GruppeM - FIA GT Championship - Magny-Cours
FIA GT Championship Round 2

If first and second in GT2 – once again – for the GruppeM Porsches sounds like a predictable result, perhaps it was, but this was by no means a predictable race, and there was tension and excitement throughout all three hours. As looks set to be the pattern for the rest of the season, much of that frisson came courtesy of the fact that the two GruppeM cars are so finely matched, but the addition of the British GT2 entrants added a certain je ne sais quoi to this French round of the FIA GT Championship. Appropriately enough, it was the team’s sole French driver, Emmanuel Collard, who provided the star turn, claiming pole for the #88 car on Saturday, and then following that with a brilliant opening stint in Sunday’s race, that set the foundations for a memorable win.

Collard and co-driver Tim Sugden would probably have led the class from start to finish had it not been for a tenacious wheelnut in the second driver change, which allowed Marc Lieb, driving third stint in the #66, to gain a few seconds in the pitstop. That gave him the lead for a dozen laps, until Collard made the most of lapping a backmarker to regain the advantage . . .but more on that in due course.

The race started at 11:18 under exactly the conditions that everyone had predicted. With temperatures rising to well over 30 degrees this was never going to be a comfortable race for drivers or cars alike, and tyre conditions especially would prove critical. Emmanuel Collard and Marc Lieb would take the start in the two GruppeM Porsches; numbers 88 and 66 respectively. After losing his times from Saturday’s first and faster qualifying session, Lieb would be taking up his position on the grid two rows behind Collard, Shaun Balfe forming the Mosler filling in the GruppeM sandwich. To his immediate right was Kirkaldy in the first of the two Scuderia Ecosse Ferraris, and ahead of him was Harald Becker in the second of the Konrad Saleens. That, at least, was how they lined up on the grid.

By the time the cars came through to cross the line at the end of the formation lap and start the race, Becker had already spun once, although he had managed to regain his place behind Justin Keen in the Lister Storm in time to take the lights. Lieb, however, was already alongside Kirkaldy, and as they powered down the main straight he pulled out enough clear air to be able to tuck in neatly behind Balfe as they swept through Turn One. Before the end of the lap he’d dispensed with the Mosler as well, and when the cars came through to complete that opening tour, it was one-two for the GruppeM Porsches in GT2.

It had been a busy first lap and Collard’s lead was a mere half-second over Lieb. During the next few minutes, however, it would grow steadily – not by much, admittedly, but significantly – and before long Collard was a couple of seconds clear and closing on Becker in the Konrad Saleen. It was not Becker, however, who would play the most significant role in the ensuing laps, but the #20 RAM Racing Saleen just ahead of him. The Polish-entered car had started to issue the occasional puff of smoke from under the rear deck as early as lap two, less than five minutes into the race, but mid-way through the next lap that tell-tale hint would become a full-blown admission of catastrophic failure, as vast clouds of white oil smoke and vapour erupted from the back of the car, directly into the path of the closing pack. The Saleen pulled off into the pits at the end of the lap, never to emerge again, but by that time Becker and ‘Manu’ had already taken the brunt of its emissions. “It caused us all a lot of problems,” said Collard. “He was losing a lot of oil all the time, almost from the start, and then the engine let go completely. I couldn’t see where I was going!” This could have been disastrous so early into the race, for Collard knew he would have to endure a smeary windscreen for the next hour or more. “It’s best to do nothing in a situation like that,” he explained. “You certainly don’t use the wipers – that only makes visibility even worse.” The rest of his stint has to be considered in the light of the fact he’d be viewing the road ahead through a distorting film of oil. Fortunately, “apart from that the car felt very comfortable, perfect in fact,” so he did at least have that much in his favour.

