The last time the 24h series race took place on the Paul Ricard circuit was on April 23-24, 2021, when the Herberth Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 R (991 II) driven by Daniel Allemann - Ralf Bohn - Alfred Renauer - Robert Renauer crossed the finish line as the winner after 315 laps.
4 years later, another Porsche, a 911 GT3 R (992), from Proton Huber Competition #73, driven by Jörg Dreisow - Manuel Lauck - Klaus Bachler - Mark Wallenwein, repeated the feat after completing 308 laps, finishing 3.473 seconds ahead of the Red Ant Racing #93 Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO of the Yannick Redant - Ayrton Redant - Kobe de Breucker - Kenneth Heyer crew.
Free Practice
Thirty-two competitors took to the track for free practice early Friday afternoon.
The Proton Huber Competition #73 Porsche 911 GT3 R (992), driven by Jörg Dreisow - Manuel Lauck - Klaus Bachler - Mark Wallenwein, set the fastest time for all categories in this free practice session, clocking 2:02.768, for a 5.842-meter lap of the Paul Ricard circuit.
Combined Qualification
Qualifying will begin at 3:30 PM in three 15-minute sessions for the GT4, GTX, and 992 classes, with driver changes.
The average of the three times will determine pole position for each class.
The same process will be used for the GT3 class, which will begin at 4:40 PM.
Classes GT4, GTX & 992
In GTX, Sébastien Page - Luis Sanjuan - Éric Trouillet in the #709 Graff Racing Nova NP02 topped the timesheets with an average time of 2:06.201 (2:06.480, 2:06.252, and 2:05.871).
Third fastest time in this qualifying session, Cloe from the 992 class will return to the #888 SebLajoux Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (992) with Sebastien Lajoux - Stephane Perrin - Carlos Rivas - Paul Meijer at the wheel.
13th fastest time and pole in the GT4 class went to the #421 Venture Mercedes-AMG GT4 driven by Neville Jones - Christopher Jones - Matthew George.
Classe GT3
In the GT3 class, pole position will go to the #98 Ferrari 296 GT3 of Into Africa Racing by Dragon Racing with the quartet Xollie Letlaka - Axcil Jefferies - Khaled Al Marzouq - Ramez Azzam behind the wheel.
Two Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVOs will follow, second the #93 of Red Ant Racing of the Yannick Redant - Ayrton Redant - Kobe de Breucker - Kenneth Heyer crew which is 0.501s ahead of the #28 of the French team TFT Racing driven by Patrick Charlaix - Jordan Boisson - Benjamin Paque - Nico Bastian.
THE RACE
The temperature had already reached 32 degrees Celsius at the start of the race at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, July 5th.
Axcil Jefferies, who started from pole position, opened up a six-second lead in the opening laps, benefiting from a fierce battle behind him.
Elia Erhart moved up to second place in the #18 Sainteloc Junior Team Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II, with Nico Bastian in third for TFT Racing #28.
From sixth on the grid, Josef Kral quickly moved up to fourth in the #56 Scuderia Praha Ferrari 296 GT3.
Two superb overtakes in four laps, first on Bastian and then on Elia Erhart, allowed Josef Kral to take the lead after Axcil Jefferies' first pit stop.
Remaining in the lead for the second hour, ahead of the #90 E2P Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 of Oliver Campos and Khaled Al Marzouq (#98 Ferrari 296 GT3), Kral held a lead of over half a minute before the next stops, when Pierre Kaffer (#18 Sainteloc Junior Team Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II) pitted.
Pierre Kaffer then stopped on lap 62 after a spin at Signes, following a collision with the #81 Era Motorsport Ferrari 296 GT3.
Pierre Kaffer was deemed at fault and received a 20-second penalty, allowing Khaled Al Marzouq to retake the lead.
A third of the way through, Dennis Waszek (Ferrari 296 GT3 #56 Scuderia Praha) reclaimed the lead with a lead of over 30 seconds over Pierre Kaffer, while Klaus Bachler (Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) #73 Proton Huber Competition) began to make his way onto the podium.
Miroslav Vyboh led Praha until the fifth hour before the first Code 60 of the race later that same hour.
As the race resumed, with the Dragon Racing Ferrari leading with Xollie Letlaka, the #98 car stopped on track due to a fuel pump failure, prolonging the Code 60. Vasily Vladykin (#69 Continental Racing by Simpson Motorsport Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II) took the lead.
Scuderia Praha, Proton Huber Competition, and Continental Racing took turns at the front, and in the final third, all three consolidated their respective positions.
Red Ant, however, experienced some issues, first a speeding penalty in the pit lane, then the left front bodywork detached from the car.
Despite this, the Mercedes-AMG continued its unrelenting race, with the podium finish continuing to fluctuate as the sun sank lower and lower in the night sky at Le Castellet.
No one, however, could have predicted the suspense of the final 30 minutes.
A Code 60 was initially triggered due to a car being stuck on the track.
Kobe De Breucker (#93 Red Ant Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO) seized the opportunity to make a final pit stop from the lead. Moments later, the Sainteloc Audi R8, then in 5th place, stopped in a huge plume of smoke, triggering another Code 60.
When the action resumed, there were only six minutes left, and Mark Wallenwein (#73 Proton Huber Competition Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)) was leading by about ten seconds. Kobe De Breucker did all he could, closing to just over three seconds with a considerable effort. He was a lap ahead of the #28 TFT Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO, which completed the podium.
Next up will be the #69 Audi of Continental Racing by Simpson Motorsport, fourth in the AM GT3 category, and the #56 Ferrari of Scuderia Praha.
In the 992 class, Muhlner Motorsport's Martin Rump, Julian Hanses, and Valters Zviedris performed strongly throughout the race and took a superb victory in the #921 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (992).
The Graff Racing #709 Nova NP02 took the win on its GTX class debut with Sébastien Page, Luis Sanjuan, and Éric Trouillet.
In GT4, Venture claimed its third victory in four races this season with its #421 Mercedes-AMG GT4 driven by Christopher Jones, Neville Jones, and Matthew George.
The championship finale, the highly anticipated Michelin 24 Hours of Barcelona, will take place on the weekend of September 27-28 at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Spain.
Based 24H series press report.