As ever, the bulk of the ELMS grid will feature a vast array of GTE and GTC cars at Paul Ricard this weekend. More ferocious battles are set to play out as both classes approach the business end of the season.
Leading the title charge are Matt Griffin and Duncan Cameron, who after a brace of class wins at Silverstone and Red Bull Ring enjoy a three point lead at the top of the points table. This duo, will again by joined by Michele Rugolo, who cannot win the title after skipping his home round at Imola, to undertake the Mille Miglia. It was an emotional choice by the rapid Italian, as his grandfather – Renzo competed in the classic race in the 1950s.
The #55 AF Corse trio have been mighty during the races this season with Griffin arguably the stand-out performer, particularly in Austria where he hunted down Thomas Kemenater’s Kessel Racing 458 Italia and pulled off a spirited move to take the class win. Earlier, Rugolo had set the fastest lap, an honour which the #55 Ferrari 458 Italia crew hold a 100% record for in 2014.
Second in the title standings is the SMP Racing trio of Andrea Bertolini, Sergey Zlobin and Viktor Shaitar. Bertolini has been on scorching form so far this season with sensational stints throughout the three events so far. With the sometimes erratic Zlobin and Shaitar completing the bulk of the race in terms of seat time, Bertolini is a major asset to the SMP Racing squad this season and has been more than influential in this car’s success.
Again it would seem that Ferrari will hold the upper hand at Paul Ricard this weekend but in the longterm it could be that Gulf Racing, a sleeping giant if ever there was one, will be awakened with the arrival of a new Porsche 911 RSR.
The impressive Milton Keynes based team took delivery of their new model early last month and completed 800kms of testing, over two days at Estoril, in readiness for the final races of the year.
Adam Carroll, Ben Barker and Mike Wainwright will be ones to watch at Paul Ricard, especially as they should have approximate fuel parity on the Ferraris with the larger fuel tank in the 911 RSR that should see it complete a 70mins stint. The team will still need more miles in the car but come Estoril they should be right at the front and contenders for a podium.
Showing great promise at Red Bull Ring last time out was the Gulf Racing UK entered Aston Martin . The car flew in the impressive hands of Dan Brown and Stuart Hall, both right on the Ferraris pace during their stints. Brown set the second fastest lap in the GTE class, giving the team an enormous and much needed boost after a tough (generally BoP orientated) start to the 2014 season. As ever, the team’s co-owner, Roald Goethe, joins the pair this weekend in the Vantage V8.
From a Ferrari point of view, others likely to figure at Ricard will be the #54 AF Corse of Piergiuseppe Perrazini, Marco Cioci and Michael Lyons. The last two named drivers here have shown some scintillating speed this season. A fifth place at Red Bull Ring has been their best finish but they should be able to at least challenge for a podium before the year is out.
The AF Corse run AT Racing concern will also be close to the front as Pierre Kaffer again presents his razor-sharp speed to assist the father and son Talkanistra partnership.
Kessel Racing are back up to two Ferrari’s in GTE this weekend after their #80 car was forced to miss the Red Bull Ring event. Their #81 car for Matteo Cressoni and Thomas Kemenater has been a real contender since Imola and the Swiss team will have high hopes for a win after two consecutive runners-up placings.
JMW Motorsport are always a threat at the front of the field. Like Austria, the slickly run squad will this weekend once again welcome back an old boy to its ranks. As Rob Bell rejoined his old colleagues at Red Bull Ring, so too does James Walker at Paul Ricard. The Jerseyman, who was part of the successful 2012 campaign that took the teams title, returns to join Daniel McKenzie and Geroge Richardson. McKenzie and Richardson sit fourth in the points table and still within striking distance of the leaders with just 16pts separating them.
IMSA Performance Matmut have entered their usual brace of Porsche 911 RSR’s at Paul Ricard. It has been a tough year so far for the familiar duo of Raymond Narac and Nicolas Armindo with only a third place at Silverstone as reward for their considerable efforts. As at Red Bull Ring they will be joined by Christina Nielsen, who acquitted herself well with the team despite an ultimately disappoiting non-finish. It was, quite remarkably, their first retirement in four years of competing in the ELMS!
