The 2017 GT4 European Series Southern Cup will come to a close in an exciting season finale held at Circuit Paul Ricard this weekend with 36 GT4 cars expected at the famed French Grand Prix venue (October 14-15).
The bumper entry list comes with incredibly tight gaps in the standings across most categories, which bodes well for a thrilling pair of 60-minutes races and denouement in the south of France.
The other main attraction of the upcoming weekend lies in the Ford Mustang GT4 making its racing debut on European soil, with Scott Maxwell set to compete aboard the #46 Ford Performance machine entered in the AM class. After Aston Martin, BMW, Ginetta, Maserati, McLaren, and Porsche, Ford becomes the seventh manufacturer involved in the revamped French FFSA GT championship.
The Circuit Paul Ricard event also marks the sixth and final round of the returning French FFSA Circuits championship, which has been headlined by the Southern Cup as teams and drivers welcome the introduction of the GT4 format on the national scene.
One will be pleased to see once again the single-seaters hopefuls from the French F4 championship, with Victor Martins, who moved back into the lead in Barcelona, only five points ahead of main rival Arthur Rougier.
The Porsche Carrera Cup France crown is also up for grabs, as Julian Andlauer travels to Le Castellet with a 10-point edge over Joffrey de Narda, while Florian Latorre sits another 16 points adrift.
Having already wrapped up the inaugural PEUGEOT 308 Racing Cup title at Nevers Magny-Cours, newly-crowned champion Julien Briché will look to end his victorious campaign on a high and seek to win at every track visited this year.
In the French Renault Clio Cup, Marc Guillot almost has one hand on the trophy ahead of the season finale but one can count on main rival Benoit Castagné doing his utmost to flip the script in the money time.
With 11 races scheduled at Circuit Paul Ricard, fans are in for a treat on track. Meanwhile, they can enjoy a unique look behind the scenes thanks to media partner Endurance-Info as well. BMW and Renault will also have several of their road cars on display at the French Grand Prix venue, with test drives available on site.
Weekend passes for the event can be purchased for €10 at the circuit’s ticket booth, while entrance is free for Circuit Paul Ricard subscribers, as well as children and teenagers under 16 as long as they are accompanied by a ticket-holding adult.
ALL TO PLAY FOR IN PRO-AM
Pro-Am points leaders Benjamin Lariche and Robert Consani (#8 Speed Car Ginetta G55 GT4) have seen their advantage over second-placed Mike Parisy-Gilles Vannelet (#30 CD Sport Porsche Cayman Clubsport MR GT4) shrink to just two points. The battle promises to be an enthralling watch, even more so with their respective teams also duking it out for the Teams’ crown.
In their fight, both line-ups can rely on a sister car that has the speed to deny their rivals valuable championship points. After a couple of character-building rounds, Morgan Moullin Traffort and David Hallyday were back among the front runners in Barcelona with the #31 Cayman. Speed Car, for its part, still has the #444 Ginetta of Gael Castelli, who won the season opener at Nogaro. It is worth noting that the French FFSA GT championship will compete on Circuit Paul Ricard’s longest track layout for the very first time.
Looking at the Teams’ standings, Pascal Destembert’s outfit still has an 18-point cushion over the Laurent Cazenave and Claude Degremont-led team.
“Thanks to all the hard work we have put in ahead of the 2017 campaign, we have been competitive from the onset at Nogaro,” commented Pascal Destembert. “Our very good performance has been the result of intense preparations, which started half a year before the start of the season.
“As we head to Circuit Paul Ricard, we could enjoy a bigger lead in both championships but you cannot control everything in motor racing, that’s part of the game. Still, our target remains to go out there and win. We’ll do everything in our power to make this happen, starting with paying close attention to setting up the car in the best possible way. At the end of the day, no one will take our strong results from us; we have already shown that Team Speed Car has what it takes to fight for wins and titles.”
CD Sport co-manager Laurent Cazenave also shared his thoughts about how his team is approaching the high-stakes event.
“From the mechanics to the drivers, from the engineers to the management, we are all entering the season finale like we have done at every previous round,” he said. “We will take it one session at a time and focus on ourselves.
“We’re fortunate to be relying on four experienced drivers, which proves very valuable when you get to the money time. What really matters is to leave nothing on the table and no room for regrets. Whatever happens at Circuit Paul Ricard, this would have been a very strong campaign for CD Sport, as we were returning to France’s national GT scene for the first time since 2006.”
Currently delivering a very solid second half of the season, Julien Piguet and Fred Johais have climbed all the way up to third in the Pro-Am Drivers’ standings with their #9 BMW Team France-entered BMW Ekris M4 GT4. Interestingly, their two-win weekend at Nevers Magny-Cours last month means they are the only pairing with more than one victory to their name so far in 2017.
With 50 points still up for grabs at Circuit Paul Ricard, the top five line-ups are still in with a chance to claim the biggest prize. The list of contenders also comprises Henry Hassid and Steven Palette, who had taken the #18 Martinet By Alméras-run Porsche to victory at Dijon-Prenois, as well as Jim Pla-Pierre Sancinéna (#1 Racing Technology Cayman), who claimed their maiden win of the season at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya last time out.
