KENNOL Grand Prix de France Historique 2025: Masters Racing Legends for 66/85 F1 Cars

From third on the grid, Mike Cantillon pushed through to claim the first Masters Racing Legends win of the season, as his Williams FW07C passed polesitter and early leader Werner d’Ansembourg (Brabham BT49C) into the first corner on lap 5 and had pulled a small gap when d’Ansembourg ran into a spinning Jamie Constable (Tyrrell 011) as they both tried to clear a backmarker into the final corner on lap 8. With Yutaka Toriba simultaneously retiring his FW07C on the main straight, the safety car came out, after which Cantillon ran out to victory under yellows.

“After Lotterer’s fifth gear went, I followed Werner for a full lap before I got him in the first corner”, said Cantillon while smiling from ear toe ar. “I think he went a bit wide and I went down the inside. There was so much going on, because I had my mirrors full with Jamie! I’m really happy. I mean, in front of all this crowd, it’s incredible. Wow. Very special, very special.”

Reigning champion Matthew Wrigley (Tyrrell 011) looked to gain most from the unfortunate contact between Constable and d’Ansembourg, as he moved up into second place ahead of Constable, who got his car going again. But when Wrigley was given a five-second time penalty for causing a collision with Toriba, he dropped down to fourth behind Constable and 2023 champion Ken Tyrrell in another Tyrrell 011.

“It was great fun”, said Constable. “We had a great dingding and I managed to get past Mike, he got back past me. I could catch him in sector three and then he pulled away on the straight, and then I caught him again but not quite enough to get past. And then with the backmarker, you couldn’t tell if he was going to go right or left. So Mike decided he was going to go left, so I had to decide he was going to go right, because it was my opportunity to get past Mike. And he just stayed in the middle! And then as we came around the corner, there was nowhere to go, so I had to go outside of the track. As I put my foot down, the car came round, and then poor Werner managed to sort of park it next to me. I kept the engine running and got it going again! Matt got past, but then he had a penalty, so I ended up in the same position…”

“Pretty unexpected”, said Tyrrell. “It took a little bit of problems and issues for others, but happy to be there. Anything can happen in racing. Obviously, we had some challenges in qualifying, but I’m thrilled to be participating and to finish as well as we did against some great competition.”

The guesting André Lotterer harried d’Ansembourg for the lead while handsomely leading the pre-78 class in the Hesketh 308, but the WEC sportscar star was forced to retire the Hesketh with a broken gearbox on lap 5. This handed the class lead to Patrick d’Aubreby who eventually finished a strong ninth to claim class honours ahead of an emerging Peter Williams (Lec CRP1), who fought his way up past several rivals to pip Guillaume Roman’s Ensign N175 to second in class. Meanwhile, Valerio Leone (Arrows A6) starred by claiming eighth overall and the post-82 class win from James Hagan (Tyrrell 011B) in 11th and ‘Mr John of B’ (Ligier JS21), the latter surging through the field to finish 15th.

“Yes, I had a good race!”, said d’Aubreby before realising he had in fact won the class.

“I was helped by a few incidents along the way”, said Williams who passed a lot of cars on his way to second in class. “It was very eventful, but I kept out of trouble.”

“I’m quite happy because the engine was not working very well”, said Roman. “So I had to be patient during the race and manage the car, but it was nice. It’s a great pleasure to be third.”

Following a grand line-up of former and current Grand Prix stars, including Alain Prost, René Arnoux, Jean Alesi, Jacques Villeneuve and Charles Leclerc, the headline show of the first race day of the Grand Prix de France Historique was about to get underway. In overcast conditions, with a small threat of rain, Werner d’Ansembourg lined up on pole in the Brabham BT49C, with the guesting André Lotterer producing a shock qualifying result by putting his pre-78 Hesketh 308 on the front row. Mike Cantillon’s Williams FW07C and Jamie Constable’s Tyrrell 011 occupied the second row, with Ken Tyrrell and Yutaka Toriba mirroring that their respective 011 and FW07C on row three, as Soheil Ayari had forsaken his Ligier JS21 to ‘Mr John of B’ after his fellow Frenchman was forced to withdraw his Matra-engined JS17, robbing the crowd of engine variety. The JS21 would start from the back.

