By Tarek Ramchani
The French FFSA GT Tour headed to Ledenon this weekend, for the penultimate round of the 2013 season. A total of five Audi R8 LMS and ultra cars were on site, coming from Sainteloc Racing and Team Speed Car.
Audi teams dominated last time out at Never-Magny-Cours, pole position for Sainteloc Racing and double race victories for Team Speed Car in both race 1 and race 2. The two Audi Sport customer racing teams were eager to perform well again, however it was a difficult weekend for the Audi R8 LMS ultra.
Race 1
The victorious duo at Nevers Magny-Cours last time out, Dino Lunardi and Vincent Abril, were the best ranked Audi drivers during the first race at Lédenon. Their #36 Audi R8 LMS ultra from Team Speed Car finished in ninth place after an eventful 1-hour race. Their sister car #009 finished twelfth with Pascal Destembert and Jimmy Antunes.
It was a much harder race 1 for Sainteloc Racing. The #83 Audi R8 LMS ultra of Emmaunel Rodrigues and Gilles Lallement finished in sixteenth place, third in the Coupe de France GT class, open for Gentlemen drivers. The #82 Audi R8 LMS ultra of Marc Sourd and Mathieu Jaminet failed to finish. Unfortunately the #42 Audi R8 LMS ultra of David Hallyday and Gregory Guilvert was damaged and did not start the race.
Up ahead it was a 1-2 Ferrari 458 GT3 finish. The #20 car from Sofrev ASP won the race in front of the #27 machine from Sport Garage. Third was the #8 McLaren MP4-12C from Sebastien Loeb Racing. Race 1 results can be seen here.
Race 2
The second race, held on Sunday, was slightly better for Team Speed Car. Dino Lunardi and Vincent Abril battled very well against their rivals from McLaren, Ferrari and Porsche. The two drivers came home in sixth place, driving their #36 Audi R8 LMS ultra. The two drivers finished fourteen seconds behind the race winning McLaren.
The two Sainteloc Racing Audi R8 LMS ultra cars were outside of the top 10. The #83 car of Emmaunel Rodrigues and Gilles Lallement finished in nineteenth place. The sister #82 Audi R8 LMS ultra of Marc Sourd and Mathieu Jaminet again failed to finish. The car retired after only two laps into the race.
The #009 Audi R8 LMS from Team Speed Car, driven by Pascal Destembert and Jimmy Antunes, did not start the race. The same case for the #42 Audi R8 LMS ultra of David Hallyday and Gregory Guilvert, the Sainteloc Racing car was not able to take part in either of the two races.
Race victory went to the #8 McLaren MP4-12C from Sebastien Loeb Racing. Second was the #1 Porsche 997 GT3 R from Pro GT By Almeras, ahead of the sister #2 car. Race 2 results can be seen here.
The GT Tour series will head to Paul Ricard in southern France for the season finale, October the 26th and 27th.
Photo credit: Autorennsport
