An action-packed, high-attrition race round the redesigned Magny-Cours circuit in France saw Matteo Bobbi and Thomas Biagi take their second win of the season. Second place for their team-mates Fabrizio Gollin and Luca Cappellari further extended BMS Scuderia Italia’s Championship lead. The Lister Storm of  Andrea Piccini and Jean-Denis Deletraz took third place. 

In N-GT, Team Maranello Concessionaires confirmed their early season promise, taking their first victory. Burt and Turner crossed the line first, but their Ferrari 360 Modena was later excluded due to the capacity of the fuel tank. This promoted Davies and Mullen to the lead, with the Freisinger Porsche of Lieb and Ortelli second, and Autopalace drivers Gomez and Hiesse third. Team Maranello Concessionaires have appealed the decision, and therefore the result of the race remains provisional, pending the appeal. 

Weather : After the torrential rain on Saturday, Sunday stayed dry, and 47000 spectators came to watch the races, bringing the weekend total to 60000.

GT CLASS

A repeat of the Barcelona double for BMS Scuderia Italia looked far from certain today, with the nr 23 and 22 cars only coming to the fore in the latter stages of the race, as assorted mechanical problems befell the rest of the field. Bouchut, in the nr 1 Larbre Viper, took the lead at the start, and dominated the early stages of the race, building up a good lead. He was followed by the nr 2 Saleen, which was involved in a fine battle with Bobbi, in the nr 23 Ferrari. The Saleen’s progress finished on lap 14, the car pulling off the track. The next car to shine briefly was the nr 5 Force One Viper, with Mike Hezemans climbing up to second place, overtaking both the nr 23 Ferrari and the nr 14 Lister on one lap, before retiring with engine problems on lap 18. The Larbre Competition Viper continued to lead until the first pit stop, when a radiator leak was diagnosed and the car retired. This left Jamie Campbell-Walter, in the nr 14 Lister, at the front. He was soon joined by Piccini, in the nr 15 Storm, and the British team looked to be on course for a fine result. The nr 23 car, however, was never far behind, and during the final hour, a good battle took place between Bobbi and Piccini. Piccini, suffering from a tyre problem, was not able to resist, and with 21 minutes to go, Bobbi took second place. Piccini pulled into the pits to change the left rear tyre, dropping down to fourth. The nr 14 Lister had a lead of over half a minute, and appeared unassailable. But bad luck hit Campbell-Walter for the second race in a row, with a broken accelerator cable forcing him to retire with only 14 minutes to go, although the car was still classified 6th. This left the two BMS cars with a comfortable victory, while Piccini brought the remaining Storm in third place.

Behind them, the nr 11 Roos-Optima Chrysler Viper finished fourth, having started from 24th on the grid. The nr 8 Graham Nash Saleen of Amorim, Chaves and Ramos was fifth, with Verdon-Roe and Zadra, in the Creation Lister, seventh after running into problems at the end of the race. Wieth Racing picked up the final point for eighth, the team’s first point since starting work on their own version of the Ferrari 550 Maranello two years ago.

Neither JMB Racing Ferrari 550 Maranello made it to the finish, while the nr 18 Zwaan’s Racing Chrysler Viper, having started from the last line of the grid, made it up to fifth place before retiring with engine problems.

“I would like to thank my team, team-mate and Michelin,” Thomas Biagi said afterwards. “It was very important for me to win at this track today, as I had my first F3000 race here many years ago, and in an accident, Marco Campos lost his life. I would like to dedicate this victory to his memory.”

In the GT points, BMS Scuderia Italia has a 22 points lead over Lister Racing, with the Swedish Roos-Optima Racing Team third. Biagi and Bobbi, who set the fastest lap with a time of 1:38.625,  jointly lead the Drivers Classification, ahead of Gollin and Cappellari, with Piccini and Deletraz third.

N-GT CLASS

The N-GT race today was incredibly close, with a number of leader changes, and some disappointing non-finishes for cars which showed great promise for much of the race. The leading N-GT car finished sixth in the overall classification, with only 1.93 seconds separating the top two cars.

The nr 50 Freisinger Motorsport Porsche 996 GT3-RS, with Ortelli at the wheel, led at the start. Setting the fastest lap on lap 9, with a time of 1:44.283, he was followed by two other Porsches, the nr 61 EMKA Porsche and the nr 99 RWS Yukos Porsche 996 GT3-R. Tim Sugden, with the speed he has shown all weekend, then took the lead in the nr 61 EMKA Porsche. On lap 31, the nr 50 Freisinger Porsche lost a wheel, and made slow progress back to the pits to replace it. Lieb therefore took the wheel earlier than had been planned, spoiling the team’s strategy. 

