As the end of the 2014 FFSA GT Tour begins to close in, the teams headed to Magny Cours last weekend for a weekend of racing where Sofrev ASP and Team Duqueine would take wins.
Race 1
The #20 Sofrev Ferrari 458 of Jean-Luc Beaubelique and Ludovic Badey became the eighth different winner in the nine races so far this season, as they were chased home by IMSA Performance’s ever competitive #76 911 GT3R.
The Sébastien Loeb Racing Audi R8 took a maiden pole position of year after a sterling lap by Henry Hassid, but the Frenchman and his teammate Mike Parisy couldn’t convert it into a win during the hour long race.
Raymond Narac took the lead of the Race for IMSA Performance shortly after the lights went out at the start. Narac pulled out a 9 second margin pretty soon after getting by the Loeb R8, but Hassid was determined to keep the pressure on and stayed in his mirrors until the mandatory pit stop cycle.
An extremely rapid stop by the Sofrev crew enabled the #20 458 to leapfrog into the lead with Badey behind the wheel, Armindo lagging behind after climbing aboard the IMSA Porsche. The #3 Sport Garage Ferrari also moved up the order to third place, but when Arno Santamato got in the Ferrari slipped down to a lowly fifth place.
This left a battle for the lead between the Sofrev Ferrari and IMSA Porsche, and the Loeb Audi and #5 Team Duqueine 458 scrapping for third. Despite the intensity of the two battles, no places were lost or gained when the hour was up.
“It’s been several years since I’ve driven with Jean-Luc (Beaubelique) but this is the first time we had no podium or victory in mid-season. It was a frustrating situation because the potential is there. Jean-Luc did a great job from the beginning of the season, he is still growing. The team performed a great job and we had a clean race,” said Badey after the race.
The Coupe de France class was a two horse race eventually won by Nicolle Thomas and Pierre Hirschi driving the BMW Classic & Modern Racing Z4.
Race 2
Soheil Ayari and Jean-Claude Police and Team Duqueine were victorious in second race of the weekend, marking their second race win of the season, by the smallest of margins over the #1 Sofrev Ferrari trying to give the team a pair of wins at the ex-F1 circuit.
Rising star Grégory Guilvert put Saintéloc Racing on pole position for race two, just 0.041 quicker than Mike Parisy’s Sébastian Loeb Racing Audi R8. Guilvert held his lead from the start, with Le Mans winner Soheil Ayari’s Team Duqueine Ferrari and Mike Parisy’s R8 following close behind.
The squabbling for the podium spots continued to the pit cycle between the three drivers, with just four seconds separating them. Hallyday took over from Guilvert in the Audi, and held off the gaggle of cars behind until a spin at the Estoril curve dropped him to 9th overall.
This meant Police in the eventual winning Duqueine Ferrari inherited the lead, with Morgan Moullin Traffort sitting second in the #1 Sofrev 458 and Armindo’s IMSA Porsche lying third overall. Ex-F1 star Olivier Panis capped off a comeback drive from outside the top 10 at the end too, finishing a magnificent fourth place in the #9 Sofrev ASP entry.
“Seriously, I did not make any mistakes and I am very happy with this win,” Jean-Claude Police said afterward. “You had to be up front in the first stint and that is exactly what Soheil (Ayari) did. The team worked hard and it paid off.”
Team Duqueine successfully completed the double and took a win in the Coupe de France category too, with the #350 Ferrari 458 with team-owner Gilles Duqueine driving.
Stephen Kilbey