Many other driver pairings have shown the potential to mix it at the sharper end of the field. These include Éric Trémoulet-Olivier Jouffret (#64 Vic’Team Porsche); Ander Vilariño-Niki Leutwiler (#2 TFT Racing Porsche); Gregoire Demoustier-Alain Ferté (#4 Energy By ART Porsche) ; Soheil Ayari-Nicolas Tardif (#26 Classic & Modern Racing Ginetta) ; Lonni Martins-Christophe Hamon (#5 Riviera Motorsport Porsche); Jimmy Antunes-Franck Leherpeur (#11 Racing Technology Porsche) ; Simon Gachet-Bruno Hernandez (#3 Energy By ART McLaren 570S GT4); Eric Cayrolle-Arno Santamato (#117 Street Art Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT4); and Sebastien Dumez-Valentin Simonet (#66 Saintéloc Racing Porsche).
All the cars listed above have made it to the podium at least once, thus further highlighting the diversity of the manufacturers involved, as well as the competitiveness of the series.
Several other line-ups have come close to paid a visit to the rostrum, starting with Greg Guilvert and Manu Rodrigues on the #69 Porsche entered by 2017 Total 24 Hours of Spa winners Saintéloc Racing. Similar story at Martinet By Alméras where two-time FFSA GT champion Anthony Beltoise and Olivier Estèves have shown solid pace all around but endured a string of bad luck.
Wrapping up the Southern Cup contingent are Eric Clement and Romain Iannetta (#19 TFT Racing Porsche) and Aston Martin specialists Generation AMR SuperRacing with the #44 Vantage GT4 entered for Matthew George and James Holder.
FORD MUSTANG GT4 PRIMED FOR COMPETITIVE DEBUT IN EUROPE
Two weeks after the new BMW M4, the Ford Mustang GT4 is also poised to make its GT4 European Series Southern Cup debut in what will actually mark the car’s maiden competitive outing in Europe.
Ford Performance will enter the #46 Ford Mustang GT4 in the AM class of the championship with in-house driver Scott Maxwell competing at the French Grand Prix venue.
After Aston Martin, BMW, Ginetta, Maserati, McLaren, and Porsche, Ford becomes the seventh manufacturer involved in the revamped French FFSA GT championship, paving the way for more GT4 models to join the grid in future weeks and months.
AM: INTRA-TEAM DUAL AT CMR, LAMIC BROTHERS IN THE HUNT
The French FFSA GT Championship’s AM category will pit two cars from the same team against each other, with CMR’s #111 and #666 vying for the Drivers’ honours, though the #54 Vic’Team-run G55 remains in contention in third position.
Points leader Stephane Tribaudini, who is set to partner Michael Petit once again on the #111 entry, holds a seven-point edge over team-mates Fabien Michal and Georges Cabanne, whose #666 Ginetta has been consistently featuring at the front. Third-placed Paul and Jean-Philippe Lamic are 26 points adrift and will be looking to capitalise on any opportunity that may come their way.
Other star AM entrants include the #34 Maserati GranTurismo of GP 34 by Gemo Motorsport, which is coming off a perfect two-win weekend in Barcelona. Philippe Marie will team up with Olivier Pernaut at Circuit Paul Ricard, while the car will sport a special livery inspired by the “Antoine le Pilote” comic book. Yvon Amiel, who has created the endearing character, will actually be on site with a stand where fans can have their albums autographed, with paintings and artworks of the comic strip on display.
Michael Blanchemain and uncle Jean-Luc are also part of the AM line-up with the #27 Imsa Performance Porsche, which the duo had driven to victory in the streets of Pau.
Having claimed a trio of top-three results in the past four races, BMW Team France’s Jean-Claude Lagniez and Gregoire Depauw will look to end their 2017 campaign on a high at the wheel of the #6 BMW Ekris M4 GT4.
CMR, which secured the AM Teams’ title at the previous round, will have another two Ginettas in the Circuit Paul Ricard field: Alain Grand and Didier Moureu continue to race the #65 car they had driven to a podium finish at Pau, while Sylvain Debs and Gwenael Delomier will seek to capitalise on their top-three result from Barcelona with the #999 charger.
Following a maiden Southern Cup visit at Dijon-Prenois, Mentos Racing re-joins the fray with the #88 Porsche entered for Oscar Rovelli and Egidio Perfetti, who had claimed a podium finish on their first FFSA GT weekend.
WHEN NORTH MEETS SOUTH ONE FINAL TIME
Southern cup entrants will welcome and race several of their Northern Cup counterparts for a third and final time this year. Among them is Ekris Motorsport, which has already won both GT4 European Series titles with Ricardo van der Ende and Max Koebolt on the #888 Ekris M4 GT4.
The Northern Cup battalion also features two McLarens in Equipe Verschuur’s #10 570S GT4 entered for Csaba Mór and Finlay Hutchison, along with Las Moras Racing’s #99 Pro-Am-winning McLaren (Luc Braams-Duncan Huisman).
The Northern Cup also adds two new participants to the Circuit Paul Ricard entry list, with US team Momo Megatron Team Patrax fielding a pair of Porsches: the #7 Cayman for Bernhard Laber and Christian Danner, who won the inaugural F3000 championship, as well as the #77 Porsche for Nicolas Rindlisbacher and a driver whose identity will be revealed in due course.
TV COVERAGE
Both GT4 European Series Southern Cup races will be streamed live on the championship’s official website, as well as on SRO Motorsports Group’s GT World YouTube channel. You can also catch up highlights of the Circuit Paul Ricard weekend with an 80-minute programme shown on media partner la chaine L’Equipe after the event.
CIRCUIT PAUL RICARD SCHEDULE*
Friday 13 October
09:30 – 10:30: Free Practice 1
14:00 – 15:00: Free Practice 2
Saturday 14 October
09:00 – 09:40: Qualifying (15’ + 10’ + 15’)
13:05 – 14:05: Race 1 (rolling start)
Sunday 15 October
13:50 – 14:50: Course 2 (rolling start)
*All times are local
