Presentation
The Circuit Paul Ricard hosted, on this first weekend of June, round 3 of the 2023 season of the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS, the second round of Endurance Cup after Monza
It is a field of 57 GT3, composed of 11 Audi and Mercedes-AMG, 9 Porsche and Lamborghini, 7 BMW, 4 McLaren and Ferrari and an Aston Martin, which presented itself on the tarmac of the French circuit.
Bronze test
25 drivers took to the track on Friday morning at 09:00 for the 60-minute bronze test.
Miguel Ramos set a best time of 1:55.829 in the #188 Garage 59 McLaren 720S EVO.
Note the participation of Jérôme Policand, team manager of AKKODIS ASP, on the BMW #46 in preparation for his participation in the Road to Le Mans with Valentino Rossi.
The exception was Bullitt Racing's #33 Aston Martin, with the Spanish team using the session as a shakedown after recently rebuilding their car.
Free practice and pre-qualifying
The afternoon was dedicated to free practice from 2:35 p.m. to 4:05 p.m. which saw the Maro Engel (Mercedes -AMG Al Manar Racing #777 - GetSpeed) top the timesheets.
Early evening pre-qualifying went to Jules Gounon (Mercedes – AMG #88 – AKKODIS ASP Team) in 1:53.783.
Qualifying
Saturday morning was for pole hunting. In this exercise the Mercedes -AMG #88 - AKKODIS ASP Team, masterfully led by the trio Raffaele Marciello - Timur Boguslavskiy - Jules Gounon, proved intractable with an average time of 1:53:745.
Jules Gounon slamming the best time of the session in 1:52:982.
In Gold, Philip Ellis - Indy Dontje - Russell Ward hoisted another Mercedes-AMG, the #57 of Winward Racing in 1:54:332 in first place in the category.
Silver pole went to the #85 Lamborghini Huracan EVO 2 of the GRT Grasser Racing Team at the wheel of which were Benjamin Hites - Glenn van Barlo - Clemens Schmid.
In the Bronze class, the fastest was the #188 McLaren 720S GT3 EVO from Garage 59 driven by Henrique Chaves - Miguel Ramos - Louis Prette.
Barwell Motorsport, with the Dennis Lind - Adam Balon - Rob Collard trio, in the #78 Lamborghini Huracan EVO 2 took the lead in the Pro-AM.
The race
We had an appointment at 6:00 p.m. for the start of this race, which ended at night, thus preparing the competitors for the 24 hours of Spa.
Starting on pole, with Jules Gounon at the wheel, the native of Affalterbach, took the lead of the peloton, only slowed down by the presence, at the start of the race, of the safety car which entered the track on the first lap following the accident of the Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 #78 - Barwell Motorsport.
Still in the top five, after a solid stint from Timur Boguslavskiy, Raffaele Marciello's breathtaking night finale, overtaking all these opponents, definitively sealed the victory for the blue Mercedes.
The star firm secured a double, with second place in #777 Team AlManar entrusted to the triplet Luca Stolz - Maro Engel - Fabian Schiller.
The podium is completed by BMW M4 GT3 #98 - ROWE Racing of Nick Yelloly - Philipp Eng - Marco Wittmann following the downgrading of Audi R8 LMS GT3 #25 - Saintéloc Racing of Patric Niederhauser - Christopher Mies - Simon Gachet penalized by the officials by 5 seconds for a sixth violation of the track limits.
Comtoyou Racing snatched victory in the Gold Cup with the trio of Audi R8 LMS GT3 #21 Maxime Soulet - Nicolas Baert - Max Hofer, 9th overall.
HRT dominates the Bronze Cup category with the Mercedes-AMG GT3 #79 of Sébastien Baud - Arjun Maini - Hubert Haupt, ranked 14th under the checkered flag.
Silver Cup victory for Lorenzo Patrese - Pietro Delli Guanti - Alex Aka on their #99 Audi R8 LMS GT3 - Tresor Attempto Racing
The #24 Porsche 911 GT3 R - Car Collection Motorsport of Alex Fontana - Niki Leutwiler - Ivan Jacoma wins in Pro-Am.
See you in Barcelona for my next Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS Endurance Cup
Based on Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS press report