Photo Coutersy:SRWC
The all-French partnership of Jean Christophe Boullion and Sebastien Bourdais triumphed in the opening round of the FIA Sportscar Championship at Barcelona this afternoon. The Peugeot powered C60 sportsracer was one of four cars to have led in a race that started wet but soon became dry.
Bourdais started the race from pole position but was soon passed by a flying Jan Lammers in the Racing For Holland Dome Judd. The Dutchman pulled off an audacious manoeuvre on the opening lap and drove around the outside of both Bourdais and also the Courage Competition example of Didier Cottaz.
All three however, were soon passed by the Team ORECA Dallara of Franck Montagny who had been forced to start at the rear of the SR1 grid due to a technical infringement in qualifying. Montagny, last years Formula Nissan Champion seemed to be controlling the race but a problem with the car's starter at the first pit stop meant that he lost over 3 laps. The teams founder Hugues de Chaunac was philosophical about the problem which undeniably cost them the race. "We had control of this race but these things do happen in motorsport. The way we fought back was very satisfying though and I think we proved we were the fastest this weekend."
That handed the lead to Cottaz who had filled up heavy with fuel at the start and ran his first stint for just over an hour. Cottaz continued to hold off Bourdais and Lammers until the vital second pit stop when a mix up between he and the team resulted in a lost wheel as he exited his pits. After being pushed back to his pit, Boris Dereichebourg took over the car and eventually finished in 5th place. Team manager Yves Courage described his day as " a good one as a constructor but not as a Team Manager!"
All this drama also coincided with a safety car period when Swiss SR2 racer Philippe Hottingeur beached his Debora Nissan in the Turn One gravel. Seconds before the caution was issued Jean Christophe Boullion had taken over the controls of the Pescarolo Sport Courage but lost the lead to the Dome, which pitted a minute later and made full use of the safety car period. Val Hillebrand took over from countryman Lammers and took the green flag with a 6-second cushion over Boullion.
Val soon consolidated the lead on the Dome which had a variable setting on the car, thus making it quicker than the Courage's who had opted for a more wet-friendly balance. Val increased the lead to 22 seconds but the unfortunate 20-year-old lost the car at the slow Seat left hander while lapping traffic and spun in to the gravel. He eventually re-joined but was furious with himself for making the mistake and costing the team a certain victory.
That left the way clear for Boullion, who coasted to the chequered flag to add to the teams win at Magny Cours last year. "It was an easy ride after I saw the Dome off the circuit," said a delighted Boullion."I think I had the easy work today but Sebastien did a fantastic job in the early stages when he took slicks so early. The team also did great pit stops. We are all very happy."
Team boss Henri Pescarolo was equally delighted and was relishing the next round of the Championship at Estoril next weekend. "We had good luck and bad luck today. Bad luck with the Safety Car but good luck with no mistakes and a terrific job by all the team," said the four time Le Mans 24 Hours winner. " We are looking forward to next weekend because we won there last year and we think that we can race ORECA head to head more than we did here on outright pace."
With three of the leading four cars experiencing problems the way was paved for the Bob Berridge Lola Judd to score a popular podium position in the teams first ever Sportscar race. Despite a 'drive-through' pit stop as a result of confusion between Bob and the team, the B98 ran quickly and reliably to grab the final podium position. The team were one of the first to change to slick tyres and Berridge had nothing but praise for his team mate Ian McKellar Jnr who was also making his first Prototype start. " He did a brilliant job in the middle of the race," said an ebullient Bob as he savoured the champagne on the podium. "We set 3rd place as our goal this weekend and we achieved it so we are delighted."
The new R&M chassis started the race well but were delayed after 30 minutes when a crankshaft sensor failed on the car. Alex Caffi took over later on only for the problem to re-emerge and leave the Italian stranded out on the circuit. Still, the team is confident that the development of the chassis is coming on apace.
Durango were also satisfied in their first race with the Judd V10 engine and two rookie drivers in the shape of Mirco Venturi and Alessandro Battaglin. Venturi recovered from an early spin and subsequent pitstop to set his quickest times of the weekend while Battaglin also gave a good account of himself in what is amazingly his first ever circuit race.
Simpson Engineering's weekend of woe continued when they retired their Riley & Scott Chevrolet after 23 laps with an overheating engine.
Lucchini Engineering celebrated their first ever 1-2 finish this afternoon, heading home the reigning champions - SRTS Lola.
Piergiuseppe Peroni, whose last win was at Enna in 1999, savoured the win with his new team mate Mirko Savoldi who completed the race. "We have done the perfect start to the season," said Peroni after the two and a half hour race. "The team did a marvellous job and we had a good battle with the Mancini car at the start. But we are delighted for Giorgio (Lucchini) and the team for this result."
In second place was the sister car of 1998 CN Champion Fabio Mancini who returned to the championship after three seasons in the FIA GT Championship. The rapid Italian led early on and enjoyed a close battle with Peroni until the first pitstops. Mancini's team mate Gianni Collini finished the race and was overjoyed to be runner-up in his first prototype race. "The car felt great all race and we did some good team work to be 1-2 here in the first race. All the hard work of the team over the winter has really benefited us here today."
Completing the SR2 podium was the all Swedish line-up of Mattias Andersson and Niklas Loven in the Sandvik backed Lola B2K/10 Nissan. The Stanley Dickens led team were satisfied with 12 points in the first race after minimal testing during the long winter break.
A creditable 4th place in the 3-litre category was Team Jota in their Pilbeam MP84 Nissan. Both John Stack and Sam Hignett drove fine races in difficult conditions to be on the verge of a podium position on their Championship debuts.
The pole sitting Rapier 6 Nissan of Ian Flux and Mike Millard finished a lowly 6th in class after several grassy excursions by team owner Millard and the SCI Lucchini of Randaccio and Maddalena was delayed by engine problems which meant they were the last classified finishers in 13th place.
PiR Competition retired both their cars during the race with the all new Pilbeam Sodemo Peugeot of Marc Rostan and Philippe Hottingeur succumbing to difficulties with the new powerplant and the Debora of Pierre Bruneau and Paul Daniels with a transmission problem.
Audisio & Benvenuto's Lucchini came in twelfth after electrical problems thwarted Giuseppe Chiminelli,Antonio Vallebona and Erminio Bonetti. The Siliprandi entered Lucchini failed to start the race after more engine problems.
The next race on the calendar is the second part of an exciting Iberian double header at Estoril, Portugal next weekend. The battle between the French teams will once more be a fascinating spectacle but Racing For Holland will also be out to amend their disappointment. Expect more fireworks from the world's most spectacular sportscars.
Home
Email Comments
Created and Designed by John Favata
