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Motul teams reaped the benefit
The Sebring circuit, in Florida, was the venue on 18 March for the first round of the highly awaited new World Endurance Championship (WEC), which has resulted from the recent association between FIA and ACO. An event which its creators took seriously, since Jean Todt and Jean-Claude Plassart, respectively presidents of FIA and ACO, were present while a Formula 1 GP was taking place the same weekend. ?I feel this race is historic and I was intent on encouraging all the parties?, confirmed Jean Todt.
For this 12 hours event on a difficult because very bumpy circuit, there were more than 60 cars at the start, which confirmed the success of the new championship, while forcing the drivers to be extremely vigilant to avoid collisions... sometimes inevitable, and to avoid leaving the road. All in all the safety-car had to come out ten times. In the overall standings, it was Audi, the only LMP1 manufacturer contending before the arrival of Toyota in Spa, which won.
As it is a matter of endurance, Motul was of course present via its technical support for several of the teams contending in the various classes. Honour to whom honour is due, Pescarolo Team had obtained an exemption allowing it to enter the old Pescarolo-Judd 01, with the Pescarolo 03 being entered only at Spa, as well as the Dome entrusted recently by the Japanese manufacturer to the French team. ?The track is as atypical as ever, confirmed Henri Pescarolo. It?s just like a real ploughed field!? For this latest appearance of the ?grandma?, driven by J. Jousse, E. Collard and JC Bouillon, the team was banking on reliability.
By clinching a superb and almost unhoped-for 6th place in the overall standings, the French team also bagged 1st place in the private teams WEC standings. Once again, Pescarolo Team demonstrated the quality of the tuning of its cars, the experience of its technical team and its motivation. Moreover, the previous Sunday, Pescarolo had announced its association with Luxury Racing, a team also supported by Motul but which didn?t have the same luck in Sebring. Luxury Racing?s two Ferrari F458s were very well placed in the tests but were forced to abandon in GTE Pro and GTE Am: that driven by D. Farnbacher, F. Jakubowsky and P. Ehet following a collision at the start with a Porsche.
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As for the team made up of J. Melo, F. Makowiecki and JK Vernay, it came unstuck on a patch of oil which hadn?t been signalled in time by the track marshals. It was a big disappointment for the team, but was compensated by excellent times in the tests and in the race, promising solid competitiveness.
In LMP2, Motul supported Pecom Racing whose Oreca-Nissan was in the hand of S. Ayari, LP Companc and P. Kaffer. The team did perfectly well after a regular race: the car came 7th in the overall standings and 4th in LMP2. The Argentinian team currently holds 3rd place in the WEC LMP2 team standings. According to Soheil Ayari, the team?s training paid off but efforts still have to be made to achieve additional performances and rise to the level of HPD-Hondas.
To finish this review of the teams supported by Motul, one of the two Zyteks of Greaves Motorsport finished 9th in the overall standings and 5th in LMP2 while Larbre Comp?tition placed its two Corvettes on the 2nd and 3rdsteps of the GTE-Am podium.This first event lived up to expectations and the teams could pit themselves against each other. For the next event, on 5 May, the Championship returns to Europe, to the Spa-Francorchamps circuit.
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Krasnikov battles to defend his title
Assen, in the north-east of the Netherlands, is the prime venue to watch motorcycles in this country with the TT Circuit and also De Bonte Wever stadium. It?s here that the third and penultimate round of the FIM Ice Speedway Gladiators Championship took place on 17 and 18 March. Moreover, Assen Motorclub celebrated its 40th ice racing anniversary on this occasion. For the first time of the season, artificial ice replaced the natural ice of Russian tracks. During the two days of races, the three Russian leaders of the Championship engaged in spectacular overtaking manoeuvres on the 370 metre circuit. At the end of the first day, Khomitsevich clinched first place, followed by Nikolay Krasnikov, who fell during the last lap of the final, and by Daniil Ivanov disqualified in the 19th series for having come into contact with Krasnikov.
On the following day, Ivanov caught up by winning the final, and a fourth lad, Eduard Krysov, got into the lead pack by bagging third place, behind Krasnikov. In the points standings, the latter keeps his first place in the World Championship, but his slender lead augurs a splendid final at Uppsala, Sweden, in the last weekend of March. An amusing detail is that Russian riders are monopolising the first six places of the Championship.
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Solid season opener for team Australia Suzuki MX
The curtain went up on the Australian Off-Road Championship at the Dungog venue at the beginning of March in the presence of more than 200 riders and before a dense crowd. The young Suzuki MX1 team, partnered technically by Motul, defended itself well in the face of fearsome competition. Team manager Trent Lean led the charge by claiming the Masters class, his Suzuki RM-X 450Z proving to be a difficult to beat machine.
In the Pro E2 class, Lachlan Stanford posted a few solid times during the tests, in the first ten, but a few minor mistakes cost him precious seconds and he finished 11th and 13th of the two rounds. This young rider has made enormous progress; the podium will no doubt soon be within his reach.In Pro E1, Nick Lean started his racing career, intent on showing his rivals they?d have to reckon with him from now on. His Suzuki RM-Z 250 is now currently seen in Australian enduro in the Pro class.
Last, the surprise of the day came in the Junior class from Will Ruprecht. Speeding full out on his RM 85, he clinched the first round in his class and nearly won the secondwhich he finished in third place.Throughout this fine weekend of races, the team?s truck exerted a special pull for the public of enthusiasts.
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Exceptional cars en route from Magny-Cours to Dijo
The Paris Rally is an event designed to bring together owners of collectors? cars for navigation along the roads of France with stops at various circuits. The success achieved by the event led organiser Herv? Charbonneaux, last year, to divide it in two: a part for cars from before 1987 (Classic Paris Rally), and the other for more recent ones. The latter, called the GT Paris Rally, took place on 17 and 18 March, with a line-up of the cars near the Eiffel Tower followed by road navigation and two stops at the circuits of Magny-Cours and Dijon, for timed laps. Motul supported the organising team Rallystory, which brought together no less than 160 cars this year. ?It was extremely varied?, said Herv? Charbonneaux. ?As if we had on the roads the cars we see at the Geneva Show. Many Ferraris, Aston Martins or Porsches, but also more exotic vehicles, like a Gumpert Apollo, three Radical SR3 SLs, four McLaren F1s, an extremely powerful English prototype, the Ultima GTR, and even an electric Hexagon coup? manufactured by the French at Magny-Cours.?? Lamborghini and Ferrari took advantage of the meeting to present their latest vehicles, respectively the Aventador and the Spider Italia.
As the rally is also a time for relaxation for the participants, they spent the evening at the Ch?teau de Meursault whose sumptuous wines helped loosen tongues in enthusiastic conversation...
