The 2 Tours d’Horloge gets underway today, Saturday 7 November, at 4pm. The world’s only historic 24-hour race, the event will see the No. 55 Chevron B19 prototype start from pole position. The race will be streamed live on YouTube.
A traditional end-of-season fixture, the 2 Tours d’Horloge takes place this weekend at Circuit Paul Ricard. The first highlight of the event came on Friday evening with the qualifying session, held at night on a track that was still damp following earlier showers. Setting the benchmark from the very start of the session, Frank Stippler improved on his own time in the closing seconds of the scheduled 90-minute run, posting a lap of 2:13.836. At the wheel of the no.55 Chevron B19 entered by Côtes du Rhône Racing Team, which he shares with Alexander Furiani and François Rivaz, the German will be aiming for victory after finishing runner-up last year.
Behind the German driver, Marc de Siebenthal secured second place in qualifying aboard the no.61 KMW Porsche SP30, which claimed victory earlier this season in the 1000 km of Navarra. Third position went to Christian Vaglio-Giors in the no.28 Chevron B16.
The leading positions in the Grand Touring and Touring categories were claimed respectively by the no.46 Porsche 964 Cup entered by 2B Autosport and the no.183 BMW 635 CSi of Châteaux Sport Auto.
A word from the poleman "we need to survive"
Frank Stippler, driver of the no.55 Chevron B19: “The car was balanced nicely, so I can’t complain about the performance, but we still have some gearbox issues. It’s not the best start for the 24 hours! In fact, we rebuilt the gearbox for the big one, and it is kind of stiff and not very precise, which is exhausting for the arm. The mechanics are going to open the gearbox again to see what’s going on, and we hope that we will find the cause. Otherwise, it will be quite exhausting to drive, and I doubt that the gearbox will last. The car is obviously quick, but we need to survive. The main target is to get the right rhythm and to stay in the race… without too many pit stops.”
Live on YouTube from 3:00 pm (UK)
Les 2 Tours d’Horloge gets underway today at 3:00 pm (UK) under the command of official starter Romain Dumas, a two-time winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The pre-race programme promises plenty of action, featuring a retrospective on Alpine and Renault’s endurance racing history presented by The Originals Renault – La Collection. Victor Jabouille will take the wheel of a 1978 Renault Alpine A443, Stéphane Ortelli will drive a 1974 Renault Alpine A441, and Alain Serpaggi will be at the wheel of a 1965 Alpine M65. Finally, the actual start will be preceded by a traditional Le Mans-style ceremonial start, with drivers sprinting across the track to reach their cars. The 2 Tours d’Horloge can be followed live on V de V Sports’ YouTube channel.
Support Races, Juju Noda wins
Three support races have already taken place today in wet conditions. The first ASAVE Racing 65 race was won by Guillaume Mahé in a Shelby Cobra Daytona, while the ASAVE Racing 76 race went to Jean-Jacques and Johan Renaut in a Porsche 911 3.0 RS. There was no shortage of entertainment in the opening BOSS GP race, Europe's fastest racing series. At the wheel of a Dallara World Series V8 T12 Evo, 20-year-old Japanese driver Juju Noda took victory, finishing ahead of, among others, Ingo Gerstl in the Toro Rosso STR1 Formula 1 car powered by a 3.0-litre Cosworth V10 engine. The second race will take place today on a dry track.
Photo : Gilles Chaulet