Any dark horses at Paul Ricard for GTE success? Watch out for the #58 SOFREV Ferrari which in the hands of Soheil Ayari, Fabien Barthez and Anthony Pons is capable of harnessing a top result on home ground. They haven’t quite strung a clean race together yet this year but when they do, they will be there or thereabouts. Ayari is fresh from a double win at last weekend’s French GT rounds at Magny Cours.
The GTC class sees the largest points margin between first and second in the points table as the SMP Racing Ferrari trio of Olivier Beretta, David Markozov and Anton Ladygin enjoy a lead of 11.5 points.
Although the #73 SMP Racing Ferrari has been the bridesmaid so far this season with three runners-up positions, it has always been right at the front and has probably the best balanced driver line-up in class.
Behind them in the points table is the Danish crewed, AF Corse-run Formula Racing team. Johnny Laursen and Mikkel Mac suffered a tough event at Red Bull Ring despite Jan Magnussen sealing pole position. A rare mechanical problem hindered them last time out so they will hungrier than ever this weekend.
Third in the standings is the #71 SMP Ferrari of Alex Basov, Luca Persiani and Kiril Ladygin. A well-deserved victory in Austria made up for the ignominy of failing to start from a class pole at Silverstone. Anton and his brother Kiril are quite evenly matched on pace and there were some worrying glances when they started side-by-side on the grid at Red Bull Ring. Thankfully Mama Ladygin was not forced to stem any sibling rivalry, as they behaved perfectly at the first corner.
The pair of ART Grand Prix McLaren MP4-12Cs should be able to mount a challenge in the hands of their gold drivers Alex Brundle and Kevin Korjus. This talented pair has been closely matched through the first three races of the year, of which they have finished every race.
The #99 Brundle/Gonzalez and Ajlani McLaren has notched up two fourth places and two fifths so far. Ajlani, who has returned to racing this year after a lengthy break is getting more confident by the lap.
After an unfortunate early bath at Red Bull Ring, the Team Russia by Barwell BMW Z4 will be attempting to make up for lost lappery in France. Leo Machitski, whose error led to the retirement in Austria, soon dusted himself down and scored an impressive podium position at the following weekend’s Spa 24 Hours. The BMW, although not the quickest in a straight-line, is rapid through the technical sections and with the crack Barwell Motorsport team developing the Z4 progressively.
Cameos should be made by the likes of Francesco Castellaci in the #94 AF Corse Ferrari and also Franck Perera in the Pro GT by Almeras Porsche. Mike Parisy too is always worth watching out for but is likely to be compromised by the aged Porsche GT3 R.
New faces in the ELMS paddock this season will be GT Open regulars, Team Ombra. Mario Cordoni and Marco Zanuttini team up for their ELMS debut with a potential view to a full 2015 campaign. The emphasis for the pair of bronze drivers is learning the endurance ropes as this will be only their second endurance event. They will benefit from the cool head of team manager Filippo Zanier.
BoP changes for both GT classes were announced yesterday and will affect the following cars:
Porsche 997 GT3 RSR 2012 and 2013 both get a reduction in the weight to 1190kg from 1210kg. Also, the 2012 spec car has had the height of the Gurney flap reduced by 10mm from 25mm to 15mm.
Weight of the latest spec Porsche RSR (991) is adjusted to 1250kg, +5kg over its base weight and specs for the restrictors, Gurney, Fuel tank capacity, height of the rear wing and ride height have all been added to the BoP sheet V09e.
The 2012-spec Aston Martin Vantage will have a total weight of 1160kg, 85kg less than the base weight of the car, while the 2013 cars will have a total weight of 1165kg after the BoP announcement. Both cars also have small increases in the restrictors, the two restrictors on the 2012 cars at 29.7mm and the 2013 cars at 29.4mm.
A small change has been made to the restrictors of the GTC spec Porsche 911 GT3 R, the 2013 and 2014 spec cars having an increased restrictor of 1 x 60mm, up from 1 x 56mm
Three key questions to be answered at Ricard
- Will the Porsche and Aston be able to trouble the phalanx of Ferraris after the BoP adjustments?
- Will Adam Carroll light up the new Gulf Porsche and poke the Prancing Horses?
- Will the bane of modern racing – track limits – come in to play with potential penalties at Ricard?
Sam Smith
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Saturday 13th September
FP1 – 10.30am cet
FP2 – 15.00 cet
Sunday 14th
Qualifying – 09.00cet
Race – 13.00cet
Watch live on Motors TV
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