TWO POLES, TWO PODIUMS AND A DISAPPOINTING RESULT IN VALENCIA

The Porsche Carrera Cup France made the trip to Spain this weekend for its penultimate meeting in the GT World Challenge Europe. It was the first time that the French championship visited the Iberian Peninsula for two races on the Circuit Ricardo Tormo, the Spanish track which was opened in 1999.

A circuit that is famous for hosting MotoGP, this track is a great place for fast sections and a nice straight line from the pits! This means that the drivers and the beautiful Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (992) will have a great challenge.

Mateu comes close to victory

After making his way around the Spanish track, Clément Mateu increased his pace by almost a second between the two free practice sessions. And the advantage he gained in the two qualifying sessions will be extended by more than a second as he takes both pole positions for the two races.

The first race on Saturday offered the same conditions as in the practice and qualifying sessions, 26°C in the air and 35°C on the track. Clément Mateu started from pole position in the Pro/Am category, but was overtaken by his opponent on the first lap of the race. Being separated from him by another Pro driver, it will be difficult for him to catch up and he will cross the finish line in second position.

The next day will give place to uncertain weather, 22°C in the air and only 25°C on track, conditions quite different from the day before. A few raindrops made their appearance during the grid start, which forced the officials to delay the start. The second procedure was launched a few minutes later, with the race time shortened to 25 minutes and the stewards stating that the track was wet, which was confirmed by the wipers on the windscreens of the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. The start is given under a light shower, Clément Mateu keeps his position being leader in his category, but quickly, after two laps struggling to find grip on the track, it is necessary to switch to rain tyres.

A spin by a competitor triggered the Safety Car and the race resumed for the last 12 minutes. Clément Mateu has managed to deal with the weather so far, and he is now leader of his class and 5th overall. 

When the race restarted, the rain continued, and even increased in intensity, the driver from Montpellier lost one place to his rival, Sylvain Noel. But less than 5 minutes before the chequered flag, Clément Mateu was back behind his rival, ready to overtake for the first place. His rival had to overlap one driver and made a mistake, letting the CLRT driver come back to lead the Pro/Am standings. 

Unfortunately, in the last few corners of the last lap, a spin sent Clément Mateu into the gravel trap and unable to get out, he was classified third in the race.

"Very satisfied with this meeting, I've clinched two pole positions in front of some very good drivers, which is obviously a pleasure. For the first race, everything played out in the first few metres, I got locked in at the first corner and Jérôme Boullery took advantage of it. The pace was solid, this track is very technical and very difficult and in the end we finished second. 

For the second race, which took place under the rain from the start, I managed to keep the car on track with the Slicks tyres, we made a great pit stop and I came out 5th overall. Then, the Safety Car will close the positions. 

At the restart of the race, I lost one place, then I managed to take back the leading position in my category. Sylvain Noel hits me at the back, I have some strange feelings at the wheel after that! Unfortunately, on the last lap, I crash and I get stuck in a gravel trap! I am still ranked third in the race!

It's frustrating because we still don't have a win, but I'm happy to have shown some good things, I did the best lap in the race during the rain. We showed some performance and it was important to do that, I'm happy about that."

Clément Mateu, HEXIS manager and driver of the Porsche 911 GT3 CUP

 

Results race 1

1 - J. Boullery (Racing Technology)
2 - C. Mateu (CLRT) +3”799
3 - S. Noel (Racing Technology) +6”446

Results race 2

1 - J. Boullery (Racing Technolgy)
2 - S. Noel (Racing Technology) +6”543
3 - C. Mateu (CLRT) +1 tour

Standings drivers Pro/Am

1 - J. Boullery (Racing Technology) 249 pts
2 - S. Noel (Racing Technology) 196 pts
3 - C. Mateu (Racing Technology) 166 pts