Larbre Competition’s Patrick Bornhauser and Laurent Groppi defied the odds to snatch the FFSA (French) GT title in the season-finale at Magny-Cours at the weekend.
The Porsche 911 GT3 R drivers were rank outsiders heading into the final double-header at the former home of the French Grand Prix having played catch-up all season after missing the round at Ledenon in April. But the pair managed to overhaul the advantage of long-time leaders Renaud Derlot and Arnaud Peyroles (Graff Racing) as the Corvette pair posted a disastrous DNF in the second race.
Groppi and Bornhauser hauled themselves back into title contention with victory in the opening race of the weekend ahead of the Sainteloc-Phoenix Audi R8 LMS of Christophe Bouchut and Wilfried Merafina.
However, third place for Derlot and Peyroles appeared to have limited the Graff Racing duo’s losses and maintained their status as favourites heading into the second race.
Unfortunately, things went wrong almost immediately in the season’s final event as Derlot made contact with the Hexis AMR Aston Martin DBRS9 of Clivio Piccione. Although he appeared to have escaped any major damage, he hit serious trouble on lap 5 when he developed a terminal engine problem due to a broken exhaust.
As the Corvette ground to a halt, Bornhauser and Groppi knew that a top four finish was enough for the title and they duly followed home the JSB Competition Lamborghini Gallardo of Julien Briche and Jean-Claude Lagniez to clinch the crown. The second Hexis Aston Martin of Frederic Makowiecki and Manuel Rodrigues completed the podium.
First and third place finishes in the two races were enough to secure Eric Mouez and David Loger the ‘Gentlemen’s Trophy’ title in their Nourry Competition-run Porsche 997 Cup.
FFSA GT Championship results – Round 7, Magny-Cours
Race 1
1 Larbre Competition, Laurent Groppi / Patrick Bornhauser, Porsche 911 GT3 R, 32 laps 1:00:34.991
2 Sainteloc – Phoenix, Christophe Bouchut / Wilfried Merafina, Audi R8 LMS, +5.383
3 Graff Racing, Renaud Derlot / Arnaud Peyroles, Corvette Z06, +10.979
4 Audi Team Oreca, Soheil Ayari / Bruno Hernandez, Audi R8 LMS, +14.733
5 Audi Team Oreca, Stephane Ortelli / David Hallyday, Audi R8 LMS, +16.061
6 DKR Engineering, Olivier Panis / Eric Debard, Corvette Z06, +18.844
7 GCR / Pouchelon, Paul Lamic / Frederic Gabillon, Dodge Viper 2, +20.851
8 Marc VDS Racing, Gael Lesoudier / Maxime Martin, Ford Mustang, +21.467
9 Sport Garage, Christian Beroujon / Olivier Thevenin, BMW Alpina B6, +31.990
10 LMP Motorsport, Anthony Beltoise / Nicolas Tardif, Aston Martin DBRS9, +35.607
11 Sainteloc – Phoenix, Dino Lunardi / Pierre Hirschi, Audi R8 LMS, +49.671
12 Nourry Competition, Eric Mouez / David Loger, Porsche 997 Cup, +1:15.410 (GT)
13 WRT, Gregory Franchi / Stephane Lemeret, Audi R8 LMS, +1:20.452
14 France, Pierre-Alain France / Erwin France, Dodge Viper 2, +1:38.954 (GT)
15 Ruffier Racing, Romain Brandela / Thierry Prignaud, Lamborghini Gallardo, +1 lap (GT)
16 Graff Racing, Julien Canal / Gerard Tonelli, Corvette Z06, +5 laps
17 Pro GT By Almeras, Jean-Pierre Champeau / Philippe Almeras, Porsche 911 GT, +6 laps
18 LMP Motorsport, Gregory Guilvert / Gregoire Demoustier, Aston Martin DBRS9, +6 laps
19 DKR Engineering, Laurent Cazenave / Jean-Claude Police, Corvette Z06, +6 laps
Not classified
