Strong attendances to start 2026 season
Despite taking place on the same weekend, at venues located only a few hours apart, both the European Le Mans Series and GT World Challenge Europe season openers attracted impressive crowds last weekend.
A record number of spectators, over 33,000, attended the 4 Hours of Barcelona, whilst 37,892 fans were present at Circuit Paul Ricard, including a new single-day record for the event on Saturday.
Spotted in the paddock
Max Verstappen added a Saturday appearance to his visit during the Prologue, with the Dutchman arriving mid-race to watch on as his #3 Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing AMG GT3 EVO finished ninth overall.
Meanwhile, amongst the record attendance at Barcelona for the ELMS were several familiar faces for DSC readers, with Nico Varrone, Mathieu Jaminet, Antonio Garcia, Michelle Gatting and Patrick Pilet all present at the Spanish venue.
Blue Flag penalties impact season opener
Saturday’s race was affected by an abundance of penalties for ignoring blue flags, with 51 30-second time penalties awarded for this offence during the six-hour affair.
Multiple drivers have since taken to social media to express their displeasure at the current implementation of the blue flag regulations, which effectively prevent lapped cars from holding their place in any train which forms, or from passing slower, but higher-placed, machinery.
Rinaldi Racing’s David Perel, who was penalised twice, explained that an automated system was flagging cars which were less than 0.7 seconds in front of the lapping car for more than two sectors.
Steller Motorspot’s Dennis Lind, meanwhile, reported getting penalised after passing slower cars and pulling away.
Gounon battles through illness
Jules Gounon, who reported being unwell on race day, has subsequently revealed the full extent of his ordeal.
The Mercedes-AMG factory driver came down with food poisoning the night before the race, and was taken to the medical centre by Verstappen Racing co-driver Dani Juncadella in the morning.
Having completed a strong double-stint in the 2 Seas Motorsport-run AMG GT3 EVO, during which he ran in the top four throughout, Gounon passed out and made a second trip to the medical centre, where he stayed for a few hours before being released.
“I rested as much as I could before the race and I knew it wouldn’t be easy, but I still gave everything in the double stint, probably one of the hardest I’ve ever done,” Gounon posted to social media.
“I’ve never struggled that much in a race car and pushed myself to a point I didn’t think I could reach. After the stint, I completed passed out and ended up gaining back another trip to the medical centre for a few hours. Massive thanks to the medical team for taking such good care of me, and to the 2 Seas Motorsport crews who stayed with me there.”
Gounon is set to be in action again imminently, taking part in this week’s FIA WEC season opener in Imola as part of his Hypercar drive with Alpine.
GT3 Revival Series off to successful start
The GT3 Revival Series launched at Circuit Paul Ricard, with local outfit Storic and Race Cars scoring a clean sweep of class victories with its pair of Ferrari entries.
Jim Pla and Jean-Luc Beaubelique made history on Sunday morning, earning the first-ever Pro-Am victory and finishing at the head of the overall classification. Pla already had the Pro-Am result sewn up when, with three minutes left on the clock, he swept around the outside of the sister 458 driven by Am leader Benjamin Ricci to add the overall victory.
It was a dream opener for the Storic and Race Cars entries as Ricci prevailed in the Am class. Running solo at the wheel of the same Ferrari in which he made his first GT start more than a decade ago, the Frenchman was in full control from lights to flag, only surrendering the outright lead to Pla during the final minutes. Third overall, and second in Am, was Jonathan Mitchell’s Scott Sport Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3.
The front-row for Race 2 would not have looked out of place in a modern GT World Challenge race as Pla lined up alongside Alvaro Parente, who was driving a Quinntech Racing-run Audi.
Pla got a good launch and immediately pulled clear, and once the pit stops were complete Beaubelique found himself a long way clear at the head of the field. He would likely have remained unchallenged, but with 10 minutes left on the clock the race was neutralised to recover a stricken Audi.
Racing resumed with five minutes to go and Beaubelique now had the sister car of Ricci filling his mirrors. The chasing car had the legs on his teammate but had to be careful not to spoil the Pro-Am leader’s day.
On the penultimate lap Beaubelique went wide into the second sequence of corners and allowed Ricci the opportunity he needed to snatch the outright lead. Mitchell followed him through at the Mistral chicane, but Ricci had pulled a critical gap and they came home in this order, with Ricci taking outright and Am honours ahead of Mitchell, whilst Beaubelique completed a Pro-Am sweep in third spot.
The GT3 Revival Series will stage its second event on 22nd to 24th May, as part of the Spa Classic.
Images courtesy of SRO/JEP and Mathis Jullia/SRO Motorsports Group
