After the opening of the V de V Sports season in Spain on the Navarra circuit in May, fans of endurance races reserved for Historic Competition Cars will meet up at the Le Castellet circuit this weekend on 5 – 6 July at the 6 Hours of Paul Ricard. The race will be run as part of a meeting that includes the Spanish F4 championship, the Radical Cup and the Eurocup -3 in which Emerson Fittipaldi Jr, son of the two-time Brazilian F1 world champion, Emerson Fittipaldi, is competing.
Nineteen cars representing five nationalities are expected for the second meeting of the V de V Sports season, which will be the final preparation for the 2 Tours d’Horloge, the highlight of V de V Sports’ year, scheduled for 1-2-3 November on the legendary Provencal circuit, the theatre of the French Formula 1 Grand Prix only two years ago.
Among the entrants, let’s begin with the current leaders of the VHC Endurance classification, Damien Kohler/José Da Rocha at the wheel of the Team BERSI Porsche 911 3.0 RS. Dead-heating for third in the Endurance VHC hierarchy is the Wassermann Racing squad with its two BMWs: a 323i for Eric Wassermann/Olivier Huez/Jean-Michel Villot and an M3 E30 for Guy Burnichon/Adrien Catelin.
Among the other BMWs entered, we should also mention the 530 ius run by the Carrefour Location team for Patrick Bourguignon/Jorge Vargas-Clement/Pierre Laversanne/Malivaï Castelli, as well as an authentic Group A BMW 635 that raced in the European Touring Car Championship and the 24 Hours of Spa in the hands of former Belgian Formula 1 driver, Thierry Boutsen. It is now prepared by Equipe Europe who will entrust it to Jeanne Mille and Hervé Ordioni. Yvan Mahé’s team will also field a Jaguar Type E for Armand Mille – Jeanne’s brother – and Yves Scemama.
A PORSCHE WITH A 100% WOMAN’S CREW
The Belgian team HYRACING has entered its Ford GT 40 for Brice Pineau and Olivier Muytjens. The team WKMR will be at the start with an Elva MK8 driven by Marc Alloend – Bessand/Yann Le Calvez and a Ford Mustang for Stéphane and Baptiste Guyot-Sionnest/Kilian Noël. Pascalou Racing has entered two cars prepared by Crubile Sport: a 930 Turbo for Pascal Duhamel/Sébastien Crubile and a 964 for the 100% woman’s crew comprising Michaela Etcheverry/Charlotte Lacoste/Cathy Briffa. Another car at the start of the 6 Hours of Paul Ricard is the Chevron B8 GT driven by the “Mister John of B”/“Le Commandeur”/“Son of B” trio.
Eric Van de Vyver, the man behind the 2 Tours d’Horloge and the concept of endurance races reserved for Historic Competition Cars, will be at the start with Patrick Brossard and Thierry Mathez at the wheel of the Team V de V’s TVR Griffith 200. Another English sports car on the entry list is the Triumph TR8 IMSA entered by Auto Concept and driven by Bernard Ladebese/Eric Gasperini/Sébastien Basso.
The team run by Alain Cudini, former French Touring Car champion with thirteen starts in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, has entered a Porsche 944 S2 for the driver lineup of Arnold Noret/Jacques Colibet/Nicolas Rossignol. The Swiss Mansfeld team will defend its colors with a Porsche 911 3.0 driven by Serge Libens/Marc and Christine de Siebenthal/Henrique Gemperle. GT Classic will bring along a 911 3.0 SC for Philippe Baert/Stéphane Moreau, while the AM25 team is running a 944 Turbo for Philippe, Arnaud and Edouard Martin/Jean-Yves Grandidier.
Before the 6-hour race, the competitors will take part in a one-hour private test session on Friday 5th July from 16:55 to 17:55 followed by a one-hour qualifying session on Saturday 6th July from 14:35 to 15:35. The start of the race will be given a few hours later at 18:55 and it will finish during the night at 00:55. Thus it will provide daytime and nighttime conditions that will help the crews to prepare for the 18th edition of the 2 Tours d’Horloge scheduled for this coming November!
Crédits photos : Philippe Rejer – V de V Sports
CONTACT MÉDIAS :
Henri Suzeau : +33 (0)6 08 26 90 56 | hsuzeau@ontheroadconsulting.net
CONTACT V DE V SPORTS :
Eric Van de Vyver : +33 (0)6 09 11 28 69 | eric@vdev.fr
Laure Van de Vyver : +33 (0)6 28 53 12 99 | laure@vdev.fr
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