[COMPTE RENDU] 6 Hours of Barcelona: Victory goes the Chateaux Sport Auto BMW 635 CSI!

Victory goes the Chateaux Sport Auto BMW 635 CSI!

At the end of 6 hours of closely-contested racing on Sunday afternoon in front of several thousand spectators, victory went to the Chateaux family in their BMW 635 CSI followed by the Wasserman Racing team’s BMW 323i driven by Eric Wassermann and Thierry Mathez, and the TVR Tuscan Challenge crewed by Christophe Laberty and Sébastien Mathieu.

The Chateaux Sport Auto team, a pillar of the endurance races organised by V de V Sports, had been hoping for this victory for a long time! The Chateaux family’s BMW 635 CSI has been a regular front-runner and has missed out on victory by a whisker on several occasions. Things finally went their way in the Catalonian round run on the Montmelo circuit, which was on the V de V Sports calendar for the first time, and they found themselves on the topmost step of the podium! After starting from fifth place, the Bavarian saloon took the lead of the race on lap 6 where it stayed until the chequered flag. Paul and his two sons, Mathieu and Jean-Baptiste, relayed one another at the wheel of their BMW 635 CSI, which showed flawless reliability throughout the six hours’ racing.

When they crossed the finishing line they were two laps ahead of another BMW, the Wasserman Racing team’s 323i driven by Eric Wassermann and Thierry Mathez who won the Saloon Car category. The TVR Tuscan Challenge of Christophe Laberty and Sébastien Mathieu clinched pole position and shot into the lead right from the start where it stayed until lap 5. But the TVR, which suffered a fuel leak shortly before the starting procedure, was refuelled inside its garage (forbidden by the regulations) and was handed a one-minute Stop and Go penalty. In the end, the GBF team on their first outing in a VHC endurance race finished in a very encouraging third place overall, which bodes well for the 2 Tours d’Horloge.

Classified in 4th and 7th places at the finish, the Christian Noret/Jacques Colibet/Philippe Vigneron Porsche 944 S2 and the Jaguar Type E driven by Jean-Paul Petit and Xavier Cazabon, both entered by the Cudini Racing Team, put on a great team performance and also won their category. The Skoal Bandit team’s Porsche 944 Turbo entrusted to Hugo Mezard/Emilien Chayia/Antoine Doquin came home fifth scoring a category victory from the 964 run by Vintage Motor Sport in the hands of Mickaël Desmaele/Jean Obeniche. The Escuderia Barcelona Catalonian team’s Porsche 911 2.0 piloted by Carlos Beltran/Luis Portal/Pablo Tarrero finished eighth overall and first in its category. This performance was rewarded by the Paco Godia Prize presented to the three drivers by his daughter. Godia won the 1968 6 Hours of Barcelona in his Ford GT40!

The Lola T492 run by Wassermann Racing and driven by Eric Baumard and Olivier Huez was first in its category and was the only Proto S2000 to see the chequered flag. For a long time it was among the front-runners until it ran into several mechanical glitches (brakes, exhaust, alternator). Finally, it crossed the finishing line in ninth place in front of the Porsche 911 entered by the Flatsix Le Mans outfit for Christophe Gaultier/Stéphane Deshayes/Mickael Bossuet, the last classified finisher in the race after being forced to retire 20 minutes from the end due to a blown valve.

Several teams had to retire during the race starting with the Racing & Classic team’s Lola T598 of Valerio Leone/Marco Coppini on lap two (blown cylinder head gasket). The following then fell by the wayside: the Ford GT40 run by the Hyracing team for a driver lineup comprising Olivier Muytjens and Brice Pineau joined for this race by Eric Van de Vyver (transmission), the Jordi Fanlo/Manel Vilanova/Antonio Cubero BMW 325 i (engine), the Team PSM squad’s Porsche 944 Turbo (Turbo), the Escuderia Barcelona’s Datzun 240 Z crewed by Ralf Schnitzler/Tim Müller/Marc Mayoral (gearbox) and the Porsche Turbo Cup run by Classic Auto Sport Racing for the trio Dimitri Bouic/Gilles Boyer/Boris Bouic (engine).

Overall, the participants were delighted with this new event on the V de V Sports calendar. Most of them were racing on the Montmelo circuit for the first time, which helped them prepare for the 2 Tours d’Horloge, an event that’s unique in the world and run over 24 hours non-stop. It will be held on the Paul Ricard circuit on 3, 4, 5 November of this year.