The sun was shining this morning when the start of the race was given. Mathias Beche made a great getaway from Gavin Cronje, Damien Toulemonde and Anthony Beltoise. Beche and Cronje went at it hammer and tongs on Les Hunaudières, and braked neck and neck for the first chicane. Beche cut the chicane and almost spun. He held on to the lead with Cronje glued to his gearbox. Vincent Capillaire spun at Mulsanne but continued.
At the end of lap 1, Race Control gave Beche a warning after his off in the first chicane, but the Swiss held onto his lead from Cronje. Behind these two, Toulemonde went wide in the link corner and Ludovic Badey nipped past after overtaking Anthony Beltoise. After two laps, Beche still held off Cronje. Badey in third was around 4 seconds behind. On lap 3, Kaufmann continued his great fight back and took fourth. Pascal Ballay went off at Indianapolis and lost time in the gravel trap before restarting. On lap 4, the battle between Beche and Cronje grew even more intense. Beche closed the door on several occasions forcing Cronje to take to the grass. The Stewards weren’t too happy with this and gave him a stop and go!
At the start of lap 5, the scrap between Badey and Kaufmann ended in tears.The two cars touched. The German continued and then punctured, while the Graff Racing driver spun and fell back to sixth. Natacha Gachnang took advantage of this to move up to fourth. On lap 6, Beche came in for his stop and go, while Kaufmann finished his race at Mulsanne.
At the end of lap 6, Cronje took the lead after Beche’s penalty. The following lap saw the first driver changes. Damien Toulemonde also crawled back to his pit. At the start of lap 9, while Cronje was still in the lead from Beltoise and Gachnang, the South African handed over to Nico Verdonck. After the wave of driver changes, Verdonck held a comfortable lead with around 20 seconds in hand over Christophe Pillon and Valle Mäkela.
Three laps from the end, Gabriel Abergel lost control of his car on the exit from Arnage. The 2 Hope Pole Vision cars were battling for second place and Mäkela found an opening on the last lap in the first chicane on Les Hunaudières. Cronje took the chequered flag on lap 12 with 27 seconds in hand over Mäkela and 29 over Pillon. At the end of this prestigious race in the Sarthe, Gavin Cronje and Nico Verdonck scored their third win on the trot and remain unbeaten in the first Formula Le Mans Cup.
Christophe Pillon : « It was a real pleasure to be back on the big circuit. Hugues de Chaunac and ORECA have given us a really quick car and a great formula. I’d like to thank Natacha who drove a fantastic race. She’s a true professional and I’m delighted to have been with her this weekend. In the closing stages I didn’t want to put pressure on Valle, as we’re in the same team there was no question of taking the slightest risk. »
Gavin Cronje : « I’m very happy with our latest victory. We were able to keep up a very good pace here throughout the race I pushed very hard during my stint. I tried to pass Mathias on several occasions, but he didn’t make things easy for me. It was even a bit dangerous and I didn’t want to take any risks. Then he had his stop and go and I took the lead before handing over to Nico. »
Nico Verdonck : « As Gavin has just said, the end of the race wasn’t easy, even if we had a bit of a lead when he handed over to me. When I got out on the track, I soon discovered that my harness wasn’t well adjusted. I didn’t feel at ease in the car. Without this I think I could have gone quicker. But the important thing is to win and that’s what we did. »
Mathias Beche : « I made a good start and then I defended my lead. Gavin tried to pass me on several occasions. I didn’t leave him much room! Very quickly, I couldn’t see in my rear view mirrors and I certainly zigzagged a little. That’s why I got a stop and go. It’s a pity. The team did a great job and we had what it took to win here this weekend.”
Valle Mäkela : « We had this stop and go, which compromised our chances of victory. Then I covered four laps at a good pace. We’re very happy with three rostrums in three races, but we would have liked to be on the topmost step, above all here.”
Natacha Gachnang : « I have to admit that I didn’t expect to finish my first Formula Le Mans Cup event on the rostrum! I had a very interesting race and I overtook several drivers. It was a great first experience despite the fact that I had done only fifteen laps in the car at Magny‐Cours before coming here. »
Johan‐Boris Scheier : « It was an incredible pleasure! Each lap I found out new things.The track had a lot of grip today; it was great. It’s a pity I was all alone after I got into the car, as I missed battling in the middle of the pack. I’ve gathered a lot of experience this weekend, and that was also the aim. The circuit is engraved in my brain and I’m dying to come back!”
David Zollinger : « My race was a bit topsy‐turvy. Damien ran over some debris from the DAMS car, which caused a puncture. By the time we got back to the pits and did the repairs we’d lost a lap. Then I went back out for four laps but there was nothing to hope for because we were so far behind. I really enjoyed this weekend, but that doesn’t compensate for my disappointment about our result, as it’s not very good for our championship hopes. »
Anthony Beltoise : « I think we had a good race. I started from fifth and handed back the car when it was in second place. I had to find my marks at the start and that’s why I was a bit slow over the first two laps, but then I got into the groove. I pulled back around oneand‐ a‐half seconds on the leader in the following laps. I had great fun this weekend like my team‐mate Gabriel Abergel. He made a small mistake on the exit from Arnage by spinning and we made a small error in the pits. That deprived us of a place on the rostrum. It’s a pity but we’ll try and make a comeback ! »
Source : www.formulalemans.com