Groupes N / GT - Nogaro - Coupe de France des Circuits - 2023

Groupe N BMWs battle it out with the GT cars.  Benoit Belouin leads this group in his BMW E36

       that eventually finished third in Group N.

 The Group N cars and GT cars run together as there are not enough of them to justify two races   However they did provide good entertainment and I got some different pictures as I was at the opposite     end of the circuit for this race.

The start of the race seen from the far end of the circuit at the top of the stands.

Three Porsches in the lead on the first lap.

Some variety down the field with a Chevrolet Corvette C6 leading a Volkswagen Golf TCR driven by Francois Chotard who finished fifth in the GT class.

Eventual winner was Michel Nourry in this Porsche 997 R.

Second was Roland Chotard in this Porsche 991 GT3 Cup 2.

Third was Jacques Caumes in this Porsche 997 GT3 R.

The Corvette of Thomas Favaille finished fourth.

The first of the Groupe N cars was the No.34 BMW M3 E36 driven by Olivier Gillard and the second was BMW M3 No.5 driven by Laurent Sylvestre.

A close battle between two of the GT Groupe cars.  The Mini Challenge R53 JCW finished ninth overall but the Porsche 997 GT3 Cup didn't finish.

John Etherton asserts his copyright to all of the photos on this blogpost.  However, you may post the photos elsewhere on the web as long as you credit the photographer, John Etherton, and this blog post, Rouenlesafx@blogspot.com and provide a link to this page.

John Etherton affirme son droit d'auteur à l'ensemble des photos sur ce billet de blog. Cependant, vous pouvez poster des photos ailleurs sur le web à condition de créditer le photographe, John Etherton, et ce blog, Rouenlesafx@blogspot.com, et de fournir un lien vers cette page.

Top non-BMW in Groupe N was this Renault Megane 3 RS N4 driven by Julien Thibault.

Groupe GT and N competitors go under the Dunlop Bridge that leads from the old pits to the VIP enclosure.

Porsche Rennsport Reunion VI - Flacht Cup

Clay Koevary in his 2000 Porsche GT3R

As a bit of pleasant relief from the older historic Porsches was a race for more modern Porsches such as the recent GT3 cars.  The newest car was from as recent as 2016 whilst the oldest was from 1991. There were a number of well-known drivers competing from various eras and they included Cooper MacNeil, Kévin Estre, Jorg Bergmeister, Johannes Van Overbeek, Anfdew Davis and Jeff Zwart.  About fifty cars were entered of which about 35 started the main race.  This all led to fast and close racing.  In terms of speed they were as fast as the Porsche 962s.

Porsche GT3 cars at the Corkscrew.

The Porsche Rennsport Reunion is a unique event, that is held once every three or four years, dedicated just to classic and more modern racing Porsches, their drivers and the men and women who made it all possible.    Porsche Rennsport Reunion VI held over four days in September 2018 was again located at Laguna Seca like the last one in 2015.  No surprise as Laguna Seca is in California, which also happens to be the biggest market for Porsche.   This year the event was subtitled The Marque of Champions - a name that speaks for itself.  The event was also part of Porsche's 70th birthday celebrations.

The battle for the lead of the Flacht Cup race.

On the wonderful 2.238 mile Laguna Seca road course, seven groups of Porsche cars raced over the weekend.  The Flacht Cup event was for more modern Porsches such as 964, 993, 996, and 997 GT cars.  Flacht is near Stuttgart and is where Porsche have their Motorsport Centre that produces cars such as these.

Drivers

Kevin Buckler, Kees Nierop, Chad mcQueen, David Murry and Andrew Davis.

A number of Porsche GT drivers from the nineties and after were present as guests of Porsche.  A reminder of their Porsche GT careers is found below:
Kevin Buckler - GT class winner in the Daytona and Le Mans 24 hours of 2002 for Porsche.  Overall winner of the 2003 24 Hours of Daytona in a Porsche 996 GT3 RS.
Kees Nierop - Drove a Porsche 997 GT3 Cup car in the 2010 24 Hours of Daytona.
Chad McQuuen - The only son of Steve McQueen, he drove in the 2003 3 Hours of Daytona in a Porsche 996 GT3R.
David Murry - 1995 SCCA World Challenge Champion in a Porsche 911 Turbo and winner of two races in the 1997 Exxon GT series in a Porsche RSR.
Andrew Davis - Winner of the 2011 Grand Am GT Driver's Championship with Brumos Racing.

A 1994 Porsche 964 Bi-Turbo about to be lapped by the leader.

The Race
The cars are presented below in the order they finished in the main race.  Unfortunately, I did not stay for the main race and thus the pictures are from the excellent qualifying race on Saturday and Sunday's warm up.

Jorg Bergmeister won in this 2012 Porsche GT3 RSR.  He he leads the similar coloured second place car at the Corkscrew in Saturday's Qualifying Race.

Frenchman Kévin Estre was second in this 2010 Porsche GT3 RSR.

Cooper MacNeil was third in the 2016 WeatherTech Porsche GT3R.

Fourth was this 2008 Porsche 911RSR of Ernie Francis Jnr.

This 2016 Porsche GT3R driven by David Calvert-Jones was fifth.

Sixth was David Donner in a 2012 Porsche 997 GT3R.

This 2011 Brumos Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car was seventh driven by Andrew Davis.

Johannes Van Overbeek was ninth in this Flying Lizard 2004 Porsche 996 Cup.

Tenth was 2004 Porsche 911 996 RSR driven by Wade Carter.

A 2012 Porsche RSR driven by Josh Simpson was fourteenth.

A 2008 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car driven by Larry Webster was nineteenth.  Here he is at turn three.

Seen exiting turn four  is Chris frank in a 2000 Porsche GT3R.

1993 Porsche 964 RSR driven by Jeff Lewis.

2004 Porsche 996 GT3 RSR driven by James Sofronas.

Carl Toffelmire in a 1994 Porsche 993 RSR.

Robert Dalrymple in a 2013 Porsche GT3R

A 1991 Porsche 911 GT2 driven by Alex welch into seventeenth place.

Tim pappas in a 2016 Porsche GT3R

Exhibition Cars

2015 IMSA GT Champion, a Porsche 911 RSR.

Jeff Zwart's Pike's Peak car, a Porsche 911 GT2.  It still holds the record for a High Performance Showroom Stock Car.

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John Etherton asserts his copyright to all of the photos on this blogpost.  However, you may post the photos elsewhere on the web as long as you credit the photographer, John Etherton, and this blog post, Rouenlesafx@blogspot.com and provide a link to this page.

John Etherton affirme son droit d'auteur à l'ensemble des photos sur ce billet de blog. Cependant, vous pouvez poster des photos ailleurs sur le web aussi longtemps que vous créditez le photographe, John Etherton, et ce blog, Rouenlesafx@blogspot.com et fournissez un lien vers cette page. 

Porsche traffic at the Corkscrew.