It’s the final French round of the V de V Endurance Series for this season and the meeting at Magny-Cours seems to traditionally take place in a warm, welcoming atmosphere. Starting the weekend on the right foot, David Droux gave us an exceptional race on Friday, where he proved his talent and was crowned champion of the Single Seater Challenge category (Challenge Monoplace), the first of several to be announced this weekend in the series named after Eric Van de Vyver.
Single Seaters (Challenge Monoplace V de V): A formality for David Droux
Points available this weekend were to be multiplied by 1.5, meaning Riccardo Cazzaniga would still have been able to take the title away from David Droux, who has lead the championship since the first round at Barcelona. He still however needed a miracle to beat the young Swiss, there being a mere 180 points up for grabs and 147 points separating the rivals. As a result, the Italian was unable to make it this weekend and thus could not try his chances for the title. Droux therefore simply had to start the race in order to be officially crowned champion, which he did by providing us with a magnificent victory once again, after winning 13 out of the last 15 races. Julien Falchero for team GSK Grand Prix finished in second place on Friday, after a strong performance, in front of Gilles Heriau (Formula Motorsport). Just missing out on the third step of the podium, Christophe Hurni (Sports Promotion) claimed first place in in the Gentleman drivers’ category, just ahead of Oscar Arcila (SG Racing) who currently leads the championship.
Historic Endurance (Challenge Endurance VHC V de V): Metzger ahead in the last qualifying session
At the wheel of his Cesca Grac, Franck Metzger made sure to take pole position for the first of the two one-hour races reserved for the oldies. Accompanying him on the front row, Gérard Pargamin in his Osella PA9, while the second row is occupied by John Doe in his Chevron B60 and the Osella PA6, driven by Lion and Champetier de Ribes. It is however the driver duo of Thybaud and Abric in the Porsche 944 Cup who currently have the best chances of taking the championship title, to be decided on Saturday.
Challenge Funyo V de V : The return of the champion
Winner of the Funyo Challenge category last season, Jean Quelet is back this weekend behind the wheel of his SP05, who goes into Saturday at the head of the pack, followed by Yves Orhant. At the starting blocks, they’ll lead the first F5 driven by Gwénaël Delomier, who will hope to stay ahead of Romain Houllier, as they both share the second row.
4 Hours of Endurance GT / Tourisme: Front row lock-out for the LMP3s
While drivers Dons and Geddie of the #24 Ginetta LMP3 attempted to set the pace during the night time qualifying session, ahead of Saturday’s race, it was once again the sister car of team LNT, handled by Tomlinson, Simpson and Schjerpen who managed to put the prototype on pole position for a second time in two races. Behind this British front row, the no.51 AF Corse Ferrari 458 GT3 driven by Cordoni, Zanuttini and Montermini made sure they were first of the GT cars. They start ahead of the Pescarolo 02 and its duo Poilpre / Da Cunha. Leading the championship, Pagny, Perrier and Bouvet in their Ferrari 458 GT2 will start the 4 hour race from 5th position, while the 8th grid slot will be occupied by Kanaroglou and Campos in the Mosler MT 900 for Escuela Espanola de Pilotos, first in the GTV2 category. In the Silhouette class, it was the no. 20 GC10-V8 operated by Calari / Calmon / Alexander-David who made it to first place
The Magny-Cours based manufacturer didn’t hesitate to show its colours at their home track on Friday, demonstrating the Ligier JS 53’s constant evolution and development. Team Graff and drivers Trouillet / Clairay / Perroy of the no. 29 car managed to put themselves at the top of the time sheets during free practice 1, just in front of the team’s second car, no. 91, in the hands of Gauvin/Pasian/Findlay. Completing the top three, team Ultimate looked favourable and rose to the challenge, securing the last podium spot, before improving their result and producing the fastest time in Free Practice 2. Giorgio Mondini, in the n°77 car run by Euro International made it to second place during the second free practice session and repeated his performance during night practice. Also, important to mention is the super lap time clocked by Tinseau, present in the no.84 Ligier with Frédéric Sausset.