Gipimotor cars shine in Peter Auto’s Grand Prix de l’Âge d’Or in Dijon

In the HTC class, the #20 BMW 3.0L CSL “Alpina” returned after showing promising pace during the Espíritu de Montjuïc and Spa-Classic. Gipimotor targeted reliability improvements, with Christophe Van Riet demonstrating the car has both, qualifying fourth and finishing second on the road behind the more powerful 24-valve BMW 3.0L CSL.

Elsewhere, the #51 Ford Escort “Wooding” MkI, driven by father-son duo Thierry and Alex de Latre du Bosqueau, enjoyed a strong rise through the field, crossing the line sixth from 17th on the grid before earning the victory with the performance adjustments.

Caroline Grifnée returned on board the #2 Ford Escort MKI “Team Valtellina”, but struggled for a clean lap in qualifying, leaving her 21st on the grid. Nevertheless, the Belgian fought back to ninth on the road, confirming the car’s pace.

The #46 Ford Mustang of Pierre-Alain Thibaut superbly climbed from 30th to 22nd in the HTC race, winning the TC1 class and finishing second overall after the performance index had been applied.

The #27 Ford Capri RS2600 Gr2 also ran, with Laurent Polan joined by son Clément, who set fast lap times on his Peter Auto debut. 

Of the 60 Sixties’ Endurance runners, the race-winning #22 Shelby Cobra 289 returned with fifth in qualifying, although it had its best time disallowed, which would have put it second.

Driver pair Van Riet and Thierry de Latre du Bosqueau maintained a good position throughout, pushing hard over the final few laps to catch and pass the #253 Cobra and reach the podium in third.

Having qualified 12th in wet conditions, the #161 Austin Healey came within reach of victory in the GT3 class, but was hit by another competitor and sent into the gravel trap. Driver Serge Libens continued and still managed an impressive third in class and 26th overall.

Also running at the French venue was the #59 Ford GT40 in the CER1 class, with brothers Galal and Tarek Mahmoud sharing the wheel of the Gipimotor-maintained car. The crew were delighted with this first outing and, after some fine-tuning in the set-up, will return for the Le Castellet Dix Mille Tours.

The highly competitive Porsche 2.0L Cupalso ran during the Grand Prix de l’Âge d’Or, with Bertrand Chapuis and Henrique Gemperle driving the Gipimotor-prepared #12 Porsche 911 2L. The pair made up places from 18th on the grid against tough opposition to finish 13th.

Finally, the #20 Ferrari 250 SWB qualified 16th for the opening Greatest’s Trophy race, finishing 15th overall and second in the GTS12 class. Driver Christian Dumolin took the car to 11th and third in his category in race two.

Next meeting : Spa Summer Classic on 27-30 June 2019