KENNOL Grand Prix de France Historique 2024: Masters Endurance Legends

The More Modern Historics!

Race 1

Brooks storms to the front in first Masters Endurance Legends race at Paul Ricard

Peugeot 90X driver Steve Brooks grabbed the first Masters Endurance Legends win of the season by passing Christophe d’Ansembourg’s Lola-Aston Martin DBR1-2 for second and then inheriting the lead after early frontrunner Kriton Lendoudis was forced to retire his Peugeot 908 with a hydraulics issue.

“It was a great race, loved it” said Brooks. “It was lovely out there, great conditions. It was a long race, so just chipping away at it. Christophe drove very well, and his engine… that’s a super car, so unless you absolutely get on it, you can’t get through. After the stops I had my own track, so it was easier. I was lucky today, things just went my way.”

D’Ansembourg fought Steve Tandy’s Lola-Judd B12/60 all race, but when Tandy dropped out just minutes from the end, Jamie Constable took third on his debut run in the Zytek 04S, having caught and passed Keith Frieser’s Zytek 09S after the stops. In a tight fight for the P2 class win, Michael Birch’s Ligier JSP2-17 won from the front to beat Patrice Lafargue and Jacques Nicolet in a pair of Ligier JSP2-14s. Pipping Nicolet for seventh overall, the Alfie Briggs/Jack Fabby Norma Duqueine D08 claimed a convincing P3 class win from Craig Davies in a Ligier JSP3.

“I couldn’t keep up with the Peugeot, he was faster”, said d’Ansembourg, “and then I had to fight Steve Tandy all the time. At the pitstops, he left before me but I got him back on the first lap, and then it was a fight until he spun. But you can never relax, because I saw all sorts of cars coming up behind me. I had to fight until the end.”

“It’s great!”, said Constable on getting a podium on his first run with the car. “I was a bit fortunate, there were a few people spinning in front of me, but it’s great – you’ve got to finish a race, haven’t you?”

In the GT class, Olivier Morihain’s Corvette C7.R almost led from start to finish, but saw William Teneketzian’s Renault RS01 vanquish him right at the end, Frank Thybaud completed the GT podium in the other RS01, with Philippe Scemama’s Ford GT and Mario Cordoni’s Porsche 997 RSR up next.

“We had a very good race”, said Teneketzian Jr. “At the end the car was a bit hard, but it was OK.”

“In my first stint I had built a bit of a gap”, said Morihain about his first part of the race before a mid-race safety-car period closed up the field. “That allowed them to close on me, so we had less of a gap. Then the RS01managed to pass me on the straight. I tried to come back in the last two laps, but… That’s how it is, it was still a great grace. I’ll get my revenge tomorrow!”

On a clear and bright but extremely windy Saturday morning at the Paul Ricard circuit, as the crowd gathered on the grandstands along the main straight, the Masters Endurance Legends grid lined up for its first race of the weekend. Heading the grid was Peugeot 908 driver Kriton Lendoudis, with the screaming Lola-Aston DBR1 of Christophe d’Ansembourg next to the Greek’s silent Peugeot. At the start, Lendoudis stormed off into the lead followed by d’Ansembourg, Steve Brooks in the second Peugeot, Steve Tandy’s Lola-Judd B12/60, Keith Frieser’s Zytek 09S and Michael Birch in the P2-class-leading Ligier JSP2-17.

The Greek immediately opened up a big gap on the opening lap and continued to put the hammer down into lap 2, leading d’Ansembourg and Brooks by 8 seconds, with Tandy and Frieser three more ticks adrift. Behind Birch, Constable’s Zytek 04S was seventh from Xavier Micheron’s Riley & Scott-Elan MkIIIC and Patrice Lafargue in the Ligier JSP2-14. Alfie Briggs’ Norma D08 led the P3 class in tenth overall. Among the GTs, Olivier Morihain’s Corvette C7.R led the Renault RS01s of Franck Thybaud and Harry Teneketzian, with Philippe Scemama’s Ford GT and Jordan Grogor in the Chrysler Viper GTS-R up next.

