Le Mans Series

Gulf Le Mans Series race report Donington 1000km

© Planetlemans

Donington Park saw the best performance this season from the Paul Belmondo Gulf-Courage team and also proved what a cruel sport motor racing can be.

More than two dozen Gulf guests and staff were treated to a thrilling race at the Leicestershire venue and the drama began even before the race started.

The number 36 Gulf-Courage C65 had to start from the pit lane as, on the grid, the team found that a screw on one of the rear brake discs needed tightening.

Pierre Ragues therefore began the race in 39th and last position but, in a superb drive of almost two and a half hours, worked his way up to 3rd in LMP2 and eighth overall.

Birthday boy - Karim Ojjeh - took over for middle stint and, during this time, had an excellent dice on track with the Gulf-supported number 32 Barazi-Epsilon Courage. Despite incurring a stop-go penalty during his drive, Karim kept the car in 8th o/a - and still third in category.

Claude-Yves Gosselin maintained that position for the team but came in after only half an hour, having injured his leg. He therefore handed the car back to Pierre Ragues for the final stint of the race.
With five laps in hand over the next car in the category, the number 36 AER-Ford powered Gulf Courage seemed to be headed for a certain LPM2 podium position, when the luckless driver suddenly found himself unable to select any gears at all.

A disconsolate Pierre was forced to park the number 36 car out on the track and, frustratingly, within sight of the pits. Although he still completed enough laps for a finish well inside the top twenty - and in the points - the regulations state that the car has to be running at the finish to be classified. Promising, therefore, though the performance was, it came as scant reward for all the hard work that the PBR team had put into preparing the car for this Donington race.

The number 32 Gulf-supported Barazi-Epsilon Courage was one of the main beneficiaries of the demise of the PBR machine.

They too had early dramas, as turbo problems in the first hour saw them, in turn, relegated to the foot of the field.

After a huge amount of work in the pits, the car reappeared and then proceeded to fight its way back steadily back up the leader board. By the fourth hour, they had moved up into the top twenty-five cars overall and, in the end, their gritty efforts brought the car home inside the top twenty and only one position off the podium themselves, as the fourth car home in LMP2.

The next round of the Le Mans Series takes place in Spain, at Jarama, in four weeks time - coinciding with Gulf’s worldwide conference. The Gulf Convention delegates will be attending the race and, on today’s showing, should see the Gulf cars once again challenging strongly for honours.