After making its debut at Monza the Blancpain GT Sports Club moves to Le Castellet, hoping to continue the show it put on at the Brianza circuit. Again this weekend, the event will be the Support Race to the 1000km of the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup. Ferrari will field the biggest contingent with 14 cars at the start, eleven 488 GT3s, two 458 Italia GT3s and one 458 Italia GTE.
Kessel Racing. After the great start at Monza, with the Prancing Horse cars a constant on the podium in all classes and Stephen Earle dominating the Iron Cup with a convincing double win, expectations are also high due to the return to the SRO series of the 2016 champion and winner of the 2018 Gulf 12 Hours, Michael Broniszewski. The Polish driver will set off at the wheel of the 488 GT3 of Kessel Racing in the Overall class. The Swiss team will also field the previously mentioned Stephen Earle and the Canadian Rick Peter Lovat in the Iron Cup, plus Murod Sultanov, author of a spectacular race at Monza in the Titanium class.
AF Corse. The AF Corse pits will also be crowded, with five cars entered in colours of Spirit of Race, driven by Frederic Jean Marie Fangio, Kriton Lentoudis, Ken Abe and Mario Cordoni in the Overall class, and Louis Philippe Soenen in the Iron Cup. After his excellent debut at Monza, Mario Cordoni is hoping for better luck than last year, when he failed to crown the pole gained at the Paul Ricard with a podium finish. The Japanese Ken Abe aims to improve on his performance at Monza, while Frederic Jean Marie Fangio will return to the series a year after his last appearance. Kriton Lentoudis, who usually competes in the Blancpain GT Series, will be the first Greek driver to take part in this championship. Finally, Louis Philippe Soenen in the Iron Cup will try to use his experience on the French track to extend his lead over Lovat.
Returns. All eyes will also be on Vadim Kogay, third in the Titanium class at the wheel of the 488 GT3 of Rinaldi Racing and author of some excellent performances at Monza, as well as on Pavel Strukov, the top driver of StileF Squadra Corse. The San Marino team will field two 458 Italia, one in GT3 configuration for Pete Mitchell and the other in GTE configuration for Hardy Woodcock. After skipping the opening race, Luigi Lucchini will start in the 458 Italia GT3 of BMS Scuderia Italia, with which he won three races last year.
Programme. The cars will take to the track on Saturday, with two 30-minute free practice sessions, followed by qualifying at 4:35 pm. On Sunday, the two 45-minute races will start at 10:15 am and 2 pm.