FIA GT MAGNY-COURS
MAGNY-COURS
April 29 - May 1
SUNDAY FREE PRACTICE REPORT
Weather
The weather has been wet all day, with the rain growing steadily heavier. More rain is forecast for the rest of the event.
Rundown
Thirty-six cars are due to take part in Tuesday's race, seventeen competing in the GT category, and nineteen in the N-GT class. Changes in the GT teams include the return of Monza winner Tom Coronel to the n° 1 Lister Storm, and some more rearrangements among the Paul Belmondo drivers. Anthony Kumpen and Claude-Yves Gosselin will share the n° 10 Chrysler Viper, while Paul Belmondo, Didier Defourny and Brno pole-setter Emmanuel Clérico will drive the n° 11 car. Vincent Vosse and Boris Derichebourg remain at the wheel of the n° 12 Chrysler Viper GTS-R. The N-GT category sees the return of the n° 63 JMB Competition Ferrari 360 Modena, which missed Brno due to accident damage. Alex Li, from Hong-Kong, had planned to enter a Porsche 911 GT2 in this race, but due to scrutineering problems, will drive the n° 61 Haberthur Porsche 996 GT3-R with his team-mates Sui Tuk-Lung and Sui Tit-Lung. Three current Formula 3000 drivers are competing in Porsche 996 GT3-Rs. Tomas Enge and Justin Wilson, who respectively finished
first and third in Barcelona on Saturday, will share the n° 65 Coca Cola Racing Porsche, while Swiss driver Joël Camathias will be in the n° 69 Redolfi Orlando Porsche 996 GT3-R, with Monza N-GT winner, Philipp Peter from Austria.
First Free Practice Session
Lister Storm Racing led the timesheets for most of the first 90-minute free practice session, with Jamie Campbell-Walter, in the n° 1 Lister Storm, setting a time of 1:51.600 early in the session.
This time held until the very end, when Tom Coronel improved on his team-mate's lap, with a time of 1:51.532. The n° 3 Carsport Holland Chrysler Viper GTS-R was second fastest, with Mike Hezemans only 2 tenths slower than Coronel. Brno winners Larbre Competition were third fastest. In N-GT, the Championship-leading n° 77 RWS Red Bull Racing Porsche 991 GT3-R was fastest, followed by the n° 50 and n° 51 Larbre Competition Porsches. Rain, varying in intensity throughout the session, made the track extremely slippery, and many of the cars were caught out by the lack of grip, spinning into the gravel traps. One of the victims of the rain was the n° 59 Freisinger Motorsport Porsche 996 GT3-R, which spun off with Fomenko at the wheel. The car was damaged and did not take part in the afternoon session.
Second Free Practice Session
The second session was even wetter than the first, and the times were considerably slower. On the extremely wet track, the N-GT cars were fastest. Luca Riccitelli, in the n° 77 RWS Red Bull Racing Porsche 996 GT3-R, led for most of the session. Despite losing the lead briefly to the n° 12 Paul Belmondo Racing Chrysler Viper GTS-R, Riccitelli proceeded to set at a time of 1:57.440, to regain the top of the time-sheets. Second fastest was the n° 50 Larbre Competition-Chéreau Porsche 996 GT3-R, with the n° 12 Paul Belmondo Racing Chrysler Viper GTS-R, the best of the GT cars, in 3rd place. Fourth place went to the n° 65 Coca Cola Racing Team Porsche, driven by Tomas Enge and Justin Wilson. The JMB Competition Ferrari 360 Modena was fifth. "I did four or five laps, and the car is very good," Christian Pescatori said. "But the track is very slippery, so I didn't want to risk it. We'll see tomorrow in qualifying."
Good session for Carsport Holland
Both Carsport Holland's Chrysler Vipers performed well in the first session, with the n° 3 car in second place, and the n° 4 in seventh place. "It's quite fun driving in the rain here," Sebastiaan Bleekemolen said. "We tried soft tyres instead of the medium ones we used in Brno, and we're very satisfied with the set-up. I'm absolutely happy - it's going a lot better than in Brno." Sebastiaan's brother, Jeroen, who shares the n° 3 with Mike Hezemans, was also pleased with the team's progress. "I didn't do many laps, and I was out in the wettest part, but I think Mike showed that we'll be quick all weekend, " Jeroen said. The young Dutch driver is pleased with his rapid conversion from single-seaters to the heavier, more powerful GT cars.
"I can really push in the dry, and then I'm nearly as fast as Mike. With the lack of grip in the wet, I have to be more careful. But it's going well, and we should be on the podium this weekend."
Shakedown session for Paul Belmondo Racing
Sixth fastest in the morning, the n° 12 Chrysler Viper GTS-R, driven by Vincent Vosse and Boris Derichebourg, was the fastest of the Paul Belmondo cars today. The n° 10 and n° 11 cars were in 17th and 18th positions respectively. "Claude-Yves made a small mistake at the start of the session, and flat-spotted the tyres," explained Kumpen, driving the n° 10 Chrysler Viper. "We had no spare rims, so we had to continue with those tyres. The car was really bad, with lots of vibrations and no grip, but it will be OK. We were mainly checking the brakes, as we have a new cooling system, providing better cooling to the engine and brakes. We're still looking for the correct set-up, but it should be OK." In the afternoon's deluge, the team set the best times in the GT class. "We know that our cars go well in these conditions," Paul Belmondo said. "The worst for us is the cold and damp like in the morning session. But we couldn't catch the N-GT cars - they seem able to accelerate better, and suffer less from aqua-planing."
Mixed day for Lister
Lister Storm Racing set the first and fourth times in the morning, but could not do better than 18th in the afternoon's downpour. "I didn't bother going out in the afternoon," Julian Bailey said. "We really struggle in these conditions. Jamie took the car out and tried to improve it, but made no progress. It's the puddles - we can't drive through them without aqua-planing, and it makes steering very difficult." Campbell-Walter agreed. "We're fine in the normal wet, but not in the monsoon. And I can't get near the N-GT cars. With the Storm's big flat bottom, we're more like a boat than a car. But in the morning it was fine - Tom and I did nearly identical laps."
RWS Motorsport fastest in second session
Luca Riccitelli, driving the n° 77 RWS Red Bull Racing Porsche 996 GT3-R, was delighted to set the fastest overall time in the second session, ahead of all the GT and N-GT cars. "I'm happy, and it's fun to be ahead of the GT cars. I like driving in the rain, but this is not rain, it's more than that ! It was very difficult to stay on the track. But the car is good to drive, and not too bad in these conditions. We had lots of traction and are competitive with the GT cars."
First GT race for Justin Wilson
Fresh from a successful weekend in the FIA F3000 championship, British driver Justin Wilson is preparing to compete in his first round of the FIA GT Championship, sharing the n° 65 Coca Cola Racing Porsche 996 GT3-R with his F3000 team-mate Tomas Enge. "It was a bit of a last minute thing," the tall 22-year old said. "I hadn't really thought of trying GTs at this stage in my career, as I'm still focused on making Formula One or CART. But it's good to drive something different, to prove that you can do other things apart from single-seaters, that you can handle more power." Justin tried out the Porsche 996 GT3 in the first practice session. "It was quite good. The big difference is in the downforce, but the brakes were really good, and I was surprised by how much grip there was, even on the wet. The medium and slow speed corners actually felt quicker than in F3000, as you could really feel the car hanging on to the corner, which was really reassuring."
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