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ello,
At the beginning of June, the 1000km of Le Castellet have become a traditional appointment on the endurance planet. As usual, the entry list was sold out this year, with about fifty (!) GT3s : Audi, McLaren, BMW, Porsche, Bentley, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Lexus, Aston Martin, Jaguar, Mercedes, Nissan...
The drivers ? Not less than 17 of them were entering both this event, and the tests of the Le Mans 24hrs, scheduled the day after.
The playground ? The Paul Ricard track, with no chicane in the Mistral straight line; the event was ending at midnight with, in the background, the fireworks and the rolling 'roof top party'.
Organization, weather conditions, free public access, suspense : honestly, how could you expect more ?
lise Bauquel is a 'freelance' mechanics;
after McLaren Hexis Racing and Audi WRT, she's back in a Mclaren customer racing team. This time she serves the Garage 59 #188, victorious in AM; the car has a 'art car' livery designed by Adrien Paviot.
About the other car of the team (#58), it finished 3rd overall, due to a penalty during a refueling, after leading the race for a long time...
PS: for the 24hrs of Spa, Elise will be part of the team AKKA ASP - Mercedes... Multi-purpose, isn't she ?
KKA ASP has stepped it up a notch this season; five Mercedes were entered by the French team, within which the below one. At the steering wheel, we find Szymkowiak / Manchester / Bastian, in the Silver Cup.
he overal Mercedes troups are impressive : not less than 12 units !
orsche and its top class crew (Dumas / Werner / Makowiecki) are suffering due to a lack of top speed, which is problematic due to the great 1.8 km straight line !
The handicap is heavy, 22nd starting place (but less than one second from the pole, which shows how close was the fight).
The #911 will cut its losses during the race. Romain Dumas was standing at a good 5th place less than an hour before the end, but finishes 10th (due to a penalty under yellow flag).
t's an upside-down world : a red Lamborghini and green Ferrari's 
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erebelow is the AF Corse Ferrari of Cameron / De Lorenzi / Griffin, who will win the Pro-AM class.
nd the winner is... the Lexus No. 114 of Palttala / Ortelli / Siedler, which overpasses the #7 Bentley in the last lap, thanks to a tremendous management of the traffic !
Both Lexus cars proved to be perfectly competitive on the Provençal track, with a 8th position on the grid for the #114 and a 4th position for the #14.
The Frey Racing Swiss team highly deserves it, as they braved skepticism and lonely developed the Japanese car during 2017, in the GT Open championship.
At the end of the race, the joy of Stéphane Ortelli, winner of Le Mans 1998, was understandable and very communicative !
he unfortunate car of the day (#7 Bentley Continental GT3, Pepper / Gounon / Kane)...
usk is the 'money time' of photographers; the light is perfect to capture the panning of the other Bentley, the #8 (Abril / Soucek / Soulet, which is the 2017 winner team) !
This 2018 Bentley has the physiognomy of a respectable 'bodybuilder' Lady, who would have abused hormones ...
n an incandescent track, here flies by the Audi R8 LMS of the Saintéloc Racing team (Winkelhock / Gachet / Haase), which will finish at the 6th place.
The exit of the 'S de la Verrerie' curves gives rise to some impressive trajectories !
he race gets eaten by dark night (here the Aston Martin R-Motorsport #76 of Vaxiviere / Dennis / Thiim, that started in pole position).
n the dark, all brakes are red...
ow to conclude, without welcoming a new monotype series, which showcases the revival of a certain French 'blue berlinette'...
We wish all the best to the Alpine Europa Cup !
...
ood bye, and see you soon for a next event !
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