Presentation
The entry list includes 29 teams with GTs, touring cars and 24H Specials.
No less than 26 different nationalities were represented on the grid.
Last year, German Porsche team Herberth Motorsport came out on top in the Hankook 24H CIRCUIT PAUL RICARD. The Porsche with drivers Alfred Renauer, Robert Renauer, Daniel Allemann and Ralf Bohn took the lead on Saturday afternoon already and went on to win with a margin of no less than 14 laps after a trouble-free race.
Of course, the Herberth Motorsport Porsche team was back in action at Circuit Paul Ricard, with the same driver line up as last year.
Thursday, 4 May, is reserved for rent-a-car rides and private testing.
Free practice is scheduled on Friday, 5 May, followed by qualifying.
qualifying
The Scuderia Praha Ferrari 488 GT3 (#11, Jiri Pisarik/Josef Král/Matteo Malucelli/Eddie Cheever) has scored the pole position.
Italian Matteo Malucelli lapped the 5.842 kilometre circuit in 2:06.326 minutes.
Missing the top spot by a 0.695 second margin, the ROFGO Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 (#31, Roald Goethe/Stuart Hall/Jamie Campbell-Walter/Nicolas Minassian) leaved from second on the grid.
Only 0.094 seconds down, the Car Collection Motorsport Audi R8 LMS (#32, Adrian Amstutz/Patrick Kujala/Martin Kodric/Connor de Phillippi) followed in third.
In A6-Am specification, the GP Extreme Renault RS01 FGT3 (#28, Jean-Pierre Valentini/Pierre Brice Mena/Anthony Beltoise/Axcil Jefferies/Bassam Kronfli) took the class lead (fourth place overall)
The only car in the 991 class, the PROsport Performance Porsche 991 Cup (#85, Charles Putman/Charles Espenlaub/Joe Foster/Andy Pilgrim), started from 13th place overall after Charles Espenlaub set a lap time of 2:13.428 minutes.
In SP2 class, the Porsche Lorient Racing Porsche 991 Cup (#65, Jean-François Demorge/Alain Demorge/Gilles Blasco/Mathieu Pontais/Frédéric Ancel) scored the pole position.
The TCR Class qualifying was dominated by the Car Collection Motorsport Audi RS3 LMS TCR DSG (#333, Monika Parhofer/Dirk Vorländer/Christian Kranenberg/JM Littman/Rik Breukers)
In the SP3-GT4 class the Optimum Motorsport Ginetta G55 GT4 (#231, Adrian Barwick/Dan O'Brien/Julio Martini/Philippe Salini) topped the timing sheets.
In the CUP1 class, the DUWO Racing BMW M235i Racing Cup (#235, Jean-Marie Dumont/Alexander W. Wetzlich/Nicolas Schmit/Adrian Watt/Chris Wilson) runs as a soloist.
Jean-Marie Dumont qualified the car in 29th position overall with a 2:31.395 minute lap time.
The race
The Herberth Motorsport Porsche 991 GT3 R (#911, Daniel Allemann/Ralf Bohn/Robert Renauer/Alfred Renauer) has won the Hankook 24H CIRCUIT PAUL RICARD.
After 595 laps on the 5.842 kilometre circuit, equaling a distance of 3.475.99 kilometres, Ralf Bohn crossed the finish line to take the team's third victory in the fourth round of the 2017 24H SERIES powered by Hankook.
Herberth Motorsport also won the 24 hour encounter at the French Riviera for the second consecutive time.
Outpaced by three laps, the Car Collection Motorsport Audi R8 LMS (#32, Adrian Amstutz/Patrick Kujala/Martin Kodric/Connor de Phillippi) took home the second place.
One lap further down, the Scuderia Praha Ferrari 488 GT3 (#11, Jiri Pisarik/Josef Král/Matteo Malucelli/Edward Cheever), moved up from fifth to third to claim the last step on the podium.
In fifth position overall, the Hofor-Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 (#1, Michael Kroll/Chantal Kroll/Roland Eggimann/Kenneth Heyer/Christiaan Frankenhout) took the A6-Am class victory by a one lap margin from the Car Collection Motorsport Audi R8 LMS (#34, Johannes Dr. Kirchhoff/Gustav Edelhoff/Max Edelhoff/Elmar Grimm/Ingo Vogler).
The GP Extreme Renault RS01 FGT3 (#27, Frederic Fatien/Jordan Grogor/Tiziano Carugati/Nicky Pastorelli/Bassam Kronfli) finished third in class and ninth overall.
The PROsport Performance Porsche 991 Cup (#85, Charles Putman/Charles Espenlaub/Joe Foster/Andy Pilgrim) was the only car in the 991 class and finished in seventh position overall, 27 laps behind the winners.
In the SP2 class, the Porsche Lorient Racing Porsche 991 Cup (#65, Jean-François Demorge/Alain Demorge/Gilles Blasco/Mathieu Pontais/Frédéric Ancel) took the glory by a 28.0 second margin from the IDEC SPORT RACING Porsche 991 Cup (#75, David Abramczyk/Stephane Adler/Romain Vozniak/Franck Leherpeur/Michael Blanchemain).
Four laps down, the Speed Lover Porsche 991 Cup (#78, Pierre-Yves Paque/Jesus Diez/Grégory Paisse) finished in third.
The Modena Motorsports SEAT Leon TCR V3 DSG (#216, Wayne Shen/John Shen/Francis Tjia/Benny Simonsen) kept their lead in the TCR class and won by a three lap margin from the Car Collection Motorsport Audi RS3 LMS TCR DSG (#333, Monika Parhofer/Dirk Vorländer/Christian Kranenberg/JM Littman/Rik Breukers).
The Cadspeed Racing with Atech Audi RS3 LMS TCR SEQ (#108, James Kaye/Ricky Coomber/Paul White/David Drinkwater/Thomas Gannon) settled for third.
The only CUP1 class car, the DUWO Racing BMW M235i Racing Cup (#235, Jean-Marie Dumont/Alexander W. Wetzlich/Nicolas Schmit/Adrian Watt/Chris Wilson), completed 477 laps to finish in 17th spot overall.
Despite a terminal engine failure at night, the track-club Lotus Evora GT4 (#111, Marcus Jewell/Simon Atkinson/Adam Knight/Stuart Ratcliff) covered enough laps to take the victory in the SP3-GT4 class.
The FACH AUTO TECH Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport (#240, Marco Zolin/Michael Hirschmann/Marcel Wagner/Heinz Bruder) was classified in second place from the Optimum Motorsport Ginetta G55 GT4 (#231, Adrian Barwick/Dan O'Brien/Julio Martini/Philippe Salini).
Podium
(Based on 24H SERIES powered by Hankook Press release)