On the first weekend of October, the SRO Race Festival has concluded the 2021 season of the SRO French racing tour in style. The crowd was welcomed, with free admittance over the 3 days: several grandstands were opened, as well as the paddock and the sun shined almost all weekend. Eight series were on track, from single seaters (French F4) to GT2 European Series, with a total of 270 drivers.
The suspense was at its peak in GT FFSA (French GT4), for which the 2 races at Paul Ricard were crucial. In Pro-AM, no less than 9 lineups could still win the title, and there were also uncertainties in the silver and AM classes. The 2 races (which included a spectacular night one on Saturday) finally gave their verdict.
The Saturday night race was won by the polemen, Fabien Michal and Grégory Guilvert (Audi R8 LMS GT4 #42 – Saintéloc Junior Team).
On the grid of the very last race on Sunday afternoon, 5 crews could still reach the Holy Grail in Pro-AM. For Thomas Drouet (Mercedes-AMG #16 – AKKA ASP), the relief came when his teammate Fabien Barthez crossed the line in 3rd position. It meant the Pro AM title for him alone, whereas the Silver and AM crowns had been granted the day before, respectively to Romain Leroux / Valentin Hasse-Clot (Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 #007 – AGS Events) and Christophe Hamon / Pascal Huteau (Audi R8 LMS GT4 #5 – Team Fullmotorsport).
Apart from this dramatic finish in GT FFSA, one of the meeting attractions was the racing debut of the Australian Diva, the Brabham BT62 ‘GT2 Concept’, under the banner of High Class Racing. We were overwhelmed by the design of this car, and by the symphony of the V8. David Brabham himself was behind the wheel, assisted by the Danish driver Dennis Anderson.
After a very promising 3rd place during the night classification on Saturday, the races were less successful, in spite of a 2nd fastest overall lap in race 1.
David Brabham promised that a new evolution would be seen again in 2022. The 2021 GT2 title went to the sister car of the High Class Racing team, the Audi R8 LMS of Patterson / Fjordbach.
Here is our gallery of the SRO race festival at Circuit Paul Ricard.
Photos by Yann Séité
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