Porsche Sprint Challenge France – Dijon Meeting: via Burgundy

The Dijon meeting of Porsche Sprint Challenge France was the last meeting before the opening races of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, a meeting that no one wanted to miss in order to best prepare for the Le Mans classic.

The weather was on our side with an azure sky barely crossed by a few clouds pushed by a light fresh wind which kept the atmosphere at an ideal temperature while allowing the track to approach 50° which was ideal for the grip of the slick tires used throughout the weekend.

A weekend which began as always with more than two hours of free practice on Friday to allow the drivers to fine-tune their settings in preparation for the qualifying sessions held at the end of the day.

The Cup Series opened the ball with a trio fiercely battling for the top spots at the wheel of their 992 GT3 Cups. In the first race, Clément Loeul (Ancel Motorsport) beat Louis Méric (LM31) by 5 seconds and Victor Blugeon (ABM) by 8 seconds, while in the second race, Louis Méric won by 1 seconds ahead of Clément Loeul and 17 seconds ahead of Victor Blugeon. Laurent Misbach (Racing Technology), in eighth position on the grid for the first race, was the fastest of the Master drivers, a position occupied by Laurent Cochard (Racing Technology) in race two with eleventh place. In the 991 GT3 Cup class, while Marc Boithiot (BPS Racing) set the fastest time in the category in qualifying 1, it was Patrick Pelletier (Fun Circuit) who was the fastest in qualifying 2.

The Sport Cup Series then took to the track with the gaps still as small at the front as Luc Remmy (Rempp Racing) beat Olivier Baharian (Racing Technology) by 9 hundredths in Q1 while Julien Nuss (Rempp Racing) beat Sylvain Noël (Racing Technology) by a tenth in Q2, Sylvain Noël also being the fastest of the Master drivers while in Q1, this title went to Stéphane Bremard (Racing Technology). Finally, in the GT4 group, Jean Olive (CG Motorsport) won twice over Béatrice Cibien (Gautier Ebel Motorsport).

After a long 45-minute warm-up session early Saturday morning, the races began with the Cup Series, which finished the first lap under safety car, Michel Ettouati (Schumacher IMSA) being immobilized in the middle of the track, but he managed to get going again and the race resumed after two laps. Louis Méric had managed to get the better of Clément Loeul just before the safety car while Victor Blugeon took second place just at the restart before delivering the final blow on lap seventeen to take the lead of the race and take the victory. Laurent Collin (Cudennec D&P / DBG) had a good start to the race by gaining 4 places in the first laps but Anthony Vince (MAS Racing) did even better with six positions better between the start and the finish. As for Michel Ettouati, he moved up seven places following his incident on the first lap. Finally, Gregory Rasse (MRS) took the victory in Master ahead of Gilles Colombani (ABM) and Laurent Misbach after a particularly hard-fought race and Marc Boithiot confirmed his first place in the 991 acquired during the tests.

The second Cup Series race was also interrupted by a safety car intervention, but on the fourteenth lap when Jean-Philippe Lamic (Vic'Team) found himself stuck in a bad position in a gravel trap while François Chotard (Chotard Team) blew his engine on the straight on the sixth lap, fortunately without spilling any oil on the track. Starting in the lead, Louis Meric was not caught even though Clément Loeul gave him no respite, followed like a shadow by Karl Vandewostine (2B Autosport) who had briefly occupied second place before finishing third, 6 tenths behind the second. In great form, Gregory Rasse won the Master group after gaining four positions during the race. Guillaume Charpentier (Autovitesse) gained 5 places, making him the best performer of the race, while Patrick Pelletier won the 991 group after winning in practice.

Whether in the first or second race, the Sport Cup Series left the safety car at home, which did not prevent the races from being lively, since Laurent Nuss (Rempp Racing) in the first race and Pierre Hirschi (Hirschi Rally Team) in the second race were penalized following collisions on the track.

In the first race, Lucas Glinche (Glinche Racing) took the lead from the start and proved unstoppable against Luc Remmy and Olivier Baharian, who made up the podium at the finish. In fourth place, Franck Leherpeur (Autovitesse) won the Master category after a clear race.

