The summer weather conditions at the start of the weekend gave way on Sunday morning to a veritable deluge for the race start. The top drivers from each team lined up for the start under these perilous conditions to try not to make any mistakes during the first stint. The English were rubbing their hands with glee, already imagining themselves at the top of the classifications.
The start went off perfectly and there were no incidents to upset the fair play pack, in spite of it being impossible to have a clear view down the straight in the spray. Starting at the front of the grid, Ander Vilariño was quickly overtaken by British driver Ross Kaiser, fully at ease in these conditions, having just despatched Alain Ferté, taking part in a one-off drive in the Norma M20 F of Philippe Illiano.
Fast and furious under the driving rain, in spite of being deprived of second and third gears in the Radical SR3 of Alain Giavedoni, British driver Nigel Greensall, winner of the Challenge in 2005, shot off, performing acrobatics around the track, regularly beating the lap record and improving partial times each time round, moving up into the lead before the end of the first hour.
The Safety Car was out regularly at the start of this race and positions kept changing. This was also due to the first fuel stops which changed the classifications and the second Norma of Race Team Solutions, campaigned by Nick Padmore and Jean-Lou Rihon moved into the lead.
In order to make the most of their best drivers in the rain, many teams prolonged the first stint, which in any case, should not exceed two hours ten minutes of driving, as stipulated by the regulations. More than one was caught out and sanctioned by a drive-through or, for the greedier ones, a finish time penalty. As a result, finishing second at the chequered flag, the Norma M20 F of Lionel Robert and François Desprez, lost four places.
The place was finally filled by the top drivers from Race Team Solutions. Ian Ford and Ross Kaiser, barrelling along in a fantastic chase to move up the field in their Norma M20 F, in the last lap overtook the Juno SSE of Richard Bernans and Chris Ward, who, having driven a steady race, took a well-deserved podium after a start of season regularly seeing them in the honours.
Although starting very well, the Vilariño family, the father, the son, and for the first time, the daughter, went off the track too many times to be able to figure well at the end. Philippe Vidal, Denis Caillon and Michel Nourry, always ready to pounce, were once again in the top spots on overall classification, in fourth, but still disappointed at not having notched up a new podium position as at Dijon.
The Pegasus Racing team brought home the Ligier JS49 of Belgian driver Leo Van Sande, assisted for this event by his compatriot Olivier Muytjens, to a fine fifth place. The celebration was topped by the win of the team's top drivers. The 2006 Challenge winner, Julien Schell, at the time in a Norma M20 F, took his first win of this season in the Ligier JS49 Evo, in the company of David Caussanel, a former top Formula Ford driver, who has a good future. This success was the icing on the start of season cake in which podium places have followed one after the other. This puts the pair far ahead in the Challenge provisional classification, helped along by their runners-up, Philippe Haezebrouck and Damien Toulemonde, who had a hellish weekend with a regularly stricken Norma M20 F.
Race: 1. Julien Schell/David Caussanel, Ligier JS49, 1st CN in 6h00’29’’773, 2. Ian Ford/Ross Kaiser, Norma M20 F at 1 lap, 3. Richard Bernans/Chris Ward, Juno SSE, at 1 lap, 4. Denis Caillon/Philippe Vidal/Michel Nourry, Norma M20 F, 1st Gentlemen drivers at 2 laps, 5. Leo Van Sande/Olivier Muytens, Ligier JS49, at 2 laps, 6. François Desprez/Lionel Robert, Norma M20 F, 2nd Gentlemen drivers, at 2 laps, 7. Ander Vilariño/Andres Vilariño/Angela Vilariño, Norma M20 F, at 7 laps 8. Alexis Delb/Gilles Charpentier, Ligier JS49, 3rd Gentlemen drivers, at 8 laps, etc…
Fastest lap: Ian Ford/Ross Kayser, Norma M20 F in 1’55’’740 (141.026 km/h)
Classification Challenge Endurance Proto : 1. Schell/Caussanel, 155,5 pts, 2. Haezebrouck/Toulemonde, 83 pts, 3. Ibanez/Cavailhes, 70 pts, 4. Bernans, 66 pts, 5. Desprez/Robert, 65 pts, 6. Caillon/Vidal, 55 pts, 7. Ward, 51 pts, 8. Vilariño/Vilariño, 47 pts, 9. Ford/Kaiser, 40,5 pts, 10. Guillet Arnaud/Rosier, 33 pts, etc…
The next event at Lédenon will be determining for the end of season at Estoril in November.