Magny Cours Eurosport Super Racing Weekends 01/05/2001   Sunday Free Practice Day   Main entry news concerns the Gammon Megaspeed Porsche from China, which ran into scrutineering problems; the drivers have swapped to the #61 Haberthur N-GT Porsche. That makes a total 0f 36 cars to make up the field. It was wet on Sunday – what else would you expect? The first FIA-GT free session saw the Lister with the Coronel-Campbell-Walter pairing in front of the first car of Carsport Holland, driven by Jeroen Bleekemolen and Mike Hezemans. Third fastest was the Brno winner, the Larbre Competition Viper. JC-W and Coronel were very close, split by just 68 thousandths. The track was very slippery and many cars went in the gravel, but the record is for the Coca-Cola cars, which were apparently "unable to drive in the rain and with so much rain on the track". The #59 Freisinger Porsche was damaged and did not run in the afternoon. The afternoon session was even wetter, and even slower. Luca Riccitelli had been fastest in class in the morning, but was fastest overall in the afternoon – half a second quicker than the quicker Larbre Porsche. Despite those Coca-Cola Porsche remarks, the Enge / Wilson 911 was fourth fastest (below, the sister car). “I was surprised by how much grip there was,” said the Englishman. The N-GTs seemed better suited to the very wet afternoon. “I didn’t bother going out,” said Julian Bailey. “We really struggle in these conditions. It’s the puddles – we can’t drive through them without aquaplaning, and it makes steering very difficult.” JC-W added that, “with the Storm’s big, flat bottom, we’re more like a boat than a car.” “I like driving in the rain, but this is not rain, it’s more than that,” explained Riccitelli. “(But) we had lots of traction.” JMB were back with two Ferrari 360s, but the second car only completed one very slow lap in the morning, although it did set a representative time in the afternoon - twelve and a half seconds slower than Pescatori and Terrien, who were fifth overall in the ‘monsoon’. #63 also ended up in the gravel. The fastest GT car in the afternoon was the #12 Belmondo Viper of Vosse / Derichebourg. The Carsport Holland Vipers were tenth and 20th after lunch, but second and seventh in the less wet morning affair. “I think I showed Mike that we’ll be quick all weekend,” reckoned Jeroen Bleekemolen, unaware how bad conditions would become later. “We should be on the podium this weekend.” The Belmondo cars seemed better suited to the very wet conditions than the Dutch ones. More rain is forecast for Monday and Tuesday. What a wretched winter / spring / (summer). Olivier Beroud. Copyright ©2000-©2023 TotalMotorSport