The EMKA and RWS cars were followed by both Team Maranello Concessionaires Ferrari 360 Modena cars. On lap 38, after a racing incident between the nr 75 Eurotech Porsche and the Autopalace Ferrari 360 Modena, the Autopalace car lost a door. However, the car was otherwise undamaged and was able to continue.
Although the nr 50 was recovering well, it looked as if the nr 61 EMKA Porsche was heading for a win. However, shortly after its second pit stop, the car pulled off to the side after the Adelaide hairpin, with a broken engine. The nr 99 RWS Yukos Porsche, of Daoudi and Lechner then led, stopping on lap 89 for a splash and dash. This left the nr 88 TMC car in the lead, ahead of the nr 50 Freisinger Porsche and the nr 89 TMC Ferrari, fighting for second position. A spin for the nr 89 meant that the nr 50 had to take avoiding action, but both cars continued, the nr 50 dropping back to third. Trouble hit another Porsche, with the fourth-placed nr 99 RWS car stopping four laps from the end with a broken driveshaft. A final splash and dash for the nr 88 did not prove enough for the car, which had to slow down to avoid running out of fuel, and left the nr 89 TMC car of Burt and Turner to cross the line first, having made only one pit stop. It was followed by the nr 88 and the nr 50 Freisinger Porsche. The Autopalace Ferrari, without a door, took fourth place for the second race in a row, with the second Freisinger Porsche of Gardel and Longin fifth. Sixth went to the nr 54 Cirtek Motorsport car of Kaye and Pompidou, with the Barcelona-winning nr 52 JMB Racing Ferrari seventh, and the final point going to the nr 74 Team Eurotech Porsche of Jordan and Sumpter. 

“It’s a great finish after a bad start to the weekend, when we did not run on Friday” Kelvin Burt said. “It was an exciting race as at the end we did not know where everyone was! We really have to thank Dunlop for this excellent result.”  However, after scrutineering, their car was excluded, from the results, due to the fuel tank capacity. The team has appealed, therefore the results remain provisional.

In the provisional Teams classification, Team Maranello Concessionaires has a 13-point lead over JMB Racing and Freisinger Motorsport, with French team Autopalace fourth. Davies and  Mullen lead the Drivers table, followed by JMB drivers De Simone and Bertolini.

The next round takes place in Pergusa, Italy, on May 11th, in just two weeks time.

Matteo Bobbi – nr 23 BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari 550 Maranello – 1st in GT : “Before the start, I was worried as the Lister was faster here. Something broke on the car when I went off on the oil at the first chicane, and then we had problems with the first set of tyres. But Thomas pushed a lot, and went I got back in the car, I pushed very hard for ten laps in order to catch Piccini. I overtook him, and then Piccini had tyre problems and pitted. Then I saw Jamie Campbell-Walter in the grass, and knew I was able to win. With two wins, one pole position and a fastest lap so far, this is a fantastic start!”

Thomas Biagi - nr 23 BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari 550 Maranello – 1st in GT  “I would like to thank my team, team-mate and Michelin,” Thomas Biagi said afterwards. “It was very important for me to win at this track today, as I had my first F3000 race here many years ago, and in an accident, Marco Campos lost his life. I would like to dedicate this victory to his memory.”

Luca Cappellari  - nr 22 BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari 550 Maranello – 2nd in GT : “I hope that finishing behind Bobbi and Biagi will not become a habit with us, and that next time we will win! But it is our second good result.”

Fabrizio Gollin - nr 22 BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari 550 Maranello – 2nd in GT : “We were very lucky today. We were unlucky in qualifying, but I’d prefer to be lucky in the race! I took pole in Pergusa last year, and I really like the circuit. Last year the Ferrari was not adapted to the circuit, but it should be better this year.”

Wolfgang Kaufmann – nr 16 Wieth Racing Ferrari 550 Maranello  - 8th in GT : “We finished the race, and in the points, but it could have been much better. We had new shock absorbers, which was a big improvement, and the car feels good. But we had big problems, with the generator fan belt coming off, like in Barcelona, and the water pump belt came off twice. Without those problems, we could have been in the top five. Now the team has a lot of work, but at least we finished and it should motivate everyone to use the two weeks to make the car good for the next race.”

David Terrien – nr 10 JMB Racing Ferrari 550 Maranello - DNF : “Although we didn’t finish, it went much better than in Barcelona. We had a warning of a broken shock absorber, so we pitted and lost time. Later, the car was going really well, and I was lapping quicker than the nr 23 BMS car. However, the engine finally broke. But the race was quite positive for us.”

Jamie Davies – nr 88 Team Maranello Concessionaires – 1st in N-GT (prov) : “This is a good result for us. We had a different strategy to the other car. We had a gearbox problem, with the gear lever staying in the same position. The car was still burning fuel but we were not getting the lap times we wanted. We were in the lead at the end, but had to splash and dash, and even then we were running short towards the end. Kelvin took back the lead, while we had to struggle with the fuel.”

Tim Mullen – nr 88 Team Maranello Concessionaires – 1st in N-GT (prov) : “Qualifying affected our strategy. We had pace in the car, but got stuck behind the nr 99 car.  The Porsche is faster in the straight line, so it is difficult to overtake. When I managed, I could pull away. I am disappointed as we had a number of little problems. But I would like to thank Dunlop for a fantastic result.”

Guillaume Gomez – nr 58 Autopalace Ferrari 360 Modena  - 3rd in N-GT (prov): “The door came off the car about 200 metres after the collision, but otherwise the car was fine. We managed two good stints, going from 13th to 6th and from 6th to 4th. With two good results, it’s like a small win for us each time.”