Two weeks only after their win in Navarra, Grégory Franchi and Enzo Ide will aim at conquering as many points as possible this coming week-end at the Circuit Paul Ricard, which will host the fourth round of the FIA GT3. Third in the overall standings of the European series, the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT duo will be joined by Frenchmen Didier André and Gary Chalandon, who will be at the wheel of the other Audi R8 LMS of the Belgian team.
Following their Spanish success, Grégory Franchi and Enzo Ide know they have done a big step forward. Having climbed back to the third position in the provisional standings, the two Belgians can face the second half of the season with real title chances.
« Although the Navarra round has shown that the Balance of Performance is still somehow unfavorable to the Audi R8 LMS, we’ll fight until the end », states Enzo. « The Paul Ricard, with its large surfaced off-track zones, is a track where we can really attack up to the limits of the car. In an extremely competitive series such as the FIA GT3, qualifying will be crucial once again. For us, this will be even more so in the first qualifying session, as we will have to serve in Race 1, during the mandatory pit-stop, the 15-seconds handicap resulting from our win in Spain. To start upfront will therefore be a must! Then, I hope that we can aim at a podium finish in Sunday’s Race 2. We are back into the battle for the title, that’s a fact, but the gap between the first five contenders is so close that we have to remain completely focused on scoring heavy points this week-end.»
In France, both the Audis R8 LMS of the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT will again be entered. « We are extremely pleased to see Didier André back at the wheel of one of our cars », explains Team Manager Vincent Vosse. « We have been forced to withdraw the second car in Navarra, and Didier has missed, against his will, the possibility to race and score more points. This time he will be associated with Gary Chalandon, whom we welcome in our team. To say the truth, this will be his second race with us, as he made his debut last week-end at Magny-Cours, in the French GT Championship, already pairing with Didier André. »
With a background in endurance racing and after conquering the Formula Le Mans title last year, Gary Chalandon takes up a new challenge. « I’ll do the best I can to help him », says his experienced team-mate Didier André. « Magny-Cours was his first race with a GT car and he will need some more time to be able to exploit the Audi R8 LMS to the fullest, which is absolutely normal. Even for me, who has a longer experience in motorsports but little in GT racing, it hasn’t been easy and only now I start feeling comfortable with the car. We’re off to a challenging week-end but both Gary and I want to progress as fast as possible.”
Scheduled on Saturday at 9:00, the qualifying session, split in two parts, will determine the starting grids for the two 60-minute races to take place on Saturday at 13:30 and on Sunday at 11:15.
Source : Belgian Audi Club Team WRT