Porsche Sprint Challenge France: High-energy meetings at Magny-Cours!

August 2024 was one of the hottest on record and the last weekend of the month was no exception, with temperatures easily exceeding 30 degrees in the air and almost double that on the tarmac, causing suffering to the tires and the 80 drivers present at the wheel of around sixty cars. Porsche racing, including no fewer than 19 Cayman GT4 RS, a record since the start of the season.

However, it was the GT3 Cups that took to the track first, with 32 drivers ready to do battle on Friday afternoon for the qualifying session. Sylvain Noël (Racing Technology) proved unstoppable by taking pole position with almost 4 tenths of a second ahead of Victor Blugeon (ABM) and 4 tenths ahead of Hugo Giraud (ABM), all three at the wheel of 992 GT3 Cups. Arnaud Pierre (IMSA Performance), back with his 991 R, set the fifth fastest time and Alexandre Rasse (MRS), eighth, won in the 991-II category. Finally, it was necessary to go down to thirteenth place to find the fastest of the 991-1s, that of Marc Boithiot (BPS Racing).

For the second race, it was necessary to be patient. Indeed, the delay accumulated on Friday forced the postponement of the second qualification to Saturday morning, but it was with an additional 1h30 delay that it started, the fault of... the fog! Marco Gerarduzzi (Driving&Performance/DBG) was the fastest ahead of Victor Blugeon and Hugo Giraud. Arnaud Pierre, sixth was again the fastest in the R category, as were Alexandre Rasse in 991-II, eighth, and Marc Boithiot, twelfth with his 991-I.

The Sport Cup Series qualifying, which was also postponed to Saturday morning, saw Johann Rousselin (CG Motorsport) take two pole positions, ahead of Lucas Glinche (Glinche Racing) and Stéphane Bremard (Racing Technology) in Race 1, Remi Van Straaten (VS Compétition by Orhes) and Luc Remmy (Rempp Racing) in Race 2. Patrick Lauber (Sodep Vintage Cars), tenth, was the fastest of the 996 Cups in Race 1, while Anthony Trevalinet (MCG Propulsion), nineteenth, won this category for Race 2. Finally, Bruno Malerba (PV Tech), eleventh, and Jean Olive (CG Motorsport), twentieth, dominated the 718 category.

While the first cars of the first Cup Series race passed the first corner without incident, a collision in the middle of the pack sent two cars into the gravel trap, which led to the race being neutralized for two or four laps. Two laps later, a car stuck in a gravel trap forced the Safety Car to re-enter the track, meaning that the race could not really start until the ninth lap. With not enough laps remaining to see any major comebacks, Sylvain Noël ended up ahead of Victor Blugeon and Hugo Giraud for the podium, Arnaud Pierre, sixth, winner of the R category ahead of Alexandre Rasse who won the 991-II group, while Marc Boithiot, twelfth, won in 991-I.

The second race was noticeably more lively since it was not interrupted and saw the three leaders exchange positions several times, Victor Blugeon who had taken the lead from the first corner winning the race ahead of Marco Gerarduzzi who overtook Hugo Giraud on the last lap. Gilles Colombani (ABM) made a nice comeback from fourteenth to seventh place as did Michel Ettouati (IMSA Performance), who started seventeenth to finish ninth, followed like a shadow by Marc Vanwysberghe (911 Impact) who made the same comeback, starting eighteenth to finish tenth. Arnaud Pierre, fifth, nevertheless achieved a double in Group R as did Alexandre Rasse, eleventh) in 991-II and Marc Boithiot, twelfth, in 991-I.

The start of the first race of the Sport Cup Series was just as lively as that of the Cup Series since the Safety Car was out on the first lap, but after two laps, it returned to the pits for good and the race could resume. This allowed Axel Van Straaten (VS Compétition by Orhes) to move up from 23rd to 4th place in just one race, a superb comeback that saw him finish behind Johann Rousselin, Lucas Glinche and Stéphane Brémard who finished in the order of their qualification. In the middle of the pack, the fight was particularly intense between Dimitri Verza (CG Motorsport), Laurent Collin (Riviera Motorsport) and Pierre Hirschi (Gemo Motorsport) who finished in just 9 tenths after swapping places until the last corner of the last lap. Julien Nuss (Rempp Racing) won group 718 and Didier Van Straaten (VS Compétition by Orhes) won in 996 Cup while Béatrice Cibien (Gautier Ebel Motorsport) took her first podium in only her third competitive start.

The second race of the Sport Cup Series started impeccably until the fourth lap when Damien Legrez (CG Motorsport) lost his car in the first corner and ended up in the tyre wall, which required the intervention of the safety car to free the car. Four laps later, the race resumed and Laurent Misbach (Racing Technology), who had fallen to twelfth place, took advantage of the situation to start a comeback that would take him to sixth position. At the head of the race, Remi Van Straaten tried in vain to overtake Johann Rousselin, but he finished 2 tenths behind the winner, with Luc Remmy completing the podium. Starting twenty-first, Laurent Nuss (Rempp Racing) moved up to fifteenth place, which allowed him to win group 718.

With two meetings to go in the season, nothing is decided yet as there are still 96 points to be distributed in each category, meaning that the top ten can theoretically still be crowned champions.

Magny-Cours – Cup Series – Race 1

Magny-Cours – Cup Series – Race 2

Magny-Cours – Sport Cup Series – Race 1

Magny-Cours – Sport Cup Series – Race 2