The Nogaro Easter Cup in France, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year – having been won by some of motorsport’s biggest names such as Alain Prost and Jean Alesi in the past – got underway with qualifying and race one today, in dry and warm conditions. The Ginetta G55 of Frenchmen Gael Castelli and Rodolphe Wallgren won the opening race, having qualified third. All the field ran on Pirelli’s P Zero DH slick tyres, with just a single compound allowed for the GT4 European Series. As is traditional at the Easter Cup, the second race will take place on Easter Monday tomorrow.
Matteo Braga (Pirelli circuit activity manager):
“It’s great to see so many cars separated by such a small gap at the end of the race. The Ginetta is a very well-balanced car and was at ease on the twisty sections of the Nogaro track while the Porsche proved to be very rapid in the higher speed corners. Teams adapted very quickly to the tyre to unlock its full potential for qualifying, and it showed great consistency throughout the race. Once again, the Pirelli DH tyre range demonstrated that it could deliver great performance on many different types of cars and varied track conditions seen so far.”
Rodolphe Wallgren (winning driver car 444, Speed Car Ginetta):
“The tyres worked perfectly from start to finish. Fantastic consistency, so we were able to race hard and win a very close race.”
Fact of the day:
The lap record at Nogaro is held by Italian legend Alex Zanardi, who recently raced with Pirelli in Mugello, having previously focused on the Olympic Games. He set a benchmark of 1m20.160s back in 1991 with a Formula 3000 Reynard, and his time has never been beaten since.
Number of the day:
40,000. Around 40,000 spectators are expected to attend the Coupe de Paques, making it one of France’s best-loved race weekends, which is traditionally held over Easter. It’s now the opening round of the GT4 European Series, which is exclusively supplied by Pirelli, but in the past it has also hosted single-seaters, notably Formula 3000, Formula 3, and Formula Renault. In this year’s Easter Cup, six manufacturers are represented.
