French GT

FFSA GT - Lédenon - Weekend Report

© Olivier Beroud - olivierberoud.com

One month after the season opener at Nogaro the second weekend of the FFSA GT Championship was held at the Lédenon circuit near Nîmes in Southern France. Like in races one and two the third and fourth race of the championship would be a head to head fight between Corvette and Saleen.

Larbre Competition, running two Saleens instead of taking part in the 1000km of Monza, started the first race of the weekend from pole position. Wilfried Merafina in the #8 Saleen had a good start and maintained his lead going through the first corner and all the way up to the pit stops with mandatory driver changes.

Merafina pitted later than most of his opponents, but when he had handed the Saleen over to team mate David Hallyday they were still in the lead. Things were set to change though. First it was Marcel Fässler that put the SRT Corvette C6.R ahead of the Saleen. The Swiss driver then disappeared on the horizon. Behind him Hallyday started to drop back. First Dayraut in the DKR Corvette passed him, then Bouchut in the second Larbre Saleen and Thévenin in the Tarres Team Saleen also managed to get by Hallyday.

When the chequered flag came out after one hour of racing it was Fässler who took the win, ahead of Dayraut and Bouchut. In GT3 it was the First Racing Lamborghini Gallard of Tuchbant and Leclerc that finished in first place.

The second race saw a Larbre Saleen on pole once again, this time it was the #7 car of Christophe Bouchut. The experienced driver overcame brake problems on his Saleen S7R and was able to keep the DKR Engineering Corvette in the hands of Dayraut behind him, until the pit stops.

After all teams had completed their driver changes it was Lebon in the Corvette that had taken over the lead from the #7 Saleen, now driven by Patrick Bornhauser. However he would not retain the lead. Bornhauser did not give up and by lap 29 the Saleen had taken back the lead. Several cars had incidents and a few laps before the end of the race former race leader Lebon went off.

When the chequered flag came out it was a Larbre Competition 1-2 with Bouchut/Bornhauser taking the top spot on the podium. Hernandez and Fässler in the SRT Corvette took the third podium spot in GT1, while Tuchbant and Leclerc secured another victory in GT3.

Race 3 - Championnat de France GT et GT3

1. Selleslagh Racing Team (Hernandez/Fässler) - Corvette C6.R - 1:00.20.489
2. DKR Engineering (Dayraut/Lebon) - Corvette C6.R - 1:00.32.820 +12.331
3. Larbre Competition (Bornhauser/Bouchut) - Saleen S7R - 1:00:34.341 +13.852
8. First Racing (Tuchbant/Leclerc) - Lamborghini Gallardo GT3 - 1:01.08.262 + 1 lap

Race 4 - Championnat de France GT et GT3

1. Larbre Competition (Bornhauser/Bouchut) - Saleen S7R - 1:01:13.948
2. Larbre Competition (Merafina/Hallyday) - Saleen S7R - 1:01:21.646 +7.698
3. Selleslagh Racing Team (Hernandez/Fässler) - Corvette C6.R - 1:01:29.028 +15.080
7. First Racing (Tuchbant/Leclerc) - Lamborghini Gallardo GT3 - 1:02:33.047 +1 Lap