This season Hexis Racing is combining FIA GT3 European Championship racing with ADAC GT Masters, and very well it's doing too. The French team is sitting nicely in the Top 3 both in the European and German series and intends to stay there! Now that the summer break is with us and the race season reaches mid-term, let's take a look back at events at the Norisring, Oschersleben and Assen, and assess the prospect for the next meetings, in Nürburgring and Brno.

Hexis Racing won its first significant honour in the European Championship on German soil, at Oschersleben, where Thomas Accary and Julien Rodrigues took a podium finish as the ADAC GT Masters season opened last May. Two months later Thomas returned, this time with European championship team-mate Pierre-Brice Mena, to take a splendid 2nd place in Race 1.

At first it looked as though they would repeat the achievement the next day, particularly after the team reacted so well in adapting its race strategy when the safety car came out. Unfortunately, despite being ideally placed at the restart, Thomas had to retire after a collision.

The Rodrigues family's race was another source of satisfaction. Race 1 for them was heavily compromised when during qualifying their car suffered fractured hub problems which put them at the back of the grid for Race 1. Rapid intervention by the pit team allowed Julien to take part in the last five minutes of the second qualifying session, and to get the car into 16th place for Race 2.

After a thrilling climb through the field, Julien and his uncle Manu forced their way into 7th place to pick up their first championship points of the season. They were also honoured to be the best-placed Aston Martin team in the race.

The weekend's biggest disappointment was provided by the team's No. 9 car, on which an engine problem was detected just prior to qualifying. Unfortunately there wasn't time before the start of Race 1 to change the engine, although team-manager Philippe Dumas risked the car long enough to give Frédéric Makowiecki a few qualifying laps.

The man from the north of France was thus able to begin on the front line, but he got off to a chaotic start; and then the entry of the safety car did nothing to help the chances of the Mako/Lagniez pairing, which eventually finished 12th, way beneath their potential.

After six rounds, Hexis Racing is lying 3rd in the team standings, and has 2nd in its sights. Hexis crews are also 1-2-3 in the Aston Martin Manufacturers Cup.

In the opinion of Philippe Dumas: "Thomas was excellent during qualifying, and our two rookies produced the goods on Saturday. In Sunday's racing, Pierre-Brice was going at a good pace, so it was a shame that Thomas was too hasty at the restart because he was quicker than the other seven cars in front of him. Although the performance is there we are still a bit choked because we had the chance to close the gap on the invincible Ford GTs in the championship."

The ADAC GT Masters is a championship that has an impact way beyond the borders of its German home base, as the fact that drivers from 11 different countries take part in it amply demonstrates. Naturally, Hexis Racing is proud to fly the French flag with such panache in Germany, but also to have attracted a driver from Germany and two from Switzerland to its ranks. Fortified by this critical success, the team rolled out a third Aston Martin DBRS9 for the Assen meeting.

The newcomer at the wheel was Tobias Blättler, who hails from Lucerne in Switzerland. Tobias is a Formula 3 vice-champion in both his own country and in Austria. Conditions were tough for his first outing at the wheel of the DBRS9, as heavy rain fell on the Assen TT circuit.

Only one session of open practice was possible in the dry. The fastest time was recorded by Philippe Dumas, which goes to show what Hexis Racing might have achieved on the Dutch track had the dry weather held out.

The Aston Martin is not a great lover of heavy rain; neither is it at its best on long straights with hard braking at the end of the sort to be found on the Norisring. The team was hoping for better conditions, but in the meantime Hexis Racing crews finished six times out of ten in the points-paying Top 8 in the Norisring and Assen rounds of the ADAC GT Masters. So there is a real chance of getting a podium place at the end of the season.

Said Clément Mateu: "It's satisfying for us to see the team in the top three in both championship series, and to be the leading French team on the international GT3 scene. All our drivers were up for it. In the ADAC GT Masters, Michel Frey and Christian Hohenadel are doing a great job, as are Manu and Julien Rodrigues, and I'm sure their hard work will pay dividends.

Tobias Blättler plans to finish the season racing for us. He still needs miles under his belt but he will soon be up to standard. Towards the end of the season we will be racing on circuits that suit us better, in particular the Grand prix Nürburgring circuit in ADAC GT Masters, and the wide open spaces of Brno in FIA GT3.

Let's hope we will get dry tracks, something we've not seen much so far this season!"

The FIA GT3 European championship takes place during prestigious FIA GT meetings. The ADAC GT Masters too is associated with major sporting events, such as the DTM run on the Norisring. This event attracts 150 thousand spectators each year, a crowd size that is the envy of many a F1 Grand Prix organiser.

The weekend of August 16-17 will be an exciting one for the German championship because it will be sharing the bill with a round of the Le Mans Series on the Nürburgring!

One week after the penultimate round of the ADAC GT Masters series on the Eurospeedway track in Lausitzring, Hexis Racing will embark upon the second half of the European FIA GT3 series which is scheduled to take place on September 13-14 in Brno, in the Czech Republic.

An episode of the BBC's famous 'Top Gear' series featuring Hexis Racing went out on the airwaves and is now available for download on the web. Links will soon be put up on hexisracing.com so that you can view these spectacularly impressive videos.

At the Nürburgring meeting, Hexis Racing will have the pleasure of entertaining 40 guests invited by the partners of its German driver Christian Hohenadel.

Energy drink makers Kalashnikow, one of Tobias Blättler's sponsors, will also be taking part in the festivities and will be providing a DJ! Back home at its Lédenon base at the end of August, the team will be organising another of its thrilling 'Grandes Sensations' days for its partners and friends.

www.hexisracing.com

- Romain Didier / future racing commm, also photo -