The first round of the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup, which took place at the circuit of. Monza, saw Team AKKA-ASP c
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Team AKKA-ASP
[email protected] Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup - First victory of the season in Monza! 25 avril 2016 16:01 Lydie ARPIZOU
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Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup 2016 Round 1 - Monza (Italy) 24 April First victory of the season for Team AKKA-ASP! The first round of the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup, which took place at the circuit of Monza, saw Team AKKA-ASP claim their first win of the 2016 season, with a clear victory in the AM category for the line-up of Jean-Luc BEAUBELIQUE, Maurice RICCI and Gilles VANNELET in the #87 Mercedes-AMG GT3. In the Pro-Am category, Daniele PERFETTI, Michael LYONS and Laurent CAZENAVE had a few mechanical issues on the #89 car and were slightly outdistanced, although they still took the chequered flag. Up against fierce competition, with no fewer than 57 cars lined up on the Monza starting grid, this first event showed that a highly competitive season lies ahead.
Just two weeks after the first round of the Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup, the team headed for Monza, a real temple to Italian motorsport, for the first round of the Endurance Cup. As far as Team AKKA-ASP was concerned, no fewer than 70 VIP guests also made the journey to Italy for an immersive weekend with the race team, getting to see both the action on track and the hard work in the background, but also able to share some privileged moments with the drivers. With a field of 57 cars, the qualifying session is never an easy exercise, and the two cars were placed in the last third of the grid. Despite mixed weather conditions, partly overcast, with showers and sunshine, the track remained dry throughout Sunday’s race.
In the #87 car, Jean-Luc BEAUBELIQUE was the first to set off for an hour of racing. When he headed back to the pits for the first pit stop, the team’s Mercedes-AMG GT3 was lying in second place in the AM category. Mauro RICCI took over, lost a position after a spin but finished his stint back up in second place, although quite a way behind the leader. This same leader fell victim to a puncture, which considerably reduced the gap, and brought Gilles VANNELET up into contention when he took to the track for the final stint, after a fine performance. The driver from Lyon proceeded to plan a subtle attack and claimed the lead after slight contact. He then held on to the lead until the flag.
For Jérôme Policand, this first success of the season is very satisfactory: "Today, we’ve opened the score in terms of wins, and I hope it is just the first of many ! The crew was solid from start to finish, and Gilles brought this weekend to a fantastic end. The pit stops were smooth and efficient. We had a few questions about fuel consumption, but in the end everything went well."
As far as the #89 was concerned, practice was more difficult, being handicapped by a lack of top speed. During the race, the trio of Daniele PERFETTI, Michael LYONS and Laurent CAZENAVE had gearbox worries. A defective potentiometer brought them repeatedly back to the pits, losing around fifteen laps. Although the Mercedes-AMG GT3 then suffered no further problems and ran like clockwork, the lost time cost them dearly in terms of the overall classification.
This might have been a race to forget for the trio, but it was a good learning process, as Jérôme explained: "My first source of satisfaction is of course to start the championship with a win. The second is to note that we have no damage. In the middle of a pack of nearly 60 cars, it is never an easy matter to go home with the cars in one piece. I am sorry about the problems we had with the #89, as the drivers did not have an easy weekend, but these problems allowed us to shed some light on some issues, which will be useful for the future."
The Monza meeting has only just finished and it is already time to think about heading for Great Britain in less than two weeks’ time. The next two race meetings will be British, with the Sprint Cup in Brands Hatch on May 7th and 8th followed by Silverstone on May 15th for the Endurance Cup. "Once again the timing will be very tight between the two events. We will have four cars again in Brands Hatch, three Mercedes-AMG GT3, including the car of Christophe BOURRET and JeanPhilippe BELLOC which will start its season (having missed Misano after Christophe’s injuries), and the Ferrari 458 Italia of Anthony PONS taking part in the second round of the Blancpain GT Sports Club. We will then head to Silverstone for the second round of the Endurance Cup, where we will also have three Mercedes taking part, as Christophe and Jean-Philippe will exceptionally be on the entry list. The coming weeks will be very busy…"
In less than two weeks’ time, the Blancpain GT Series will take up residence in Great Britain for two race weekends in a row. The Brands Hatch circuit, to the south-west of London, will be the first stop on May 7th and 8th, for the Sprint Cup, while Silverstone, the ‘home of British motorsport’ will host the Endurance Cup a week later (May 15th).
Endurance Cup Results
Photos@Patrick Hecq
