GRAND PRIX DE FRANCE HISTORIQUE #2 : THE SATURDAY MOVIE
The history scrolls At the French Historic Grand Prix, we never tire of rewriting the history of F1 and single-seaters! This was again the case this Saturday on the Castellet circuit with six first races to be followed by six others on Sunday.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE DAY
Jean Alesi, Jean-Pierre Jarier, René Arnoux, Yannick Dalmas and other former champions are here to celebrate the history of F1 / The BOSS GP puts the F1 cars of the early 2000s back on stage / The F1 cars of the seventies are back in the race on the Legends of the '70s grid / The Formula Ford brings together a record grid of 44 cars with two former French champions at the start : Eric Hélary and Soheil Ayari, both come to taste again the discipline of their beginnings / F2 and F3 make their show / FMX champion, Tom Pagès discovers car racing on circuit / Among the animations, an exhibition of about twenty old F1 is deployed for the pleasure of the eyes / A spotlight is put on the history of Alpine with Berlinette Mag in the presence of Jean-Claude Andruet and Alain Serpaggi.
A SATURDAY OF RACING
BOSS GP: Toro Rosso at the top
The star of this fourth French Historic GP, the BOSS GP brings together an exceptional line-up of twenty F1, GP2 and other top single-seaters dating from the early 2000s for the majority of them. At the wheel of one of the three Toro Rosso cars that survived the practice sessions (a 2006 STR1 ex-Liuzzi and Speed), Ingo Gerstl confirmed his record time in qualifying at the start of the race. Although threatened at the end of the race by the Dallara Word Series of the Latvian Haralds Slegelmilhs, the Austrian kept his leadership until the end by making the public enjoy the melody of his V10 Cosworth. At a good distance, Zdenek Chovanec Lopez placed the fastest Dallara GP2 in third place, while the Frenchman Didier Sirgue was eighth with his Jaguar R2 (ex Webber/Klein from 2001)
The top 5 : 1.Gerstl (Toro Rosso F1), 2.Slegelmilhs (Dallara WS), 3.Chovanec Lopez (Dallara GP2), 4.Colombo (Dallara GP2), 5.Ghiotto (Dallara GP2).
Historic F1, legends of the '70s: D'Aubreby from start to finish
The prestigious F1 cars of the seventies are also in the spotlight this weekend. In the absence of poleman Laurent Fort, Patrick D'Aubreby took the lead in his 1976 March 761 at the start of the race. Behind him, the Australian Martin Bullock (Williams FW06 ex Alan Jones 1978) and Soheil Ayari crossed swords for a while before the latter was forced to retire with the Ligier JS21 (ex Jarier of 1983) that he is debuting this weekend. More and more threatening thereafter, Martin Bullock seemed capable of challenging Patrick D'Aubreby for victory, but his Williams dropped him with one lap to go. The deal is done for the Frenchman who wins in front of Guillaume Roman's Ensign and the March 771 of Nicolas Matile from Monaco.
The top 5 : 1.D’Aubreby (March 761), 2.Roman (Ensign MN175), 3.Matile (March 771), 4.Rivet (March 811), 5.Coppini (March 761).
HSCC F2 pre 1979 : Wrigley contains Kaufmann for 666/1000
Unavoidable appointment of the GP de France Historique, the one fixed with the F2 celebrates the glorious past of what was at the time the antechamber of the F1. Of very beautiful invoice, the tray of this edition joins together about twenty single-seaters of before 1979, practically all driven at the time by great champions. British driver Matthews Wrigley took the pole in his March 782 and took the lead from the start of race 1. At half distance, he was still leading ahead of German Wolfgang Kaufmann and Frenchman Laurent Vallery-Masson. Then the gaps tightened and Matthews Wrigley had to work hard to resist Wolfgang Kaufmann's assaults until the end, finally beaten by only 666/1000 of a second! At less than 14'', Laurent Vallery-Masson was the third man on the podium, while Robert Simac lifted the first F2 with a 1600 engine to the sixth place.
The top 5 : 1.Wrigley (March 782), 2.Kaufmann (March 782), 3.Vallery-Masson (March 77B), 4.Lheritier (March 752), 5.Wood (Chevron B29).
F3 and Formula Renault Classic Trophy: At Lajoux the final word
It is difficult to imagine a GP de France Historique without a sequence dedicated to F3 and Formula Renault! This year, the grid gathers more than thirty single-seaters (from before 1985 for the F3). Although he started from the pole, Frédéric Rouvier was snatched by the Italian Davide Leone at the beginning of the race, before a run-off by Valerio Leone (Davide's father) caused a neutralization of the debates. Once the race was restarted, it was Davide Leone's turn to be forced to retire and to leave the lead to Frédéric Rouvier as the chequered flag approached. A very brief interim, since the latter withdrew immediately, leaving Frédéric Lajoux, Alain Girardet (finally penalized of 30'') and Eric Martin crossed the finish line in this order in tight formation. Author of a beautiful P5, Lionel Robert is the indisputable winner among the Formula Renault drivers.
The top 5 : 1.Lajoux (March 793), 2.Martin (Martini MK39), Jackson (Chevron B43), 4.Michel (Chevron B38), 5.Robert (Martini MK48).
Formula Ford 1600: Dousse at the head of the pack
Formula Ford is celebrating this weekend with a very well-stocked field of 44 single-seaters, all dating from before 1993. This made the first race formidably indecisive until the eighth and final lap. Arnaud Dousse took the lead after half the race and won the race in a hard-fought battle with Mathieu Midy and Laurent Waisler, who started from pole, with all three drivers crossing the finish line in the same second. Soheil Ayari returned to his first love for the occasion, taking a brilliant fourth place less than seven seconds behind. The other star guest of the grid, Eric Hélary, was unfortunately less happy as he was forced to retire after three laps. The Formula Ford cars will take to the track again on Sunday for a race 2 scheduled for the beginning of the day at 9:00 am.
The top 5: 1.Dousse (Van Diemen RF91), 2.Midy (Van Diemen RF90), 3.Carini (Van Diemen RF90), 4.Ayari (Van Diemen RF90), 5.Michel (Van Diemen RF92).
100 km of the GP de France Historique: 45 minutes of pleasure
A 45-minute endurance race reserved for GTs and Protos, the "100 km" event quickly turned to the advantage of Olivier Morihain's Chevrolet Corvette. At the 20-minute mark, which marks the opening of the pit stop window, he has a good lead over Hugo Mezard's precious Rondeau M382 (with Chevrolet V8 engine) and Jean-Michel Villot's Osella PA8. The window closed in the last ten minutes, the Corvette continued its momentum and victoriously completed its breakaway with a lead of ten seconds over the Osella. Swiss driver Fabio Spirgi completed the podium in his 1993 Porsche 964 turbo.
The top 5 : 1.Morihain (Chevrolet Corvette Z6R), 2.Villot (Osella PA8), 3.Spirgi (Porsche 964 turbo), 4.Vulliez (Bogani Alfa), 5.Destombes (Peugeot 905).
THE CONTINUATION
Sunday: the French Historic GP continues from 9:00 am to 5:20 pm.
Live on Automoto La chaîne : Partner of the French Historic GP, Automoto La chaîne will propose the whole day of Sunday in live.
Media contact : presse@hvmracing.fr
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