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Photography

Blancpain Endurance Series - Le Castellet 2019 Yann SEITE - 8 June 2019

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ello,

As summer approaches, here comes the traditional rendez-vous of the GT3s at Le Castellet, with the 6 hours race. This event is held on the 'Mistral full straight' variant of the track located in south of France. It stands as a repetition in real conditions, before the summit of the season (the Total 24 hours of Spa); it is also a singular milestone, ending at midnight under the Provencal heat, and with its festivities (fireworks celebrating the last lap, 'roof top party')!

Year after year, SRO succeeds in consolidating a strong platform of the most prestigious GT manufacturers, as well as attracting the majority of famous drivers on the GT planet, and beyond.
Two signs to testify this vitality (from both quantity and quality points of view): no less than 49 teams at the start, and a 'charter' airplane at Castellet airport, to bring to Le Mans the drivers who were taking part the day after to the prestigious 24 hours test !

This report is a photographic summary of the hostilities held on Saturday June the 1st of 2019 at the Castellet...

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ere are the R-Motorsport Aston Martin twin sisters , caught at full throttle at the same place (end of the Double Droite du Beausset). Fans of the game of Spot the Differences, please take your magnifying glass ! The #76 (Alex Lynn, Marvin Kirchhöfer, Jake Dennis) finished off the podium while the #62 (Matthieu Vaxiviere, Matt Parry, Maxime Martin) was tenth. Jake Dennis will sign the best lap of the race (1:53.750).
Note that among the 6 drivers, 3 (Lynn, Vaxiviere, Martin) participated to the 24hrs of Le Mans last weekend.

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onza's feat was not repeated by the Dinamic Motorsport Porsche; After a nice 7th place in the trials, Klaus Bachler, Zaid Ashkanani and Andrea Rizzoli resigned during the race.

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he other top representative of the Stuttgart brand is the Rowe Racing team, and its prestigious GT drivers. After both Porsche holded prominent ranks at race startup, the #99 (Dirk Werner, Matt Campbell, Dennis Olsen) finished 5th, Matt Campbell being the victim of a puncture, then penalized by a drive through for speeding under yellow flag. The #98 (Sven Müller, Romain Dumas, Mathieu Jaminet) will be forced to give up.
In these 2 lineups, there is an intruder: Dirk Werner is the only driver who did not take part in the 2019 Le Mans 24hrs (but he has participated 3 times to the classic race)!

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peaking of Porsche, there are the already mentioned teams, who fight for victory, and those who have limited ambitions but who wear a mythical livery !

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he 'big bad look' of a Lamborghini Huracan GT3 (Orange 1 FFF Racing, Giovanni Venturini, Phil Keen, Franck Perera) ! The lights layout is in 'night race' configuration.

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er team sister car, the nb 563 of Dennis Lind, Andrea Caldarelli and Marco Mapelli.
Trusting three 3rd places in as many races, Caldarelli and Mapelli take the lead in the drivers championship. At Le Castellet, they fail by a tiny margin for the second place, behind the Ferrari SMP that we see in the background of the photo, in the 'S de la Verrerie' curve.

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ronze: 'adjective and masculine name: warm brown with golden reflections', the dictionary tells.
This qualifier suits well to this Lamborghini Huracan, engaged in the 'AM' category, at the other end of the hierarchy compared to the previous one... Feligioni, Gosselin and Kuppens led their chrome-plated car to the finish line, 34th at 11 laps from the winner.

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his plated fashion also makes adepts at Mercedes and Porsche sides, with this GT4 !

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hatever the track, the Mercedes are serious competitors. The #4 (Maro Engel, Luca Stolz, Yelmer Buurman) started in 2nd position on the grid, and even took the lead at the beginning. The neutralizations and the race hazards will not be favourable; it ends up in an anonymous 15th place, one lap away.

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he first Mercedes to cross the line is 11th; it is also the Silver Cup winner (Nico Bastian, Timur Boguslavskiy, Felipe Fraga).

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KKA ASP also won the PRO-AM category, thanks to Jim Pla, Mauro Ricci and Jean-Luc Beaubelique (classified 23rd overall).

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KKA ASP, follow up : my pictures could be subtitled 'When it's not meant to be, it's not meant to be'... Already 3 races without finishing, for the most promising lineup of the French team (Raffaele Marciello, Michael Meadows, Vincent Abril) ...

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avide Rigon, another driver who entered the 24hrs of Le Mans this year, is onboard the Ferrari SMP, waiting for the trials session to begin.

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exus was on the victory lane last year, under the Frey Racing banner. The Swiss team has now gone in GTOpen, and Tech 1, a french team, has taken up the challenge with the Japanese car, but with much smaller ambitions (AM category)...

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he 3 members of the Lexus Tech 1 crew are herebelow.
Note that under the red helmet hides a 'Divine' bald French man, who became famous in another very popular sport .

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rom the 2018 winner (Lexus)... To the 2019 one ! Flashback : last year, Bentley cruelly lost the race in the final lap, killed by an irresistible overtaking of the Lexus.
The British brand has beautifully caught up this year. Without trembling, the #107 (Jordan Pepper, Steven Kane, Jules Gounon) won the 1000kms of Le Castellet, starting from the pole position !

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he #108 (Callum MacLeod, Andy Soucek, Maxime Soulet), only 20th on the grid, was condemned to a patient fight into the pack. It perfectly accomplished this task, and finished 6th.

Looking at the time sheet, we can see that the 20th place on the grid was only half a second away from the pole position, and that 25 competitors were standing in the same second!
The concept of BOP (Balance Of Performance) undoubtedly interfer in the results, but in the way that it brings to the forefront the teams strategies and the drivers skills. Moreover, by levelling the chances regardless of the cars technical architectures (a Bentley can compete with a Ferrari), it attracts a large number of makes. Result: close racing and intense fights...

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n the Bentley pits, each helmet is stored in its own individual alcove, with subdued light .

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or sure, the personality of this Provençal meeting is linked to its night epilogue (in fact, almost half of the event takes place at night). In these conditions, the photographer may turn into a contemplative spectator, overwhelmed by the aesthetic sensations provided by the race !

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t is 23:00, this very fast portion of the circuit is plunged into dark ink, out of which the cars are emerging. My son and I are the only brave photographers in the surroundings, perched on the roof of a small technical building.
What an incredible sensation to see the cars coming at full speed in front of us, braking at the extreme limit (or even beyond) and passing joyfully on the vibrator, sometimes generating a stack of sparks... This striking speed impression is so difficult to translate, since my material (and my know-how) are quite limited in these conditions... We gradually stop shooting, to enjoy this unreal spectacle.

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ood bye, and see you soon for a next event !