As Constable and Micheron made their way past Birch, Lendoudis settled into a holding pattern, maintaining the gap to d’Ansembourg to 9 seconds on lap 3, but still gaining two more seconds on lap 4. Tandy kept the warring d’Ansembourg and Brooks in sight but Frieser had now dropped ten seconds to the Lola-Judd and saw Constable and Micheron gaining on him. Briggs was up into ninth, as Lafargue now saw Ligier owner and teammate Jacques Nicolet closing on him in the other JSP2-14. Craig Davies was 12th in the second JSP3, while Morihain, Thybaud and Teneketzian were 13th, 14th and 15th respectively, still actively disputing the GT class lead.

Into lap 5, Brooks finally made it past the Lola-Aston to make it a Peugeot 1-2, and immediately clocked the fastest lap of the race, a stunning 1.5 seconds down on Lendoudis’ previous best, as d’Ansembourg dropped into the clutches of Tandy’s Judd-powered Lola. Meanwhile, in GTs, Grogor continued his drive to the front after a troubled qualifying for the Viper, to pass both RS01s and chase after Morihain’s Corvette. Scemama had pipped Teneketzian for fourth, so the Renaults were now third and fifth.

15 minutes into the race the pit window opened, and Brooks had cut Lendoudis’ lead to 7.3 seconds before coming in for an early stop. He was joined by Harry Teneketzian handing over to his son William, while Gianluigi Candiani handed the Lucchini SR2 to Frédéric Rouvier. Nicolet was another early stopper. Tandy, d’Ansembourg and Lafargue were in on the next lap, followed by Scemama, who had just passed Grogor for second in the GT class, and Alfie Briggs who swapped places with Jack Fabby. Then on lap 9, Constable, Morihain and Grogor came in, the latter handing over to Oliver Webb, while on lap 10, Micheron and Birch were the next frontrunners to make their mandatory mid-race stop. Lendoudis then duly came in on lap 11, with Frieser following him in.

But then drama ensued, as Lendoudis on his out lap was seen at a crawling pace along the back straight, only to return to the pits with a hydraulics issue. This meant Brooks took over in the lead, followed by d’Ansembourg and Tandy, both 11 seconds down on the new leader, with Frieser in fourth, another 11 seconds behind. These margins would soon evaporate, though, as the safety car was out for Micheron’s Riley & Scott stopped out on track. Behind Frieser, Constable was up next, followed by Birch, Lafargue and Nicolet.

The recovery was quick, so the green flag was waved going into lap 15, with Constable getting the drop on Frieser. Moments later, Webb was slow down the main straight with what seemed to be a suspension issue. Brooks continued as the leader, chased by d’Ansembourg, Tandy, Constable and Frieser, while Birch, Lafargue and Nicolet warred over P2 class victory. Josserand de Murard had hauled his Reynard 2KQ up into ninth, with GT class leader Morihain completing the top ten, as the Corvette was chased by Teneketzian (W.), P3 class leader Fabby, Thybaud, Scemama and Rouvier, with Gilles Brenier in another JSP3 in 17th overall ahead of Mario Cordoni’s Porsche 997 RSR.

Then on lap 17, Tandy swapped ends at the chicane at the back in his efforts to pass d’Ansembourg and as a consequence dropped down behind Constable and Frieser, before deciding to retire the car as it had suffered front left damage. So as the field stormed towards the chequered flag, Brooks took the win from d’Ansembourg, Constable and Frieser, with Birch holding off Lafargue for the P2 class win. Fabby was seventh overall and the P3 class winner along with Briggs, with Nicolet and Davies up next. In a shock final few minutes in the GT class, William Teneketzian had pipped Morihain for class victory, with Thybaud taking third from Scemama and Cordoni.

Race 2

Brooks doubles up in Masters Endurance Legends at Paul Ricard

In front of a capacity crowd, Steve Brooks took a hard-fought win in the second Masters Endurance Legends race at the Grand Prix de France Historique to make it two from two at Paul Ricard. The Peugeot 90X driver led away from pole but was given a run for his money by a fast-emerging Kriton Lendoudis whose Peugeot 908 charged up from the last row of the grid to pass Brooks soon after the stops. However, Brooks was having none of that and reclaimed the lead to win by the slender margin of seven tenths.

“That was hard work!” said a beaming Brooks. “I thought if I got away at the beginning and get in front, then I was going to control the race. And then Kriton came back, I got caught behind a backmarker and he just shot past. He drove very well, I have to say. He came past and held the line. I had the inside and he held the outside flat out in sixth gear. I thought he’s never going to stay there but he did! Then we got him back in turn 7 later, which he wasn’t expecting. After that, I didn’t feel I was pulling away because we were hitting backmarkers in traffic. One minute I’d be clear and the next minute he’d be back on me again. So it was tense. A hard-fought win, but those are the best ones.”

