Jimmy Eriksson retires from Circuit Paul Ricard 1000 km, sets fastest Mercedes lap
Jimmy Eriksson continued to showcase strong pace in the Blancpain GT Series by setting the quickest lap of any Mercedes driver in Saturday’s Circuit Paul Ricard 1000 km, but was ultimately forced to retire as technical gremlins struck the #84 HTP Motorsport crew.
Teaming up with Franck Perera and Maximilian Buhk for the longest race so far of the BGTS Endurance Cup campaign, Eriksson went into the weekend aiming to put on a podium challenge – and it would remain a fully realistic target for a large proportion of the six-hour race.
Qualifying in fifth place on the 58-car grid, the #84 trio got off to a good start as the lights went out at the French circuit, with Buhk taking care of the opening stint and comfortably staying with the leaders before handing the car over to Eriksson.
The Swedish GT rookie then completed roughly two hours of trouble-free running behind the wheel, consistently lapping among the fastest on track and setting a 1m58.439s best; the quickest race lap of any Mercedes driver, and the seventh fastest overall.
With Eriksson handing the car over to Perera still very much in podium contention, things were looking good in the HTP Motorsport camp heading into the final third of the race. However, shortly after commencing his stint, Perera ground to a halt with technical issues, the disappointment fittingly symbolised by concurrent darkness falling over the south of France.
Victory eventually landed in the hands of Bentley drivers Andy Soucek, Maxime Soulet and Vincent Abril with 170 completed laps. Eriksson/Buhk/Perera retired on lap 124.
“It’s always disappointing having to retire from any race, and especially on a day like this when we had a real shot at the podium,” says Jimmy Eriksson. “Maxi had done a great first stint, I was really pleased with mine, and Franck is a bit of a Paul Ricard expert, so it was certainly looking good. At least I managed to set the fastest Mercedes lap, which is some consolation, and we were doing very consistent times with not too much tyre wear. We’ll take the positives from here and be back stronger next time.”
Saturday’s race in France was not only a big event in itself, but also acted as a precursor to next month’s major highlight of the season: the 24 Hours of Spa in the Belgian Ardennes.
“Spa is the big one, and we’re now already fully focussed on that,” Eriksson continues. “Paul Ricard was a great opportunity for us to prepare for a lot of what we’ll have at Spa, including night driving and longer stints of a couple of hours or more. It’s obviously not ideal having had to retire here, but on the positive side we did complete most of the race and I’d rather have these issues here than in Belgium. I’m confident that we’ll have a reliable and fast package at Spa.”
The 24 Hours of Spa takes place on July 27-30 and will mark Jimmy Eriksson’s maiden 24-hour race.
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