Akkodis ASP Wins Paul Ricard 1000km
The Akkodis ASP’s #88 crew of Raffaele Marciello, Jules Gounon and Timur Boguslavskiy won last night’s 1000km World Challenge Europe Endurance race at Paul Ricard from pole, but this was anything but an easy lights-to-flag triumph.
The French squad’s Mercedes-AMG led the opening stint, then slipped back to fifth over the next few hours. Crucially, however, it never fell out of contention, paving the way for a decisive Marciello masterclass late in the race after Gounon took the start and Boguslavskiy was installed for the middle portion of the 1000-km race.
The Swiss moved from fifth to first during the penultimate stint, charging past a Mercedes-AMG, an Audi and a pair of BMWs to retake the lead for him and his teammates before going unchallenged in the final hour.
“I am really happy with my double stint at the end,” Marciello said after the race. “During my first stint, I was able to make up a few places and that was the key to victory today. It has been a long time since my last win here at Circuit Paul Ricard. All in all, therefore, it was a very beautiful night.”
For the team, it was a perfect response from the Akkodis ASP team after a disappointing start to its Fanatec GT Europe Endurance Cup title defence at Monza. This was Gounon’s fifth Endurance Cup win, just one shy of Maxime Martin’s longstanding record of six. Marciello has three, while Boguslavskiy earned his first in the series. Marciello also scored his 13th overall podium, setting a new Endurance Cup record.
The #777 Mercedes-AMG Team AlManar squad came home second having started in the same position, though like the #88, its race was by no means dull. Maro Engel, Fabian Schiller and Luca Stolz were all involved in on-track battles, with the latter fighting especially hard with Marciello.
The #98 ROWE Racing BMW finished third, after holding the lead from the three-hour mark until Marciello passed Nick Yelloly with a little over an hour to run. The M4 was strong after the opening stint, but its pace dropped as darkness fell. Nevertheless, the German squad leaves Circuit Paul Ricard on top of the Endurance Cup standings.
Saintéloc Junior Team was classified fourth, though the French outfit celebrated a podium before a five-second penalty for track limits cost them a spot. As such the #25 Audi of Chris Mies, Simon Gachet and Patric Niederhauser matched the result that it scored last time out at Monza.
Ferrari showed promise its new 296 GT3. The #71 AF Corse – Francorchamps Motors crew of Fuoco/Rigon/Serra were fifth, while the sister #51 of Rovera/Nielsen/Shwartzman came home in seventh. They were split by the #998 ROWE Racing BMW of Harper/Hesse/Verhagen, while the #46 Team WRT BMW of Rossi/Farfus/Martin finished in P8 after a strong recovery drive.
The hard-luck story of the race was Tresor Orange1. The #40 Audi moved into the lead after the first round of pit stops and built a commanding 30-second advantage by the halfway mark. The race looked to be under control, only for a puncture to dash the team’s hopes in an instant.
Beyond the race for the overall victory the race produced plenty of additional drama as the sun set over the Le Castellet circuit. Comtoyou Racing held off a late challenge to continue its perfect start in the Gold Cup, while fellow Audi squad Tresor Attempto Racing charged from the back to secure Silver Cup honours.
For Comtoyou, the result meant back-to-back Gold Cup wins with its #21 Audi, which once again earned overall points in ninth spot. The Belgian squad assumed the class lead shortly after the half-hour mark and remained there for the rest of the race. It continues the fine start that Max Hofer, Nicolas Baert and Maxime Soulet made with victory at Monza.
Featured image courtesy of Mercedes-AMG
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