CMR took a commanding one-two victory in the second GT4 European Series race this afternoon. The #8 Toyota of Antoine Potty and Stephane Lémeret won the race, with the #30 Alpine of Loris Cabirou and Vincent Beltoise taking second place.
Jim Pla in the #87 AKKA ASP Mercedes-AMG took control of the race right at the start from third on the grid, leaving front row starters Gregory Guilvert in the #42 Audi, Antoine Potty in the #8 Toyota and Charlie Fagg in the #23 McLaren behind.
The two Pro-Am drivers were separated by just a couple of seconds and maintained their one-two overall for half of the race, but on lap 14 Antoine Potty managed to put his CMR Toyota in between the Mercedes and the Audi.
Potty maintained a healthy lead over Charlie Fagg and Thijmen Nabuurs in the battle for Silver Cup honours and when the front runners dived into the pits, the gap between the class leader and his pursuers was over seven seconds.
After all teams had completed their mandatory stops the #87 Mercedes-AMG was still leading, but Stephane Lémeret in the #8 Toyota lapped quicker than Beaubelique and the Belgian driver made a comfortable pass on lap 18.
Two laps later Fabien Michal in the #42 Audi also jumped Beaubelique to take the Pro-Am lead. In the meantime Vincent Beltoise in the #30 CMR Alpine passed Jop Rappange in the V8 Racing Chevrolet to take second in Silver. On the penultimate lap Beltoise overtook Michal, but time had run out for Beltoise to try and catch his team mate and challenge him for the race win.
Stephane Lémeret crossed the line 2.682s clear of Vincent Beltoise, ensuring a CMR one-two on home soil and the second outright victory of the Toyota GR Supra GT4 in the GT4 European Series. The #17 V8 Racing Camaro of Thijmen Nabuurs and Jop Rappange completed the Silver Cup podium finishing fourth on the road.
Saintéloc Racing claimed its second Pro-Am victory at Circuit Paul Ricard with Fabien Michal and Gregory Guilvert ultimately finishing third overall in the #42 Audi. The #87 AKKA ASP Mercedes-AMG of Jim Pla and Jean-Luc Beaubelique ended the race second in class, finishing fifth overall, while the #5 Team Speedcar Audi of Hodier and Courroye took the final Pro-Am podium spot.
Hodier finished just 0.293s clear of the #34 Selleslagh Racing Team Mercedes-AMG of Bosco and Muth, with the #718 Centri Porsche Ticino car of Jacoma and Busnelli completing the Pro-Am top five.
The battle for Am honours went down to the wire. Christophe Hamon and Michael Blanchemain won the race after Hamon took the lead from the #3 CMR Toyota of Benezet and Cazalbon just four minutes from the end. The #89 AGS Events Aston Martin of Gomar and Herr finished in third place, with Gomar passing the #50 W&D Racing Team BMW of Meloni and Tresoldi right at the end of the race.
The next round of the GT4 European Series will be held at Zandvoort on June 18-20. The series will support the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS Sprint Cup in the Netherlands. The two one-hour races at Zandvoort will be held on Sunday.
RACE 2 RESULTS (PROVISIONAL)