“I’m not happy, I should have retained the lead. But it was a fantastic race. Steve is very quick”, said Lendoudis, who normally feels he is not at his best in early-morning races. “Yes, but today I was determined after yesterday’s troubles. I had the plan, but we swapped the lead two times. He was very good…”

Christophe d’Ansembourg tried to put up a fight against the Peugeots but eventually his Lola-Aston Martin DBR1-2 finished a distant third ahead of Keith Frieser’s Zytek 09S, Steve Tandy’s Lola-Judd B12/60 and Jamie Constable’s Zytek 04S, the latter recovering well from a first-lap spin. In P2, Michael Birch also completed the double by taking seventh overall in his Ligier JSP2-17, with Xavier Micheron’s Riley & Scott-Elan MkIIIC in eighth in between Birch and P2 class rival Patrice Lafargue’s Ligier JSP2-14. In their Norma Duqueine D08, Jack Fabby and Alfie Briggs made it another two from two in the P3 class, as the pair of youngsters beat Ron Maydon’s Ligier JSP2 to the win.

“I couldn’t keep up”, said d’Ansembourg. “I tried, though. I knew that Steve had a 15-seconds penalty so there was something to play for. But really, the Peugeots are so fast. It’s quite funny actually, because my car did Le Mans in 2009 and finished fourth behind all the diesels. So it was the first petrol car, and it still is today!”

In GTs, however, Olivier Morihain hit back at the Renaults that had managed to vanquish the day before, as this time the Chevrolet Corvette C7.R kept the RS01s of Harry & William Teneketzian and Franck Thybaud at bay. In the hands of Oli Webb, the Chrysler Viper GTS-R shared with Jordan Grogor featured in the early part of the race, Webb getting the Viper up to second place but a long stop for the car meant that Grogor was unable to fight with the Corvette and the Renaults.

“Second yesterday, but victory today”, Morihain beamed. “I’m very happy!”

“It wasa good race”, said Teneketzian Jr. “It was hard compared to yesterday because we had the safety car that helped us to be closer to the Corvette, but not today!”

“We had some fights with the other GTs, so it was a good race”, said Thybaud. “I had lots of fun because the mentality of the drivers was very good. And all those spectators… it’s great to race in front of so many people!”

Still in sunny but windy conditions, the Masters Endurance Legends field rolled out for their second appearance in the Grand Prix de France Historique, led by the previous day’s winner, Steve Brooks in the Peugeot 90X, with Christophe d’Ansembourg’s Lola-Aston Martin DBR1-2 in second and the Zyteks of Jamie Constable and Keith Frieser lining up on the second row of the grid, ahead of the first two P2 cars of Michael Birch and Patrice Lafargue. Saturday’s unlucky drivers Kriton Lendoudis and Xavier Micheron were right at the back in their Peugeot 908 and Riley & Scott-Elan MkIIIC respectively while Georg Hallau’s Norma Norma M2000 proved to be a non-starter.

Brooks and d’Ansembourg powered away into the lead but arriving at the complex, Constable turned his Zytek 04S on cold tyres. Fortunately, the entire field was able to avoid him, but with Frieser braking in avoidance, Birch was able to snatch third place from the Canadian, with Lafargue and Jacques Nicolet in the other Ligier JSP2-14 up next. P3 class leaders Jack Fabby in the Norma Duqueine M08 and Ron Maydon in the Ligier JSP3 were seventh and eighth while Harry Teneketzian’s led the GT runners in ninth overall. Soon the recovering Steve Tandy in his Lola-Judd B12/60 and the flying Lendoudis were up with the Renault RS01 and going past into lap 2.

At the front, Brooks had created a two-second gap to d’Ansembourg while Frieser got his third place back, leaving Birch to fend off Lafargue. Fabby had got ahead of Nicolet, while Lendoudis, Tandy and Micheron now completed the top ten, pushing down Maydon to 11th. In 12th, Olivier Morihain’s Corvette C7.R had taken over the GT class lead from Teneketzian who now said Renault RS01 stablemate Franck Thybaud fly past, with Constable’s Zytek coming up as well, just as Oliver Webb in the Viper GTS-R shared with Jordan Grogor.

