Hallyday/Moullin Traffort claim Race 2, as Lamic brothers star in AM class

CD Sport team-mates David Hallyday and Morgan Moullin Traffort enjoyed a winning start to their 2017 GT4 European Series Southern Cup campaign, as their #31 Porsche Cayman Clubsport MR GT4 sped to victory in Race 2 of the season opener at Nogaro. Local favourites Paul and Jean-Philippe Lamic brushed aside their disappointment from Race 1 with a dominant performance on home soil and the AM class victory for Vic Team’s #54 Ginetta G55 GT4.

Glorious weather conditions welcomed the competitors as they lined up on the grid in front of a busy crowd – Nogaro announced nearly 25,000 spectators for the 50th anniversary of the iconic Easter Cups, a 16% increase from 2016.

Pole sitter Anthony Beltoise on the #22 Porsche from Martinet by Alméras led into the first corner with Grégory Guilvert hot on his heels in the #69 Sainteloc Racing-entered Porsche.

Both drivers would soon engage in a thrilling scrap and duke it out over the entire length of the opening stint. Despite Guilvert hounding Beltoise for a way past, the two-time FFSA GT Champion managed to defend his position.

Behind the battling duo, Moullin Traffort grabbed third from Team Racing Technology’s Jimmy Antunes in the #11 Porsche, while Race 1 winner Gaël Castelli featured in the lower half of the points-paying positions. Partnering Rodolphe Wallgren in the #444 Ginetta, the Speed Car ace often found himself sharing the same piece of tarmac as Jim Pla in the #1 Porsche.

While some teams elected to make their mandatory driver change as soon as the pit window opened at the 25th minute, the strategy did not apply to Beltoise, nor Guilvert. Both stayed out until the very end of the 10-minute window before handing the wheel over to their respective team-mates, Olivier Estèves and Manuel Rodrigues.

Sainteloc’s hopes of a win were soon dashed when the Portuguese had an off, which prompted his retirement. This promoted Hallyday, who had replaced team-mate Moullin Traffort, to second place. The famous singer set about chasing race leader Estèves and it did not take long before Hallyday started chipping away at the gap.

The CD Sport driver eventually made a move for the lead with 15 minutes left on the clock. Hallyday would not relinquish the top spot thereafter, speeding to a prestigious victory on Easter Monday.

After leading the way for most of the race, the #22 Porsche yielded to the #64 Porsche of Éric Trémoulet and Olivier Jouffret. The battle for third would be only decided in the final lap when Robert Consani edged past the #30 Porsche of Gilles Vannelet to deny CD Sport a double podium finish.

In the GT4 European Series Southern Cup AM championship, Paul and Jean-Philippe Lamic bounced back from their Race 1 heartbreak, which saw them lose the lead in the closing stages, to pocket a second top-three finish in as many races on home soil for Vic Team.

Sylvain Debs and Stéphane Tribaudini on the #999 CMR-run Ginetta claimed second place, while Romain Brandela and Arthur Bleynie rounded up the AM podium in Speed Car’s #445 Ginetta.

Trémoulet also secured this year’s first Pirelli Junior Cup, an initiative aimed at supporting Bronze or Silver drivers (per FIA categorisation) aged between 16 and 30. The Vic Team driver was presented with a specific trophy and rewarded by a free set of tyres. Trémoulet’s performance was all the more impressive that he had suffered a serious accident while racing in Dubai last January.

Catch up all the highlights from the 2017 GT4 European Series Southern Cup opener at Nogaro thanks to media partner la chaine L’Équipe, which broadcasts an 80-minute show on the championship on Wednesday 19 April at 16h15, CET.

Race 2 results are available here. Round 2 of this year’s FFSA GT Championship will be part of the iconic Pau Grand Prix on May 19-21.

Morgan Moullin Traffort, CD Sport: “I enjoyed a clean start and could get into a good rhythm to manage the gap in the leading pack. I was also able to look after my tyres so I could hand over a competitive car to David [Hallyday] for his stint.

“On this podium, I can see many friends and I’d like to extend special congratulations to Éric [Trémoulet] for what he has done this weekend. After his accident in Dubai, it’s quite amazing indeed!”

David Hallyday, CD Sport: “Morgan really laid the groundwork in giving me a car with fresh tyres. From then onwards, I tried to stay focussed on the job at hand and keep the pace and it worked out!

“We really did not know much about the car before this weekend; we continue to learn and move forward but there’s still a lot of work left. The new FFSA GT Championship is a nice surprise with a highly-competitive field.”

Éric Trémoulet, Vic Team: “Everything went smoothly, beginning with a strong start that paved the way for the end result. Just like yesterday, Olivier showed great pace so I just made sure to hand him the car with tyres that were still quite fresh so he could finish the job. After the challenging winter I’ve experienced, it’s also great to be winning the first Pirelli Junior Cup and free tyres as a reward.”

Olivier Jouffret, Vic Team: “Right from the start, we knew we had to push given our grid position. Until the very end, I thought we had a shot at the win but it did not work out that way. Still, we’re delighted with our second-place finish.”

Robert Consani, Team Speed Car: “The opening weekend was not easy, as I am making the switch from rallying and need to adapt to circuit racing this year. We’ve worked hard with Speed Car and managed to find the right setup and make the Pirellis work, which boosted our recovery to a podium that leaves us all very happy.”

Benjamin Lariche, Team Speed Car: “Hats off to Robert, who did a fantastic job to recover through the field during the second stint. He really pushed hard and it was quite exciting to watch him do battle on track!”

Paul Lamic, Vic Team and AM winner: “The first race served as a good lesson and we managed to avoid similar pit falls on Monday. Jean-Philippe’s spell at the wheel was superb, while I managed the pace.”

Jean-Philippe Lamic, Vic Team and AM winner: “Clearly, I was out to make amends after Race 1 so I tried to keep the same rhythm and Paul did the rest.”

Image captions

1. David Hallyday celebrates returning to winning ways at Nogaro with Morgan Moullin Traffort in the #31 CD Sport Porsche
2. The Pro-Am podium after Race 2 in the 50th Easter Cups
3. The #54 Vic Team-run Ginetta of Paul and Jean-Philippe Lamic. who claimed the AM race

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