4 heures V de V de Jarama - Challenge Endurance GT/Tourisme V de V 31.03.2010: The Mosler MT 900s struck hard, occupying the front row of the grid, with Xavier Pompidou and Gabriel Abergel on pole, followed by Manuel Ferreira and Ludovic Bour. But the race didn’t go their way and in the end victory

“More open than ever”


The Mosler MT 900s struck hard, occupying the front row of the grid, with Xavier Pompidou and Gabriel Abergel on pole, followed by Manuel Ferreira and Ludovic Bour. But the race didn’t go their way and in the end victory came to the Porsche 997 RSR IMSA Performance Matmut of Christophe Bourret and Pascal Gibon after an absolutely perfect race.




Gabriel Abergel kept the lead at the start but soon came under great pressure from Manuel Ferreira at first, before he slipped back away from the fight for the lead. Miguel Langin, in the Porsche 996 RSR, was in fine form and moved firmly into first place, carving out a sizeable lead before gearbox problems let him down.

Thierry Perrier led for an entire lap but Tony Samon overtook him, while Manuel Ferreira had pulled back up to third. Gabriel Abergel was now fifth, but the fight for the lead allowed the two Porsche 997 RSRs of Christophe Bourret and Philippe Polette to join forces and make their way up the pack into third and fourth place. Erwin France was in eighth place with the Viper, just in front of Arnaud Peyroles and the Lamborghini Gallardo. Such was the provisional podium of the GTV2 category.

Michel Krine took advantage of the tussle for first to work his way into a superb fifth place at the head of the Silhouettes with the Touring Cup, as did Jean-Marc Bachelier, who was in eighth place and leading the GTV4 category with the Porsche 993 RSR.

Thierry Perrier got his head down and took the lead from Tony Samon, who was handed a drive-through penalty, as was Gabriel Abergel, for having overtaken when the yellow flag was displayed during the first safety car outing. Manuel Ferreira was most incisive and took the lead, but the two Porsche IMSAs took advantage of the race incident to refuel. When the other leading cars stopped to refuel they took the first two places in front of Perrier’s Ferrari. Philippe Polette had some problems with his car and had to shift down, while Christophe Bourret could not withstand the return of Manuel Ferreira.

Drivers were changed at the halfway point and Pascal Gibon replaced Christophe Bourret at the wheel of the 997 RSR. With the least stoppage time in the pits, the two drivers could hope to hold on to their first place. And so it was that despite the efforts of Xavier Pompidou, who had replaced Gabriel Abergel at the wheel of the Mosler MT 900, they took their first victory in a season that they aim to win.

Xavier Pompidou took the only Mosler onto the second step of the podium, but three of these new cars were in the first five, with Ludovic Bour in fourth place, having relayed Manuel Ferreira, with fifth occupied by Eric Van de Vyver, who had moved up following Tony Samon’s second drive-through. Thierry Perrier finished the race in third after Jean-Paul Pagny’s relay in the Ferrari F430, a result that bodes well for the 2008 champion.

In the end the GTV2 category was won by Jean-Paul Oudin and Arnaud Peyroles in front of Pierre-Alain and Erwin France, while Damien Kohler and Bob Arezina rounded off the podium in the only Mosler participating in that category.

Philippe Charriol and Michel Krine won in Silhouette 1 after having resisted the attacks of the Renault Mégane Trophy of Christophe Lazardeux and Harry Teneketzian. Christophe Massena and Stéphane Pourquie took third place in the other Touring Cup. The GC10s had a successful first race, with two cars finishing and a host of useful information acquired by the Gomez brothers to help them further develop this car, which already shows such promising performance.

Eric Vincenot and Jean-Marc Bachelier won the GTV4 again with the Porsche 993 RSR, in front of the very effective Porsche 964 Cup team composed of Jean-Marc Bussolini and Patrice Pellerin. The podium was rounded off by the Ginetta, competing in its first race, with the novice Thierry Pellerzi benefiting from the advice proffered by the experienced Dominique Nury.

All of the Challenge Endurance GT/Tourisme teams will meet again for a six-hour race on the fabulous Mugello track on 16, 17 and 18 April, where they will race against other European teams present for the occasion.



- Marion Scaramella -  photo VdeV