First race of the Ultimate Cup Series season

Forthe first confrontation of the 2023 season of the Ultimate Cup Series, 6categories of vehicles had an appointment on the Circuit Paul Ricard to disputethe first round of the 5th anniversary of the championship.

EnduranceGT-Touring Challenge:The Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo of the Visiom team won the opening race of the 2023Endurance GT-Touring Challenge season at Le Castellet. Thanks to their victorylast year, they were able to proudly display the number 1 on their car andcontinued their momentum by taking pole position. David Hallyday, Jean-PaulPagny and Jean-Bernard Bouvet led the race to victory, while Jonathan Cochetset the fastest lap in the race. In the Porsche Cup category, the #94 Porscheof Martinet by Alméras won ahead of GDL67 Racing, while the #95 Porschesuffered a radiator problem. The n°701 Vortex won the 3B category and then°42/ANS Motorsport Ligier JS2 R and the n°17/L'Espace Bienvenue BMW M4 GT4 wonthe C4B and C4A categories respectively.

EndurancePrototype Challenge:After a year's absence, the Spanish team Virage, based in Valencia, made abrilliant return to the Endurance Prototype Challenge. Having won the LMP3class in 2020 and 2021, the team arrived at the first event of the 2023 seasonwith a new crew, which performed consistently well throughout the 4-hour ProtoEndurance race at the Circuit Paul Ricard in Le Castellet. Their "newlook" crew, composed of Manuel Espirito Santo, George King and ViacheslavGutak, triumphed at the end of the 107 laps completed, including 43 laps at thehead of the race, at the wheel of the Ligier JS P320 N°14 of Team Virage. Theyoung Portuguese driver Manuel Espirito Santo was the first to cross the finishline, giving himself his first victory in his prototype debut.

MonoplaceChallenge : Rightfrom the start of the Ultimate Cup Series Monoplace Challenge weekend in theVar, Paul Trojani showed his determination by taking double pole position inqualifying. The Corsican driver did not falter during the three confrontationsof Saturday, March 25, 2023, taking all three victories in the lead, with theF3R n°21 of Graff. He led all the laps in the lead, without being intimidatedby his opponents. Gaspard Le Gallais, the second best driver in thesingle-seater field this weekend, was also impressive. With the help of hisnephew Nicolas Prost, he showed great consistency on the track, reaching thesecond step of the podium three times and even setting the best lap of the threeraces in 2:01.906 for CMR.

SprintGT-Touring Challenge:The first race of the Ultimate Cup Series Sprint GT-Touring Challenge attracteda lot of attention with 30 cars on the grid at Circuit Paul Ricard. The threeraces were very competitive, with two short races of 25 minutes and one longrace of 50 minutes. In qualifying, Amaury Bonduel was in the lead in the #28BDR Competition Grupo Prom Lamborghini Super Trofeo, but as a Silver driver, hewas penalized to make up for the difference in categorization with the otherdrivers. Despitehis rivals, especially the drivers of the Italian SR&R team, the defendingchampion of the discipline, Bonduel struggled to take the overall victory.Ultimate Cup Series newcomers Lorenzo Bontempelli and Kang Ling each won theirrespective short races and combined to win the long race at the end of the dayin the No. 1 Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo, capping off a perfect weekend in the Var. BDRCompetition Grupo Prom managed to place one of their Lamborghinis in the top 3overall and on the top step of the podium in their 3A2 category. Amaury Bonduelwon the first two races, but in the last race he had an electronic problem,leaving his teammate Alfredo Hernandez with the victory. ThePorsche 911 GT3 Cup, 991 and 992, offered interesting battles in the middle ofthe field, with Maxime Mainguy taking two podiums overall and two wins out ofthree in the Porsche Cup category. SR&Rcame with five different Ferraris, with Edoardo Barbolini, the 2022 GT Class 3Achampion in the same discipline, winning his sprint race in the #33/SR&RFerrari 488 Challenge, just hours after his teammate Francesco Atzori in Race1. However, the duo finished second in the "long" race behind theirteammates in the sister car, the #13 Ferrari 488 Challenge, Lorenzo Cossu andAlessio Bacci, who won. NicolasProst and his young teammate Florian Van Dooren won the endurance race in the#30 CMR Porsche Cayman GT4. ChazelTechnologie had the firm intention to dominate the C4B category with its threeAlpine A110 Cup cars and succeeded in its mission with three victories, withEnzo Geraci in races 1 and 3, as well as Lorens Lecertua in race 2.

208Racing Cup : TheCOMTE RACING team shone in its first meeting by winning races 3 and 4 withbrio. Their three cars numbered #58, #37 and #36 climbed the podium with aflawless performance. In race 1, the #36 and #58 easily took the top two spotson the podium, while their teammates missed the podium in race 2. However, the#58 took another victory with BREDEAUX Pierre at the controls, thus totalling 4podiums in as many races for this first meeting of the year. TheJEANPAT Racing team also showed its competitiveness by competing with theleader in the last three races. Although the two teams are separated by a fewtenths of a second, the COMTE RACING team was able to impose itself thanks toits talent and experience. This first meeting was marked by fierce competition,foreshadowing an exciting season for racing fans.

Relay208: After fourhours of intense racing, the GEMO MOTORSPORT team finally won. Theirexceptional performance allowed them to beat closely the JEANPAT RACING teamand the ACAC LP Motorsport team, who finished second and third respectively inthis first race. The teams competed fiercely, showing great professionalism andendurance. The victory of the GEMO MOTORSPORT team is the fruit of theirdetermination and undeniable talent, which led them to the first place of thepodium. It is a promising start to the season for these racing teams.