At the start of the second race, Sylvain Noël put on two new tires, which dropped him four places on the grid. However, he quickly came back to take the lead on lap seven and never relinquish it, winning the race and the Master class. He was closely followed by Julien Nuss, who won the Super class, finishing second ahead of Frédéric Perriat (Racing Technology). Finally, in GT4, as in practice, Jean Olive won twice ahead of Béatrice Cibien. Hervé Glinche (Glinche Racing) did as well as Sylvain Noël, gaining five places in the first 17 laps, but a collision unfortunately forced him to retire with 5 laps to go.

After 4 races, Victor Blugeon and Louis Meric are tied for the lead in the Cup Series ahead of Arthur Rasse (MRS) while 5 points separate Julien Nuss from Franck Leherpeur at the top of the Sport Cup Series.

Cup Series Race 1 Standings

1. BLUGEON Victor (992-S / ABM): 22 laps in 30:29.532

2. MERIC Louis (992-S / LM31) at 0.290

3. LOEUL Clément (992-S / ANCEL MOTORSPORT) at 4.283

4. VANDEWOESTINE Karl (992-S / 2B AUTOSPORT) at 11.572

5. CHOTARD François (992-S / CHOTARD TEAM) at 13.323

6. RASSE Alexandre (992-S / MRS) at 20.796

7. DIDRY Yann (992-S / SCHUMACHER IMSA) at 22.521

8. VANDEWOESTINE César (992-S / 2B AUTOSPORT) at 30.077

9. RASSE Grégory (992-M / MRS) at 37.866

10. COLOMBANI Gilles (992-M / ABM) at 40.923

11. MISBACH Laurent (992-M / RACING TECHNOLOGY) at 41.003

12. COCHARD Laurent (992-M / RACING TECHNOLOGY) at 51.895

13. VANWYNSBERGHE Marc (992-M / 911 IMPACT) at 54.215

14. CHARPENTIER Guillaume (992-S / AUTOVITESSE) at 54.300

15. TREMBLAY Hervé (992-M / ANCEL MOTORSPORT) at 54.910

16. BOITHIOT Marc (991 / BPS RACING) at 1:01.506

17. VINCE Anthony (992-S / MAS RACING) at 1:01.538

18. PELLETIER Patrick (991 / FUN CIRCUIT) at 1:05.085

19. COLLIN Laurent (992-M / CUDENNEC D&P / DBG) at 1:20.802

20. ETTOUATI Michel (R / SCHUMACHER IMSA) at 1 lap

21. KOENIG Nicolas (991 / BPS RACING) 1 lap behind

22. DROUGARD Mickael (991 / 2M COMPETITION) 1 lap behind

23. CHOTARD Roland (991 / CHOTARD TEAM) 1 lap behind

24. RICAUD Laurent (991 / CUDENNEC D&P) at 1 turn

25. BARIL Thierry (992-M / CUDENNEC D&P) 1 lap behind

26. LAMIC Jean Philippe (992-S / VIC' TEAM) 1 lap behind

27. WILLMANN Franck (992-S / ABM) at 3 laps

NC. CAUME Jacques (R / GARAGE BOURGOIN) at 13 towers

NP. ZIEGLER Michael (992 / RSR)

