Team Modena in their Aston DBR9 knew nothing short of a win coupled with a Corvette
failure to finish, would see the GT1 crown head anywhere but to the C6-R of Luc Alphand Aventures, but in racing anything can happen and usual does, so Luc Alphand could leave nothing to chance.
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With the team owner away racing
himself in the Mitsubishi coming home third in a Dakar Series event in
Portugal, it was clear the team was intent on a clean race at all
costs and the pit crew were in a relaxed mood on the start line pre
race as they played some pranks at the expense of the Grid Girl.
Photo used with permission
Photo used with permission
With 46 cars taking the start, the traffic on track, could play a major part in the
proceedings and sure enough, with the pre race promotions and displays over, the rolling start at 11.20 saw the field unleashed and in the first corner there was drama upfront as Nic Minassian and Allan McNish had a coming together, dropping the championship leading Peugeot back from pole to 13th.
The C6-R was keen to keep a couple of car lengths between itself and
the Lamborghini Aston battle in the opening laps and 15 minutes in the
Aston swept into the GT1 lead, while 10 minutes later the Corvette was
into second, but just five minutes more passed before Guillaume Moreau
was in the pits taking everyone by surprise.
In what was nothing more than an out
of schedule routine stop, it simply to give the C6-R the track
position it required.
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Having dropped to 4th, it took only 3 laps for Guillaume to dispatch
the Strakka Racing DB9 as they rounded Woodcote to resume 3rd while
Thomas Enge lead Peter Kox by 12 seconds, so the Lamborghini headed
for its first stop.
The leading Team Modena Aston held
out for another 10 minutes before making the first scheduled stop with
Garcia taking the wheel and the C6-R would take the lead for a short
five minute period before it took its second stop to put it back in
sync with the GT1 contenders.
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Following all the stops, GT1
stabilized with Team Modena 25 secs ahead of the Lamborghini, and the
72 Corvette 1.21 mins behind with the Strakka Aston in 4th.
The race itself was turned on it's
head soon after when the 76 Porsche was collected on Hanger straight
by the already recovering Peugeot of Nic Minassian. The number 7
Champion elect went airborne just before the bridge, before landing
and slamming into the base of bridge and careering along the safety
wall. Both car were out on the spot and an inconsolable Minassian was
left head held in hands, reflecting on a very bad day at the office.
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The Safety car was deployed while the
cars and wreckage was removed and almost 20 minutes were held under
caution before the Audi of Alexandre Premat led the field away under
green racing.
Remarkably, with just one lap of
resumed racing, the remaining Peugeot of Sarrazin and the Audi of
Capello collided as they went into turn one, pitching both cars into
the wall. Both cars were able to limp back to the pits over the next
few laps without a safety car but no sooner had their repairs been
completed and with the Audi down in 10th and the Peugeot in 24th, when
another prototype and a GT2 car tangled and went off, this time the
Barazi Epsilon Zytek and the Farnbacher Racing Porsche.
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The attrition just kept coming with
the Essex Porsche losing a wheel, followed by the JWA Porsche and
number 20 Epsilon Judd tangling not once but twice, putting both out
and all this took place in a short 40 minute spell of heavy traffic!
Meanwhile, the GT1 runners were
trying to keep their noses clean, that was until Xavier Pompidou in the Speedy Racing Team Sebah Lola
and the Lamborghini of Rusinov had a wheel banging session around the
last third of the lap. As they exited the complex, the Loa snapped
left slamming into the wall at Woodcote.
The safety car was again deployed while the wreckage was removed
leaving Xavier Pompidou to make some hand gestures to Rusinov as the Lamborghini passes the scene of the accident.
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15 minutes later and the green light was back on only to see the
Quifel ASM Lola and one of the Embassy Racing WF01s tangle while one
of the Rollcentre Pescarolo was into the gravel after losing a wheel.
A quite remarkable chain of events,
but still the GT1 class came out all unscathed...just!
Just over three hours in and GT1 is
lead by Team Modena 1 lap ahead of the IPB Lamborghini, while the C6-R
sits 2 laps behind with the Strakka Aston 48 seconds further back.
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With 1 hour 20 to go, the Corvette had a near miss as the Team Oreca Matmut Courage out
braked itself into Vale, causing the team and fans alike a heart
stopping moment so close to nailing the Championship.
Thankfully that was the final incident in GT1 and the third place was
all the was needed to secure the GT1 title for Luc Alphand Aventures
and the driver's title for Guillaume Moreau and Patrice Goueslard
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1. Team Modena 59 - Garcia / Enge - 178 laps
2. IPB Spartak Racing 55 - Kox / Rusinov - 177 laps
3. Luc Alphand Aventures 72 - Moreau / Goueslard - 174 laps
We'd like to congratulate Luc
Alphand, Guillaume Moreau and Patrice Goueslard and all the team
on these wonderful achievements and thank them for the stunning races
they have given us this season!
Although we were denied the chance to
see Oliver Gavin behind the wheel of a second Alphand Corvette, the
title race had to take centre stage and the mission was accomplished
allowing Moreau and Goueslard to celebrate on the podium.
Photo used with permission
Photo used with permission
The 2009 plans for Luc Alphand Aventures
remains unclear. Interest has been shown in running an LMP1 car and
the pit lane talk was of several cars perhaps running Corvette engines
next season, perhaps a toe in the water for a factory Corvette LMP1 in
2010 with customer cars running in the new expanded GT2 class?
Whatever happens, Corvette are here
to stay and they have signed off in Europe's Le Mans Series with full honours
going deservedly to Luc Alphand Aventures.
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Against all the odds,
Audi pulled the rabbit out of the hat as Peugeot's seemingly
inevitable Constructers and Drivers Championship titles imploded on
them on a day that Nic Minassian and Peugeot will want to forget. They
had it all this year, there for the taking, the Le Mans 24 Hours and
the Le Mans Series, instead they came away with five race wins, but
none of the titles that mattered the most to them.
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Photo used with permission
Photo used with permission
Photo used with permission
Photo used with permission
Photo used with permission
Photo used with permission
