The mid-season 2017 milestone of the V de V Endurance Series was set at the previous meeting in Dijon, end of June. It was the opportunity to bring focus to the action of the LMP3 European Challenge Endurance in Barcelona, in Portimao, on the Circuit Paul Ricard and then in Burgundy.
The suspense is the term that describes the best the launch of this new campaign, organized mid-March on the Catalan track of Montmelo. The Ligier JS #39 of the Graff driven by Trouillet, Gauvin and Deguffroy is still at the head of the race, five minutes before the waving of the checkered flag but finishes, in the end, on the third step of the LMP3 podium. On the top, reigns the Ligier #9 of Duqueine Engineering driven by Duqueine, Droux and Panciatici, the latter author of a thundering end of the race against the Ligier #93 N’Race driven by Fontaine, Decultot and Perroy. It’s Jordan Perroy’s fantastic rising that ensures the result winning the best time of the category. In Prestige, the trio Neveu, Héry and Denis (Ligier #7 Wintec) impresses and pays a vibrant tribute to Olivier Bessière, one of the craftsmen of the team, disappeared too early in the mid-season.A month later, the competitors discover Portimao. The Inter Europol Competition racing team reminds us that they are the reigning champions on this magnificent track looking like a roller coaster. Not very successful in Barcelona because of the mechanical problems on their two Ligier JS P3 prototypes, they make a real turnaround this time giving a double, with Jakub Smiechowski’s and Hendrik Still’s #22 on the top of the podium. The #33 driven by Scheuschner, Michel and Müller completes the success of the Polish team, while the Graff confirms its Spanish performance featuring the Top-3 with the Ligier #39 driven by Trouillet, Gauvin and Deguffroy. For its second V de V ride, the Norma M30 #20 DB Autosport, in the hands of Foubert, Wolff and Maulini, proved its performance by having the second fastest lap in the race (the first one was obtained by the Ligier #9 of Duqueine Engineering unfortunately forced to abandon) and ranks 4th in front of the second prototype of Gilles Duqueine’s team, the #8 driven by Borga and Enqvist.The Paul Ricard Circuit at the end of May is the theater of the first French edition of the V de V Endurance Series 2017 and Duqueine Engineering’s new success is celebrated, this time thanks to the Ligier JS P3 #8 driven by Antonin Borga and Henning Enqvist. At the finish, the two companions had the last word against Ligier #24 OAK Racing driven by Pierre and Jacques Nicolet. The Graff closes the Top-3 again with the Ligier #39 driven by Trouillet, Gauvin and Deguffroy who, thanks to the strategy, dislodges the Norma M30 #20 DB Autosport of the polemen Foubert, Wolff and Maulini. Without a penalty for excessive speed in the pits, a first podium was however within their reach. Fifth in the hierarchy, the Ligier #888 of the Graff, entrusted to the crew Cimadomo, Dagoneau and Rossello, becomes a part of the Prestige ranking. Competing for the victory, Inter Europol does not meet the expected success and finds comfort in the second place in the category with the #33 driven by Scheuschner and Michel.Finally, before the summer break, the plateau has a meeting with the fast circuit of Dijon, where Duqueine Engineering stirs things up again. Nelson Panciatici and Lucas Legeret, partners on the Ligier JSP3 #9, are the first drivers to win two races this season. The duo did all the handicap passages through pit lane at the beginning of the race and then animated the last hour and a half finishing with a significant lead over the Ligier #22 Inter Europol Competition driven by Smiechowski and Still. The latter struggling for a long time with Ligier #735 BHK Motorsport driven by Dracone and Pommer, finished ahead of their main rivals, Trouillet, Gauvin and Deguffroy who conclude this event on the podium after being serious contenders for victory.
In the championship, the Graff, with its impressive regularity, is in the lead with Eric Trouillet, Franck Gauvin and Rémy Deguffroy, while, taking advantage of the abandonment of Norma #8 Duqueine Engineering driven by Antonin Borga and Henning Enqvist in Dijon , “Kuba Smiechowski” asserts himself today as their closest rival, in front of his teammate Hendrik Still, absent in Le Castellet. Jean-Ludovic Foubert, Jacques Wolff and Nicolas Maulini are in ambush, being better than the duo Borga and Enqvist. In Prestige, finally, Paul Scheuschner has for the moment a 4.5 point advantage over Edouard Héry and Cyril Denis. Impatient for Jarama, 1st to 3rd September!