Cup Series Race 2 Standings

1. MERIC Louis (992-S / LM31): 21 laps in 30:00.098

2. LOEUL Clément (992-S / ANCEL MOTORSPORT) at 1.341

3. VANDEWOESTINE Karl (992-S / 2B AUTOSPORT) at 1.954

4. RASSE Arthur (992-S / MRS) at 2.557

5. GERARDUZZI Marco (992-S / CUDENNEC D&P / DBG) at 3.757

6. BLUGEON Victor (992-S / ABM) at 4.138

7. LOEUL Ludovic (992-S / ANCEL MOTORSPORT) at 9.179

8. RASSE Grégory (992-M / MRS) at 11.150

9. VANDEWOESTINE César (992-S / 2B AUTOSPORT) at 11.476

10. LACOUR Alexandre (992-S / SCHUMACHER IMSA) at 13.509

11. COLOMBANI Gilles (992-M / ABM) at 15.108

12. CHARPENTIER Guillaume (992-S / AUTOVITESSE) at 16.689

13. VINCE Anthony (992-S / MAS RACING) at 19.054

14. ETTOUATI Michel (R / SCHUMACHER IMSA) at 25.909

15. PELLETIER Patrick (991 / FUN CIRCUIT) at 26.232

16. BOITHIOT Marc (991 / BPS RACING) at 26.318

17. VANWYNSBERGHE Marc (992-M / 911 IMPACT) at 26.882

18. ZIEGLER Michael (992-S / RSR) at 27.225

19. KOENIG Nicolas (991 / BPS RACING) at 33.526

20. DROUGARD Mickael (991 / 2M COMPETITION) at 33.706

21. CHOTARD Roland (991 / CHOTARD TEAM) at 37.141

22. THENIER Eric (992-M / RACING TECHNOLOGY) at 1 lap

23. BARIL Thierry (992-M / CUDENNEC D&P) 1 lap behind

24. RICAUD Laurent (991 / CUDENNEC D&P) at 1 turn

25. COCHARD Laurent (992-M / RACING TECHNOLOGY) 2 laps behind

26. WILLMANN Franck (992-S / ABM) at 3 laps

NC. LAMIC Jean Philippe (992-S / VIC' TEAM) at 8 laps

NC. CHOTARD François (992-S / CHOTARD TEAM) at 16 rounds

NP. CAUME Jacques (R / GARAGE BOURGOIN)

Sport Cup Series Race 1 Standings

11. GLINCHE Lucas (718 RS-S / GLINCHE RACING): 22 laps in 30:14.265

2. REMMY Luc (718 RS-S / REMPP RACING) at 8.441

3. BAHARIAN Olivier (718 RS-S / RACING TECHNOLOGY) at 10.709

4. LEHERPEUR Franck (718 RS-M / AUTOVITESSE) at 25.072

5. BREMARD Stéphane (718 RS-M / RACING TECHNOLOGY) at 26.457

6. PLESSIS Anthony (718 RS-S / AUTOVITESSE) at 27.720

7. HIRSCHI Pierre (718 RS-M / HIRSCHI RALLY TEAM) at 34.522

8. PROUST Thierry (718 RS-M / CG MOTORSPORT) at 35.489

9. CARMINATI Jean-Charles (718 RS-S / RIVIERA MOTORSPORT) at 1:04.171

10. NUSS Laurent (718 RS-M / REMPP RACING) at 1:05.278

11. MALERBA Bruno (718 RS-S / PV TECH) at 1:05.932

12. COISNE Bernard (718 RS-M / TINSEAU RACING) at 1:14.157

13. OLIVE Jean (GT4 / CG MOTORSPORT) 1 lap behind

14. CARDIA Jean-Pierre (718 RS-M / C6 DEVELOPPEMENT) 1 lap behind

15. CIBIEN Béatrice (GT4 / GAUTIER EBEL MOTORSPORT) 1 lap behind

16. AUCH-HISIGER Claude (718 RS-M / GAUTIER EBEL MOTORSPORT) at 1 lap

NP. MOUTH Fabian (718 RS-S / REMPP RACING)

Sport Cup Series Race 2 Standings

1. NOEL Sylvain (718 RS-M / RACING TECHNOLOGY): 22 laps in 30:08.283

2. NUSS Julien (718 RS-S / REMPP RACING) at 9.477

3. PERRIAT Frédéric (718 RS-S / RACING TECHNOLOGY) at 27.099

4. REMMY Luc (718 RS-S / REMPP RACING) at 49.242

5. LEHERPEUR Franck (718 RS-M / AUTOVITESSE) at 50.456

6. MALERBA Fabio (718 RS-S / PV TECH) at 50.582

7. PLESSIS Anthony (718 RS-S / AUTOVITESSE) at 52.003

8. HIRSCHI Pierre (718 RS-M / HIRSCHI RALLYE TEAM) at 1:19.443

9. GOUJAT Julien (718 RS-S / RIVIERA MOTORSPORT) 1 lap behind

10. GIRARDOT Stéphane (718 RS-M / CG MOTORSPORT) 1 lap behind

11. COISNE Bernard (718 RS-M / TINSEAU RACING) at 1 lap

12. OLIVE Jean (GT4 / CG MOTORSPORT) 1 lap behind

13. CARDIA Jean-Pierre (718 RS-M / C6 DEVELOPPEMENT) 1 lap behind

14. CIBIEN Béatrice (GT4 / GAUTIER EBEL MOTORSPORT) 1 lap behind

15. AUCH-HISIGER Claude (718 RS-M / GAUTIER EBEL MOTORSPORT) at 2 laps

16. GLINCHE Hervé (718 RS-M / GLINCHE RACING) at 5 laps

NP. MOUTH Fabian (718 RS-S / REMPP RACING)