Four laps into the race, Brooks had really put the hammer down to extend his lead to 7 seconds while Frieser needed to worry about the fast-approaching Lendoudis who had charged past the P2 Ligiers to be fourth, just 19 seconds down on the leader and with fastest lap of the race in his overall pockets for now – the Greek was absolutely flying. On lap 5, though, Brooks responded with a fastest lap of the race of his own to put ten seconds between himself and d’Ansembourg, with Lendoudis ten more ticks away, as the second Peugeot had now also passed Frieser. Birch and Lafargue continued to contest the P2 class lead while Tandy was seventh and approaching on the two Ligiers, having overtaken Fabby on the previous tour. Nicolet and Micheron completed the top ten. In GTs, Morihain was feeling the pressure of Webb closing at a rate of knots, with the RS01s of Thybaud and Teneketzian now third and fourth in class.

As the pit window approached, Brooks maintained his 20-second cushion to Lendoudis while d’Ansembourg continued to slowly drop away, now 14 seconds behind the leading Peugeot. Frieser was reasonably safe in fourth, with 12 seconds in hand over Tandy who had jumped both P2 Ligiers. Fabby continued to lead the P3 class in eighth, with Micheron and Nicolet up next, the latter recovering from a moment braking for the complex. Constable and Maydon were 11th and 12th, with Webb now in the GT class lead ahead of Morihain.

Both Peugeots took the first opportunity to make their mandatory pitstops, as did Harry Teneketzian, handing over the RS01 to son William, with Nicolet coming in next. As Brooks had made a longer stop, the two diesel-engined prototypes left the pits almost in line astern, fanning the flames for a true fight for victory. Tandy, Birch, Lafargue and Fabby were in on lap 10, the latter handing over to 16-year-old Alfie Briggs. They were joined by GT class leader Webb handing the Viper to Jordan Grogor, and Gianluigi Candiani handing the Lucchini SR2 to Fréderic Rouvier. The Viper, however, lost a lot of time in the pits because of Webb’s elite-driver penalty, dropping the car down to seventh in the GT class. Kari Makela was another one coming in for a driver change, making way for Jean-Jacques Bailly in the Aston Martin Vantage V12. At the front, d’Ansembourg, Micheron and Constable pitted on lap 11, but behind them Lendoudis had clinched the virtual lead by overtaking Brooks. This became the actual lead when Frieser also made his stop.

So going into lap 13, Lendoudis assumed the true lead of the race with a second in hand over Brooks. D’Ansembourg was third, 14 seconds in arrears, with Frieser and Tandy up next. Birch still led in P2, now with Micheron acting as a buffer to Lafargue, who was beginning to feel the pressure of Constable in ninth. Briggs ran tenth ahead of Nicolet, his P3 class rival Maydon and Josserand de Murand’s Reynard 2KQ. Among the GTs, Morihain led the pair of RS01s, but Philippe Scemama’s Ford GT wasn’t far away in fourth. Further back, Bailly, Grogor and Mario Cordoni’s Porsche 997 RSR were fighting over fifth in class.

At the front, with seven minutes remaining on the clock, the battle was far from over yet, as Brooks shifted his courage into a higher gear to steal the lead back from Lendoudis! D’Ansembourg now trailed the Peugeots by 25 seconds as the Belgian moved to consolidate third, leading Frieser by 11 ticks. Tandy was a further 14 seconds down on the Zytek, while Birch looked safe in the P2 class lead. Behind him, Constable had vaulted both Micheron and Lafargue while Nicolet had another spin in the complex but still managed to resume in 11th place, behind Briggs’ class-leading Norma. Morihain’s Corvette continued to keep the Renaults at bay to maintain the GT class lead. Meanwhile, Cordoni dropped out from the GT battle when his Porsche suffered a clutch failure.

Towards the chequered flag, Brooks maintained his slender lead to clinch a hard-fought victory by seven tenths. D’Ansembourg was a distant third, 41 seconds down, with Frieser, Tandy and Constable next across the line. Birch completed the P2 class double in seventh, still with Micheron in between himself and his class rival Lafargue, while Alfie Briggs handed himself and Jack Fabby another P3 class win in the Norma Duqueine D08, one down on the leader. Morihain got his revenge on the Renaults by taking the class GT win, with Scemama fourth and Bailly fifth in class.