Forty-seven cars will take to the track this weekend in the 1000 Km of Paul Ricard, the second round of the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup powered by AWS. The race, which last year saw victory and the title go to Alessandro Pier Guidi and the AF Corse 488 GT3 Evo 2020, will set off at midnight as usual. This year eight Ferraris will line up, two in the Pro class, five in the Pro-Am and one in the Silver Cup.
Pro. The two Iron Lynx cars, no. 51 driven by Alessandro Pier Guidi, Nicklas Nielsen and Côme Ledogar, and no. 71 with Davide Rigon, Antonio Fuoco and Callum Ilott, are targeting a podium finish on a track well suited to the Ferrari. Pier Guidi was joined in the 2020 race by his current teammate Côme Ledogar and Tom Blomqvist. This was due to the simultaneous WEC race in Bahrain, which deprived him of James Calado and Nicklas Nielsen, with the latter on course to win the world title in the FIA WEC Am class. After their excellent Monza debut, everyone is keen to see the crew of no. 71 in action, especially Callum Ilott, in his first GT night race. “We arrive at the Paul Ricard confident and optimistic after the good results in the pre-season test held at this track”, said the Ferrari Driver Academy driver. “Let's hope the weather forecast holds good so we can have a dry race on a track that also provides good passing opportunities. The six-hour race will offer lots of scope for strategy with Davide and Antonio, and I'm looking forward to my first night race”.
Silver Cup. The Rinaldi Racing line-up features plenty of changes. After a mixed debut at Monza, the German team's 488 GT3 Evo 2020 will be crewed by Benjamín Hites, David Perel and Nicolas Varone. The class again promises to be very tight, with thirteen other cars at the start.
Pro-Am Cup. Fourteen crews will also vie for victory in the Pro-Am class, with five of them at the wheel of a Ferrari. AF Corse will deploy two cars, with the tried and tested pairing of Duncan Cameron and Matt Griffin, on their series debut, and Lorenzo Bontempelli, Louis Machiels and Andrea Bertolini. Kessel Racing will field the same crew that raced at Monza, with Tim Kohmann, Francesco Zollo and Giorgio Roda, while Sky Tempesta Racing will once again deploy Jonathan Hui alongside Chris Froggatt and Eddie Cheever. As announced in recent days, Iron Lynx is set to write a new page of history in the SRO Championship with an all-woman crew of Katherine Legge, Sarah Bovy and Doriane Pin.
Esports GT Pro Series. After its Monza debut, the second round of the virtual series will also be held at the Paul Ricard. From this year, the Pro and Silver classes drivers in the Endurance Cup will compete on simulators. After the two third places claimed by Nicklas Nielsen and Benjamin Hites on the Lombard track, the two Ferrari drivers will be advised by the “Ferrari Driver Academy Esports Team” champions David Tonizza, Giovanni De Salvo and Brendon Leigh. The sixty-minute race will take place on Saturday at 1:35 pm local time, with points at stake for the real-car championship.
Programme. The 1000 Km of Paul Ricard returns to its traditional two-day programme that will kick off on Friday with the first free practice and pre-qualifying. On Saturday, the fight for pole position is at 10:45 am, while the six-hour race will begin at 6 pm.