Spa-Francorchamps lived up to its reputation by showing two faces to the GT Tour Championship this weekend. The sun was shining for the first race followed by rain that was heavy enough for the organizers to start the second event behind the safety car.
Just like the famous Belgian circuit, ART Grand Prix had their ups and downs. The crew of Gilles Vannelet and Antoine Leclerc delivered strong results, despite a ten second penalty inflicted on Gilles for his excellent performances earlier in the season, their McLaren scoring a total of 20 points for two fifth placed finishes. Gilles was particularly fast and consistent, coming up from 10th to 5th on Sunday, only a dozen seconds off a podium placed finish. After securing the fourth highest total of points for the weekend overall, Gilles and Antoine now occupy sixth place in the championship rankings.
Meanwhile, Grégoire Demoustier and Ulric Amado were not as successful as they were in the opening two rounds of the championship, Le Mans and Imola, where they finished on the podium. Instead the settings on the McLaren MP4-12C No. 12 made the car difficult to handle for the two drivers who ended the weekend in a modest 14th place. In the first race, after a brilliant start that saw him harassing the leader in the first kilometers, Grégoire was fighting for a podium finish when he made a mistake halfway through. Left down in 12th position, the crew was forced to retire due to a mechanical problem. Grégoire and Ulric still retain their second place overall, 10 points behind the leaders while ART Grand Prix occupies the same place in the team’s championship.
The fourth round of seven for the GT Tour Championship will be held on Val de Vienne circuit on the first weekend in July.
Gilles Vannelet : “The penalty imposed on me heavily influenced our final result. Without it, a podium was possible in both races, but the time lost in the pits made us lose places that are difficult to get back out on track. That said, I had a lot of fun moving up the rankings and the results allow us to not lose sight of our goals in both championships. On a personal level, I am very happy to have been consistently among the fastest in the fray and I hope to keep this momentum going in the coming races.”
Grégoire Demoustier : “The weekend was far from ideal with several glitches in both free practice and qualifying. Nevertheless, third place was satisfactory in qualifying. I made a good start in the first race, but I quickly struggled to operate the car. I made a mistake that made me fall back to 12th place and then the gearbox broke. On Sunday, Ulric did a good relay and I was out of the pits in 15th place but I did not manage to find the right rhythm. We will not give up and our goal is always to fight for both titles.”
Frédéric Vasseur: “The final outcome is certainly not satisfactory, but ART Grand Prix is a young team in the GT Tour Championship and still has a lot to learn. Spa-Francorchamps is the most demanding circuit of the season and the weather did not help our progress. ART Grand Prix’s teamwork was nevertheless positive and should help us to build for the future. Our ambition is to fight for the win in both Championships and we have all the weapons we need to do it right in the next races.”
Source : ART Grand Prix