An international meeting for a spectacular start to the school year in Nevers Magny-Cours!
About a week before the schoolchildren, the drivers of the French FFSA Circuit Championship will return to school this weekend on the Nevers Magny-Cours Circuit. This meeting in Nièvre is particularly attractive for the public with, in addition to the usual series of French competition, the return of the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe, the benchmark GT3 championship in Europe.
For more than 60 years, Magny-Cours has been one of the Meccas of motorsport in our country. This weekend of August 23, 24 and 25, the one which hosted 18 Formula 1 French Grand Prix will experience one of the most important events of its year 2024.
On the program, 17 races between Saturday 10 a.m. and Sunday 18:15 p.m. with the highlight being the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS in Sprint Cup version and the French FFSA GT Championship, but also the French FFSA F4 Championship, the France FFSA Tourisme, the Mitjet France Trophy and the Clio Cup Series. With access set at 25 euros (15 euros for Sunday only), spectators will not be disappointed!
Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe: the stars of GT3
After a year of absence, Magny-Cours regains its place in the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe calendar, the flagship GT3 competition in Europe. With 32 cars at the start and the presence of many drivers among the best in the world in GT, the spectacle is guaranteed during the two 60-minute races. The first will be held semi-nightly on Saturday from 20:15 p.m. and the second is scheduled for Sunday at 14:45 p.m.
Magny-Cours constitutes the fourth and penultimate meeting of the Sprint Cup and, barring any major surprises, the title will be played out between crews defending the colors of BMW, Mercedes-AMG and Ferrari. Triple champions Dries Vanthoor and Charles Weerts are in the lead in the Team WRT BMW M4 GT3, but the two Belgians are only two points ahead of the pair Maro Engel/Lucas Auer (Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO – Winward Racing Team Mann-Filter). In third place, the young Ben Green and Konsta Lappalainen intend to shake up the established values on their Ferrari 296 GT3 from the Emil Frey Racing team. Winners of the last race to date, the Briton and the Finn are in any case among the rising stars of GT!
In addition to the general classification, you will have to follow the fight in the classes with the Gold Cup, the Silver Cup and the Bronze Cup. In this context, three French teams (Saintéloc Racing, Schumacher CLRT and CSA Racing) could make the Marseillaise resonate and there are also a good half-dozen French drivers.
French FFSA GT Championship: the fight continues
In addition to the GT3s, the GT4s of the French FFSA GT Championship will also be on track to begin their second half of the season. After the qualifying practices, already broadcast live this Saturday at 10:35 a.m., the two 60-minute races of the FFSA GT will obviously be followed “live” on the GTWorld YouTube channel with starts given on Saturday at 16 p.m. and Sunday at 12 p.m.
Victor Weyrich and Matteo Villagomez (Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 EVO – Racing Spirit of Léman) are well ahead of the Silver Cup after having scored three victories in the last four races, but Mateo Herrero is not far away. He seems to have found in Tom Verdier a permanent teammate who meets his expectations and the Alpine A110 GT4 EVO from Chazel Technologie Course should have its say on a track like Magny-Cours. Third duo still in the title race, Viny Beltramelli and Florian Briché (Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport – JSB Compétition) must win to reduce the 40-point gap that separates them from the leaders.
Gaël Castelli and Rodolphe Wallgren (Audi R8 LMS GT4 – CSA Racing) are solid leaders in Pro-Am and have only one objective: to consolidate their lead of 51 points. Pascal Huteau and Gaspard Simon (Alpine A110 GT4 EVO – Schumacher CLRT) lead a chasing group in which we also find Noam Abramczyk and Thomas Laurent (Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport – AV Racing), Grégory Guilvert and Laurent Hurgon (Alpine A110 GT4 EVO – Schumacher CLRT), the reigning champions Éric Trémoulet and Olivier Jouffret (Mercedes-AMG GT4 – Vic'Team) and the pair Simon Gachet and Carla Debard (BMW M4 GT4 – Debard Automobiles by Racetivity). All of them still have their chances, but they must earn very big points!
As for the Am Cup, leaders Matteo Salomone and Rudy Servol (Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport – AV Racing) have impressed since the start of this season. Their direct pursuers Grégory Curson Faessel and Florian Teillais, however, know that Magny-Cours has often succeeded in the BMWs and they intend to seek their first victory there with the BMW M4 GT4 of VSF Sports Amplitude Automobiles.
FFSA TC French Championship: the suspense remains!
With 43 cars expected on the starting grids, the FFSA Tourisme French Championship confirms its excellent health. And as we enter the second half of the season, it is obviously the fight for the titles in the different classes which will fuel the discussions during the four 25-minute races (Saturday at 11:50 a.m. and 18:05 p.m. then Sunday at 10:15 a.m. and 17:50 p.m. ).
Having finally tasted the joys of victory (and twice rather than once!) during the Spa-Francorchamps event, Sylvain Pussier (Cupra Léon VZ TCR – SP Compétition) took the lead in the provisional classification in TCR, but with just one point ahead of Julien Paget (Cupra Léon Compétition TCR – Optimum Racing-ASM).
Viny Beltramelli (Peugeot 308 RC – Team Pilote 69 by 2RT) has led the provisional TC classification since the start of the season. Terribly unlucky at Spa-Francorchamps, Raphaël Fournier (Peugeot 308 RC – JSB Compétition) lost second place in the championship to Pierre-Arnaud Navarro, but he intends to come back strong at Magny-Cours.
Ethan Gialdini is undoubtedly one of the revelations of the 2024 season of the FFSA Tourisme French Championship. Coming from karting, the Alésien dominates the GT Academy with astonishing mastery for a young boy of 17 years old. Solid leader of the intermediate classification with the Ginetta G56 GTA of the Styl&Grip team, he wants to complete the work in the second part of the season. To do this, he will have to resist the two Tierce Racing drivers chasing him: Thibaut Mogica and Alexandre Monnot.
One shot to you, one shot to me. While David Chiche (Ligier JS2 R – Team CDRS) had taken a slight lead at Lédenon, his rival David Levy (Ginetta G55 Cup – STR) regained ground at Spa-Francorchamps and he now only has 8,5 .2 points behind. Absent at Nogaro, Nicco Ferrarin (Ligier JSXNUMX R – AGS Events) intends to take advantage of this duel to also return to the title race.
Frank Labescat arrives in Nièvre as a solid leader in TCA with the Peugeot RCZ RC of Team CDRS. Among the TCA-2 Cup drivers, Quentin Prudent (Mini R56 MCS-R – ADWShop Motorsport) is in the lead ahead of his teammate Mickaël Boisdur (ADWShop Motorsport).
Thanks to its reduced costs, the TCA Light class where Peugeot 208 RCs compete is a breeding ground for young talents. Over the course of the races, two names seem to stand out among the twenty or so drivers regularly entered: Colin Boreau (Boreau Team Sport by JSB) and Karel Eyoum (JFM Racing), impressive during the last meeting at Spa-Francorchamps. First leader of the championship on the evening of the Nogaro Easter Cups, Fabien Jeanblanc (Track Advisor by 2RT) hopes to start the second half of the season better than he finished the first. Third in the championship, he is ahead of Léo Berson (JSB Compétition) and 2023 vice-champion Vincent Vevres (First Racing).
In addition to these three French Championships, the Mitjet France Trophy (present at five of the six meetings of the FFSA Circuits French Championship) and the Clio Cup Series will also be there at Nevers Magny-Cours!
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