Newbridge Motorsport and Guillaume Gruchet leave Belgium in high spirits after another successful outing in the Britcar MSA British Endurance Championship at Spa-Francorchamps (7-8 June).
With no prior experience of Spa-Francorchamps prior to the weekend, Guilluame Gruchet’s first outing on the globally renowned circuit came during Friday’s 60-minute Free Practice session, which allowed the Frenchman to bed in his Porsche 997 GT3 Cup ahead of Saturday’s (7 June) qualifying.
Gruchet continued to lap the 4.35mile circuit to position himself an impressive sixth in class and 12th overall for the weekend’s opening race, Round 5, later that day.
As the 25-car field lined-up in their respective grid positions and engines notes rose, Gruchet bolted off the line and looked to climb up the leader board as they headed into the tight La Source hairpin, but was unable to make a move stick and dropped back into position.
20 minutes into the two-hour endurance race and Gruchet had positioned himself tenth and was closing in to the back of ninth placed Mark Cunningham’s Seat T.
The two diced for several minutes, before the Newbridge Motorsport driver quickly dispatched of Cunningham and set about chasing down class rival Peter Leemhuis.
As the pair crossed the line for ninth time, just three tenths of a second separated them as they ran bumper-to-bumper up the steep Raidillon and onto the long Kemmel straight. Gruchet was able to pass and promote himself to eighth overall and fifth in class later that lap
Now lapping with times similar to the front runners, Gruchet, who was making his international race debut, continued to rise through the ranks and by 45-minute mark had moved up to seventh.
With much of the field having to pit twice due to smaller fuel tanks, Gruchet was able to use Newbridge Motorsport’s one-stop strategy to his advantage and in doing so moved up to fourth overall and third in class with 40 minutes of the session remaining.
Having set himself a target of finishing ahead of the Ferrari 458 Italia of Darren Nelson and Nigel Greensaw prior to the weekend, Gruchet was able to surpass that achievement with flying colours as he crossed the line sixth overall and fifth in class, several places ahead of the Greensaw, who finished down in 14th.
A strong finish for Gruchet helps him retain a strong position in the championship standings as the series nears the halfway point.
“It was a really, really good weekend and I couldn’t be happier,” said a delighted Gruchet. “We had a really good day on Friday, and despite having only an hours testing, it was beneficial for me to familiarise myself with a new circuit.
“Throughout the weekend I was battling with cars from all classes, which was a great experience as we all had respect for each other and delivered very professional racing, which pleased the fans. I was pushing hard all weekend, setting consistent lap times, and to be rewarded with the Driver of the Weekend award was incredible. It was an amazing feeling to be stood on the podium with the three race winners and a brilliant way to round off the weekend.
Gruchet continued: “I feel very close to the Newbridge Motorsport team and it’s these races abroad that bring us closer together. We have shown repeatedly that we are able to race at the very front and this weekend was no different. We now head to Oulton Park in a positive mind-set and confidence under our wings.”
Newbridge Motorsport Team Principal, Richard Tovey, said: “It has been a fantastic weekend for the Newbridge Motorsport team and Guillaume (Gruchet). Given the hot weather, Guilluame did a fantastic job. It was almost a case of an Iron Man Challenge, as he had to contend with the soaring in-car temperatures and competing the event single-handedly.
“To have competed alongside two Ferrari 458s and an Audi R8 with professional drivers behind the wheel is no mean feat, but Guillaume took the challenge to them once again and came away with some brilliant results for himself and the team. Overall, it’s been a fantastic outing and we have a huge amount of positives to draw on as we head to Oulton Park.”