The changing weather soaked Sunday's races in steady rain, which enabled the drivers to appreciate the different changes made to the circuit in the interests of safety. Placings in the V de V endurance and sprint challenges have closed up at the top end of the classifications confirming a very hotly disputed start of season.
Clement weather meant the drivers could make the most of the dry track throughout the race with the Protos getting the best of the GTs. The winners of the Val de Vienne event repeated their performance for their second sortie with the Chevron B21 barchetta, driven to victory by Hahn and Haezebrouck, this time teamed up with Frédéric Da Rocha.
The superb Lola T286 of Luco/Ancelet, on pole, screamed round with their V8 Cosworth power and logically took over the lead for the first hour of the race.
Waiting to pounce, the Chevron B21 of Hahn/Haezebrouck/Da Rocha had brief stint in the lead thanks to refuelling stops, before the British contingent of Catherwood/McConville, teamed up with Swiss Philippe Scemama in the Chevron B16, took over. After the handover from Luco, Ancelet gave it everything, took back the lead and stayed in the first three before having to stop with a broken front left wishbone shortly before the fifth hour of the race.
Haezebrouck held on to his first place right to the chequered flag in spite of a worrying oil warning light coming on during the last half hour, but came home to win for his team-mates.
Catherwood/McConville/Scemama ran well to take the second step on the podium and also second place in the Challenge. Biehler and De Siebenthal were once again very fast and took podium third with their Porsche 911 3-litre RSR. This place of honour puts them in an ideal position to win the Challenge. Their direct rivals, Moreau and Langin were forced to abandon with the 3-litre RS, their nightmarish season continuing after their win at Jarama!
Shipman, Hales and Wolfe finished on the bottom of the podium with their new and superb Chevron B16, ahead of the little Elva MK8 of Le Calvez and Guanzini, in the placings as ever. Munier, Petitgas and Tironneau took a leap forward in overall classification in the Challenge bringing the little Lotus Seven home in seventh place in the race just behind Group 3 winners, Clairay/Bozetti/Brigand who drove a brilliant race in their 3-litre Porsche.
In the Championnat de France, Kriknoff won in the 2-litre Porsche 911 which he was sharing with Belgian De Ville de Goyet and Swiss Giauque who scored no points. In second place, Kohler and Depagneux notched up another load of points in pursuit of the title. Burel and Brossard continued their consistent progress, also in search of the title. Teamed up with Eric Van de Vyver in the organising ecurie's car, they came in third, taking advantage of Kunert blowing the engine of his 2-litre Porsche 911, shared with Bachelier and 2007 Champion de France, Cayeux.
St Malo drivers J.-C. and T. Hector, sharing with race preparer J. Da Rocha drove a perfect race, as ever, behind the wheel of the little Austin Healey BN2 and finished twelfth just behind the ladies' team in the Polybaie 2-litre Porsche. Joining forces for the six hours at Lamanna, Carol Quiniou and Séverine Moreau-Langin once again finished on step 3 of the podium in spite of Séverine being affected by the heat at the beginning of the race and having to make an unscheduled stop at the infirmary.
Race: 1. F. Hahn/P. Haezebrouck/F. Da Rocha, Chevron B21, 1st SP3 en 6h00’21’’195, 2. H. Catherwood/G. Mc Conville/P. Scemama, Chevron B16, 2nd SP3 at 1 lap, 3. P. Biehler/M. De Siebenthal, Porsche 911 3,0 RSR, 1st Gr. 4 at 8 laps, 4. J. Shipman/M. Hales/A. Wolfe, Chevron B16, 1st SP1 at 9 laps, 5. Y. Le Calvez/S. Guanzini, Elva MK8, 3rd SP3 at 22 laps, 6. G. Clairay/J. Bozetti/E. Brigand, Porsche 911 3 RS, 1st Group 3 at 22 laps, 7. P. Munier/P. Petitgas/B. Tironneau, Lotus Seven, 1st R2 at 34 laps, 8. P. Giauque/S. Kriknoff/G. De Ville De Goyet, 2-litre Porsche 911, 1st GTS 11 at 30 laps, etc… 12. J.-C. and T. Hector/J. Da Rocha, Austin Healey BN2, 1st GTS7 at 43 laps, etc… 18 finishers out of 25 starters.
Best lap: Luco/Ancelet, Lola T286 in 1’23’’847 (163.19 km/h)
Classification Championnat de France Endurance VHC : 1. Kolher/Depagneux, 186.5 pts, 2. Burel/Brossard, 158 pts, 3. Kriknoff, 124.5 pts.
Classification Challenge Endurance VHC : 1. Biehler/De Siebenthal, 179 pts, 2. Mc Conville/Catherwood, 167.5 pts, 3. Luco/Ancelet, 136 pts.