in Italy, Philippe Alliot and Yann Clairay are back at Le Castellet, they set the third fastest time in qualifying in the Ligier Springbox Concept. TFT, CD Sport, Springbox, JD Racing, Palmyr: we find five different teams in the first 5 places in the qualifying session!

Sunday morning, 09:00 a.m., is the start of this 4-hour endurance. No less than 27 cars made a magnificent flying start in front of a crowd gathered in the stands of Paul Ricard. Change of leader at the head of the race, since it is the n°1 who returns first in the straight line. The No. 5 TFT Tatuus returns to the pits following a left rear puncture. Philippe Alliot is 3rd in the No. 16 after a good start, Borga is 4th in the No. 44 Norma Palmyr, Maulini 5th in the No. 28 of JD Racing. In these first laps, positions change regularly throughout the peloton, but we avoid getting things heated while there are still more than 3h30 of racing left. Cars no. 22 and no. 70 received a penalty for forgetting to turn on their lights, small errors which were costly at the start of the race. At the front, two duels take place: between the n°8 and the n°1, and a little further between the n°16 and the n°28. After having already experienced problems at Mugello, a new disappointment for the No. 4 of CD Sport (Kévin Bole Besançon / Inès Taittinger) who had to return to the pits with gearbox problems even though the start had only been given for a year. hour. She will return to the track more than an hour later, with Inès Taittinger at the wheel, but will retire on the 19th lap. In the lead change of leader as the first hour of racing approached, Capillaire passed the Norma n°1. The first quarter of the race is covered and we will see the first driver changes. The #1 is among the first to dive into the pit lane, and Accary replaces Delafosse.
The Wolf n°27 and n°21 also pass through the pits, but their stops are extended to resolve technical problems and the after-effects of a collision for the n°21. The Tatuus n°5 of TFT received a stop & go for having exceeded the authorized speed in the pit lane.
Between refueling, changing drivers and tires, the first wave of stops continues for many minutes. The Wolfs are definitely unlucky today, the n°45 had to take a long stop to repair its flat bottom. We are not yet at the halfway point and this challenge event Endurance Proto is already very lively.
After an average start to the race, the Normas of the Palmyr team moved up the rankings. On the No. 42 Didier Beck is 3rd, on the No. 40 Philippe Mondolot is 5th. However, we will have to wait for all the cars to stop to confirm this rise in the top 5. Accary logically regains the lead with the No. 1 CD Sport Norma after halfway through the race. Behind him, the No. 16 Ligier of Alliot/Clairay is 2nd, the Norma CD Sport of Pialat/Dannielou is 3rd, the No. 2 CD Sport of Dhouailly/Kirchdoerffer is 4th, the No. 7 Tatuus of TFT is 5th.
The Ligier n°16, although well classified, had to stop because its headlights did not work; It was an electrical problem which caused the Springbox Concept car to lose precious time; it only returned to the track in 8th position. At Palmyr, it is number 41 which is losing time in its box with a problem fixing the rear cover.
Half an hour later, in the lead, it is still the CD Sport n°1 which leads the debates. David Zollinger managed to get back into contact and is now aiming for first place. However, there are still pit stops to be made. The No. 40 will lead for many laps, followed by the No. 1 and the No. 8. The No. 3 Norma from CD Sport defends its 4th place and the top 5 is completed by the No. 44 Norma from Palmyr. The #16 Ligier moved back up the rankings after its mid-race problems. She will also aim for the top 5 at the end of the race. At the front, the gaps between the n°1, the n°40 and the n°8 are small, and the Norma TFT will not deprive itself of attacking the Norma de Palmyr to take second place from the attack of the last fifteen minutes. This is not the most serious thing for this No. 40 since it is obliged to return to the pits a few minutes later in order to add fuel which will allow it to return to the finish. She still managed to keep her third place, especially since an important racing event occurred shortly before the finish. Amandine Foulard, on the other Springbox Concept Ligier, was the victim of a violent exit from the track. Red flag to intervene as quickly as possible by the medical service. This proto endurance therefore ends in slow motion for the peloton, and we retain the general classification of the previous round. This does not change the podium for this third event of the championship.
It is therefore Accary/Delafosse (Norma CD Sport n°1) who wins the race. Capillaire/Bourdin (Norma TFT n°8) are second and Mondolot/Zollinger (Norma Palmyr n°40) are third. The #16 Ligier finally finished in 5th place. The first Tatuus is just behind, in 6th position, it is that of Illiano/Ferte at TFT. The day ends with good news from Amandine Foulard, who is leaving the hospital after having passed a series of reassuring medical examinations.

We stay in France for the next meeting, it will be June 28, 29 and 30 in Dijon.