Reigning champion Matthew Wrigley was seventh in another 011, with the debuting Dan Eagling sitting next to him in a Fittipaldi F8B. Warren Briggs, who had qualified well up in his McLaren M29, and Christophe d’Ansembourg’s FW07C completed the first five rows. Behind Valerio Leone’s post-82 class-leading Arrows A6, series rookie Dan Gore was 12th in the ex-Mike Cantillon Tyrrell 010, with Lotterer’s first pre-78 rivals Patrick d’Aubreby (March 761) and Guillaume Roman (Ensign N175) lining up in 13th and 15th respectively. Sadly missing from the grid was Olivier Hart, whose Shadow DN8 had suffered from a poorly engine in practice and qualifying, and was withdrawn as a consequence. With Friday having already taken its toll on a circuit heavy on engines, 32 cars from the 37 originally entered were ready to start their first Masters Racing Legends race of the 2025 season.

After a short delay because of crowd-control issues following the grid walk, d’Ansembourg (W.) led away from Lotterer, but the young Belgian wasn’t getting away. Lotterer pushed him through the first lap, with Constable nicking third from Cantillon behind the leading pair. Another group of four formed with Tyrrell leading Toriba, Wrigley and Eagling, with d’Ansembourg (C.), Briggs and Gore emerging as the third battle. Leone led the post-82 class while d’Aubreby and Roman were second and third in the pre-78 class.

On lap 2, however, the safety car was out as Mark Higson’s McLaren MP4/1B and Laurent Fort in the Ensign N180B went missing into one of the gravel traps. The cars were quickly removed from their dangerous position, allowing the race to restart on lap 3. At the green, Cantillon got back at Constable while further back Toriba lost out to Wrigley and Eagling. In the pre-78 class, Marco Fumagalli’s Ensign N174 demoted Roman’s similarly HB-liveried Ensign N175 to fourth in class.

Lotterer’s Hesketh, which proved extremely fast on the straights, kept putting the pressure on the young d’Ansembourg, with Cantillon and Constable up next, while Toriba had hit back and now was fifth ahead of Tyrrell, Wrigley and Eagling, while d’Ansembourg Sr attempted to latch on to the group. Briggs was in no man’s land in tenth, while Gore headed another group consisting of Gore, Leone and d’Aubreby.

It was all change at the start of lap 5, though, when Lotterer retired the Hesketh to the pits with a broken gearbox while Cantillon and Constable both nipped past the leader with a double move into the first corner. Behind the new top three, Toriba was setting purple sectors to close in at a rapid rate while dropping Wrigley who in turn had been able to pass Tyrrell. D’Aubreby was the new pre-78 leader now, chased by Fumagalli, with Roman and Peter Williams’ Lec CRP1 seven seconds adrift fighting over third in class.

On lap 7, it was still nip and tuck between Cantillon, Constable and d’Ansembourg, while Wrigley had caught up with Toriba to leave Tyrrell and Eagling fend for themselves. It was two-thirds’ distance now, with still everything to play for. However, on the next lap, Cantillon set a purple first sector to inch away from Constable and d’Ansembourg. Toriba and Wrigley attempted to hang on, while Tyrrell and Eagling were now on their own, as was d’Ansembourg (C.) in eighth. Behind Briggs and Leone.

Then, while lapping Philippe Bonny’s Trojan T103, it all went wrong for Constable and d’Ansembourg, as the Tyrrell spun while going round the outside of the Trojan in the final corner and was hit on the right rear tyre by the Brabham, breaking its front wing. Immediately after, Toriba’s Williams ground to a halt on the main straight following contact with Wrigley, forcing the arrival of the safety car with three minutes remaining on the clock. And as if accidents happen by three at once, Fumagalli also retired his Ensign with engine issues.

As Constable was able to continue after his spin, he was third behind Cantillon and the profiting Wrigley, and in this order they crossed the line behind the safety car, with Tyrrell, Eagling, d’Ansembourg Sr, Briggs and post-82 class winner Leone up next. However, Wrigley was docked five seconds for the contact with Toriba, dropping him off the podium. As a result, Constable was handed back second place, with Ken Tyrrell a fortunate third. In ninth, Patrick d’Aubreby took pre-78 class honours ahead of Williams and Roman in 12th and 13th overall. Behind Gore rounding out the overall top ten, James Hagan’s Tyrrell 011B took second in the post-82 class in 11th, with ‘Mr John of B’ snatching third after a fine comeback race to 15th overall. In 19th overall, Ewen Sergison’s Surtees TS9B won the pre-72 class as its only runner.