Hexis AMR, Manuel Rodrigues / Frederic Makowiecki, Aston Martin DBRS9, 21 laps
Hexis AMR, Luc Paillard / Clivio Piccione, Aston Martin DBRS9, 21 laps
Sainteloc-Phoenix, Jean-Luc Beaubelique / Ludovic Badey, Audi R8 LMS, 17 laps
JSB Competition, Florent Priez / Philippe Madeleine, Lamborghini Gallardo, 13 laps (GT)
Sport Garage, Olivier Porta / Thierry Stepec, BMW Alpina B6, 9 laps
JSB Competition, Julien Briche / Jean-Claude Lagniez, Lamborghini Gallardo LP560, 6 laps
Ruffier Racing, Georges Cabanne / Gilles Vannelet, Lamborghini Gallardo, 4 laps (GT)
Ruffier Racing, Arthur Bleynie / Eric Benezet, Lamborghini Gallardo, 2 laps (GT)
ASP Competition, Jean-Paul Buffin / Philippe Ullman, Lamborghini Gallardo, 2 laps (GT)
Race 2
1 JSB Competition, Julien Briche / Jean-Claude Lagniez, Lamborghini Gallardo LP560, 31 laps 54:18.370
2 Larbre Competition, Laurent Groppi / Patrick Bornhauser, Porsche 911 GT3 R, +0.662
3 Hexis AMR, Manuel Rodrigues / Frederic Makowiecki, Aston Martin DBRS9, +6.821
4 Audi Team Oreca, Soheil Ayari / Bruno Hernandez, Audi R8 LMS, +9.752
5 Audi Team Oreca, Stephane Ortelli / David Hallyday, Audi R8 LMS, +10.817
6 Sainteloc – Phoenix, Christophe Bouchut / Wilfried Merafina, Audi R8 LMS, +12.939
7 Sainteloc-Phoenix, Jean-Luc Beaubelique / Ludovic Badey, Audi R8 LMS, +18.969
8 Graff Racing, Julien Canal / Gerard Tonelli, Corvette Z06, +27.610
9 GCR / Pouchelon, Paul Lamic / Frederic Gabillon, Dodge Viper 2, +35.177
10 Sport Garage, Christian Beroujon / Olivier Thevenin, BMW Alpina B6, +39.574
11 WRT, Gregory Franchi / Stephane Lemeret, Audi R8 LMS, +41.603
12 LMP Motorsport, Gregory Guilvert / Gregoire Demoustier, Aston Martin DBRS9, +49.055
13 Sainteloc – Phoenix, Dino Lunardi / Pierre Hirschi, Audi R8 LMS, +1:08.216
14 DKR Engineering, Olivier Panis / Eric Debard, Corvette Z06, +1:15.126
15 Ruffier Racing, Georges Cabanne / Gilles Vannelet, Lamborghini Gallardo, +1 lap (GT)
16 Ruffier Racing, Romain Brandela / Thierry Prignaud, Lamborghini Gallardo, +1 lap (GT)
17 Nourry Competition, Eric Mouez / David Loger, Porsche 997 Cup, +1 lap (GT)
18 Ruffier Racing, Arthur Bleynie / Eric Benezet, Lamborghini Gallardo, 1 lap (GT)
19 ASP Competition, Jean-Paul Buffin / Philippe Ullman, Lamborghini Gallardo, 2 laps (GT)
20 DKR Engineering, Laurent Cazenave / Jean-Claude Police, Corvette Z06, +2 laps
21 Marc VDS Racing, Gael Lesoudier / Maxime Martin, Ford Mustang, +6 laps
22 France, Pierre-Alain France / Erwin France, Dodge Viper 2, +6 laps (GT)
Not classified
Sport Garage, Olivier Porta / Thierry Stepec, BMW Alpina B6, 16 laps
Pro GT By Almeras, Jean-Pierre Champeau / Philippe Almeras, Porsche 911 GT, 15 laps
LMP Motorsport, Anthony Beltoise / Nicolas Tardif, Aston Martin DBRS9, 9 laps
Graff Racing, Renaud Derlot / Arnaud Peyroles, Corvette Z06, 4 laps
JSB Competition, Florent Priez / Philippe Madeleine, Lamborghini Gallardo, 2 laps (GT)
Hexis AMR, Luc Paillard / Clivio Piccione, Aston Martin DBRS9, 2 laps
Final Championship Standings
1 Laurent Groppi, 165pts
= Patrick Bornhauser, 165
2 Renaud Derlot, 158
= Arnaud Peyroles, 158
3 Stephane Ortelli, 126
= David Hallyday, 126
4 Soheil Ayari, 110
= Bruno Hernandez, 110
5 Wilfried Merafina, 90
Watch FFSA (French) GT highlights from Magny-Cours on Sunday 24 October at 8:45pm (BST) on Motors TV.
Andy Wilkinson
International
