After the opening of the V de V Sports season celebrated in Spain on the Navarra circuit last May, amateur competitors in endurance races reserved for Historic Competition Cars will meet up on 5 - 6 July at the Le Castellet circuit to race in the 6 Hours of Paul Ricard.
Around twenty crews are expected at the second meeting of the year which will be the final preparation for the 2 Tours d'Horloge, the highlight of V de V Sports season, scheduled for 1-2-3 November on the legendary Provencal circuit, the theatre of the French Formula 1 Grand Prix just two years ago.
Among the entrants, the duo Damien Kohler/José Da Rocha, current leaders of the Endurance VHC classification at the wheel of the Team BERSI Porsche 911 3.0 RS, will try to maintain their advantage over Romain Belleteste/Christophe Gadais, winners of the 6 Hours of Navarra in their Chevron B16 Bi-Rotor prepared by the Atlantic Racing squad. Dead-heating for third in the Endurance VHC hierarchy with its two BMWs, a 323i for Eric Wassermann/Olivier Huez and an M3 E30 for Guy Burnichon, the Wassermann Racing team will also be at the start with Jean-Michel Villot as backup in the 323i.
Among the other BMWs expected, we should also mention the 635 Super Production entered by Atlantic Racing for Jean-Marie Belleteste/Pierre Aviron-Violet/José Oliveira, the 530 ius from the Carrefour Location team for Patrick Bourguignon/Jorge Vargas-Clement/Pierre Laversanne/Malivai 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, 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 100% FEMALE CREW
The Belgian team HYRACING will enter its Ford GT 40 for Brice Pineau and Olivier Muytjens. Team WKMR will be present 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 prepared by Crubile Sport at the start of the 6 Hours of Paul Ricard will be 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. The last English car on the entry list is the Triumph TR8 IMSA driven by Bernard Ladebese/Eric Gasperini.
The team managed by Alain Cudini, former French Touring Car champion with thirteen participations in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, has entered a Porsche 944 S2 for the father/son lineup of Arnold and Christian Noret. 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 Morea and the AM25 team is running a 944 Turbo for Philippe, Arnaud and Edouard Martin. The crew Philippe and Arnaud Achard associated with Jean-Yves Grandidier in a 911 3.0 SC should not be forgotten either.
The programme for the 6 Hours of Paul Ricard includes a one-hour private test session which will take place on Friday 5th July from 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., a one-hour qualifying session on Saturday 6th July from 2:35 p.m. to 3:35 p.m. and then the race itself that will start at 6:55 p.m. and finish in the middle of the night at 12:55 a.m. It will be an ideal opportunity for the crews to prepare for the conditions they will encounter in the 2 Tours d'Horloge this coming November.
The 6 Hours of Paul Ricard will be run as part of a meeting that will include 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, is racing.
The competition will be open to cars from the following groups
GT Group:
Periods E, F (1947-1965)
Periods G1, G2, H1, H2, I, J1 and J2 (1966-1990)
- Group 3: Series Production GTs
- Group 4: Competition GTs
- Group 5: Groups 1-4 Special Production Cars
- Saloon Cars
- Group B competition GTs
Touring group:
Periods E, F (1947-1965)
Periods G1, G2, H1, H2, I, J1 and J2 (1966-1990)
- Group 1: Series Production Touring Cars
- Group 2: Competition Touring Cars
- Group 5: Groups 1-4 Special Production Touring Cars
- Saloon Cars
- Group N: Series Production Touring Cars
- Group A: Competition Touring Cars
Sports Prototypes Group:
Periods E, F (1947-1965)
Period GR (de 1966-1971)
- SP 1: -2L Sports Prototypes
- SP 2: +2L Sports Prototypes
Period HR (1972-1976)
- SP 3: 2L Sports Prototypes
- SP 4: +2L Sports Prototypes
Sports 2000 until 1986 admission on application, without aerodynamic appendices, complying with SRCC Sports 2000 Historic, SRCC Sports Pinto regulations and appendix 3 of these regulations “Technical criteria Sport 2000.”
