NM Racing Team wins opening race at Circuit Paul Ricard, AGS Events drivers claim driver titles in penultimate round of the 2020 season.
AGS Events secured the GT4 European Series Silver Cup, Am Cup and Teams’ title in today’s opening race at Circuit Paul Ricard, claiming a triple championship in its debut season in the championship. Valentin Hasse-Clot and Theo Nouet clinched the Silver Cup, while teammates Gilles Vannelet and Nicolas Gomar are the new Am Cup champions.
The one-hour race at the French track was won by the #15 NM Racing Team Mercedes-AMG of Xavier Lloveras and Lluc Ibanez, which took the lead during the pit window. Ibanez had been following pole-sitter closely throughout the entire first stint, with the gap still only three-tenths of a second when the pit window opened. At the end of lap 12 Ibanez pulled in, with race leader Potty continuing for another lap.
A quick turnaround in the pits by NM Racing Team allowed Xavier Lloveras to pass the CMR Toyota of Timothé Buret at the pit exit and instead of having the chance to fight for the lead, Buret had to shift his focus to the V8 Racing Chevrolet of Thijmen Nabuurs, which had closed the gap and was now looking at options to pass. As Buret and Nabuurs battled for second place, Lloveras was able to pull away.
After 26 laps, Lloveras crossed the line to take NM Racing Team’s third win of the season. V8 Racing’s Nabuurs and Rappange matched their best result of the season by taking second, with CMR drivers Buret and Potty claiming their first podium finish together in the the #66 Toyota.
Behind the top three, Valentin Hasse-Clot knew that finishing ahead of the #8 CMR Toyota would guarantee the #27 AGS Events crew the Silver Cup title and even though Hasse-Clot had to give up fourth place overall, he managed to keep Castelli behind and clinch the GT4 European Series Silver Cup. With only one race left, Hasse-Clot and Nouet have a 26-point lead over Castelli and Lémeret and cannot be overtaken anymore.
Jim Pla and Jean Luc Beaubelique claimed a class win on AKKA ASP Team’s debut in the GT4 European Series. A strong stint by Jim Pla resulted in the #87 Mercedes-AMG taking fourth overall. Second in class and eighth overall was the #12 Borusan Otomotiv Motorsport BMW M4 GT4 of Cem Bölükbasi and Yagiz Gedik. With the Turkish crew scoring maximum points, the Pro-Am Cup will be decided in tonight’s race. Olivier Jouffret and Eric Tremoulet completed the Pro-Am podium with their #64 Team Jouffruit by Vic’Team Mercedes-AMG.
Despite the Am Cup already decided before the start of the race, AGS Events’ Nicolas Gomar and Gilles Vannelet celebrated winning the Am Cup title with their sixth victory of the season. The #89 Aston Martin finished in tenth place overall, with Giuseppe Ghezzi and Andreas Mayrl taking second place in the class in the #76 Autorlando Sport Porsche. Completing the Am Cup podium was the third AGS Events entry of Fabien Baule and Jonathan Mareschal.
Lluc Ibanez, #15 NM Racing Team Mercedes-AMG GT4: “Really good! We had a difficult start, but I could battle with the Toyota for first place. In the final part of my stint I preferred to stay behind and beat them on strategy and we got P1”
Xavier Lloveras, #15 NM Racing Team Mercedes-AMG: “We did a good job in the pits, as always. We gained one position, opened a bit of a gap and then with the fight between the Camaro and the Toyota we managed to open up an even bigger gap. In the end I was struggling with the front tires, but still managed to stay in front and win the race!”
Jim Pla, #87 AKKA ASP Team Mercedes-AMG: "It is a pleasure to be here. The car is really good. We had a pole yesterday and today the stint was really good for me. I'm really happy!"
Valentin Hasse-Clot, #27 AGS Events Aston Martin: “It’s been a great season for us! Every race we had a good car, Theo did a good job. I’m just delighted! I would like to thank everyone supporting us, because we had a pretty good support this year, the team, Aston Martin. We’re pretty happy!”
Theo Nouet, #27 AGS Events Aston Martin: “Everyone did an amazing job. The car was amazing every race. A big thank you to Valentin!”
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