Following close behind, Marc Lieb wasn’t unaffected by the Saleen’s demise, but had other problems to contend with as well, despite that excellent start. “That first lap was probably the best of the whole stint!” he admitted, “but I soon realised I would not be able to go as fast as Manu. The engine had a slight misfire and for some reason I couldn’t use the full revs. Then, when the Saleen blew its engine, my screen was covered in oil too. I could see nothing. It was terrible.” So both GruppeM drivers were viewing life as if through a glass darkly, but we have to take their word for it. To anyone watching from the stands their progress was nothing if not impressive. Shaun Balfe in the Mosler had been keeping well in touch for a handful of laps, but even he was starting to fall away.

Collard was now closing relentlessly upon Becker in the black and yellow Konrad Saleen. This S7 was also smoking a little, although it would persevere to the flag, but being even closer to the unfortunate Max Stanco in the #20 Saleen when she blew, Becker had oil covering almost his entire car. Having already spun once, it was now only a matter of time and circumstance before he did it again. He duly obliged, although not before a few hairy moments for the closely following Frenchman, who had to watch warily as the Saleen slithered broadside through several corners before finally coming to grief. It was lap ten, and both GruppeM drivers were through. “I had been taking care of my tyres for those first laps,” insisted Collard. Yes, well, heaven help the competition when he decides to throw caution to the wind.

Collard and Lieb now found themselves in the open. Their next target, in theory, was the #8 GNM Saleen, but this was now some fifteen seconds ahead and lapping marginally quicker – as befitted a GT1 car. Instead, the two GruppeM team-mates found themselves racing each other, while also having to cope with lapping the slowest cars. It was nip and tuck, with the gap rarely varying more by than a second, and typically standing at about four-tenths. That was until they came upon Ian Khan in the #75 Porsche GT2, who proved a little harder to pass than perhaps his pace might suggest. Collard got through cleanly, but Lieb was baulked just enough to lose a couple of seconds, and that was all Collard needed to pull free. Relieved of Lieb’s constant presence in his rear-view mirrors, he was now able to concentrate his mind on the road ahead, and started to pull out a clear lead that grew steadily over the next half hour.

The luckless Ian Khan, however, was about to play an even more significant part in the race. A couple of minutes later, blatting past the pits, he took his normal line into Turn One unaware that the race leader, Christophe Bouchut in the #17 Russian Age Racing Ferrari 550, was lining up to pass. Bouchut, faced by an ever-narrowing gap, cut the apex, taking all four wheels across the grass. Even so, he couldn’t fail to clip the front three-quarters of the Porsche, sending both cars into the gravel. Khan would never return to the track, while the Ferrari sustained a front-right puncture that would cost it a very slow lap and the lead.

As the two GruppeM cars made their way through the traffic, and were also themselves lapped by the GT1 race leader, the gap between them visibly grew. They were also gaining places, not only through pace, but also through the frailty of others. At mid-day, forty minutes gone, the #8 GNM Saleen made an unscheduled early pitstop, and Collard stood eleventh overall, leading GT2 from Lieb (twelfth) by more than ten seconds. That grew to almost fourteen after Lieb came upon Mike Jordan in the Eurotech Porsche #77. The British GT driver is never slow by any means, and today was no exception, despite the fact he was a lap down. “The problem is, we have so much traffic all the way,” clarified Mike Rockenfeller later. “Perhaps if you’re the lead car you have an advantage in situations like that, I don’t know.” Lieb simply found it difficult to find the gap he needed.

Another car finding the traffic difficult was the Emotional Engineering G2 Monaro. Ryan Hooker was spending most of his time staring into his mirrors, and diving off-line to let the faster cars through. The net result was an appalling pick-up of debris, which eventually culminated in a vast ball of rubber flying up from the underside of the car and dislodging part of the bodywork. After trailing the section for a lap, it broke free through turn one, and ended up lying across the racing line – not far from some debris left by Ian Khan’s Porsche. It was enough to bring out the safety car. On the pitwall, the decision was quickly taken to call in both GruppeM cars for an early pitstop.

In the normal schedule of events the #66 car had been due to pit first, and Tim Sugden was barely ready when Manu arrived on the pit apron in the 88. “That was a big panic!” grinned Sugden “I was nowhere near ready. In fact, I was still putting my helmet on when Manu came in.” The two GruppeM cars were among the first to pit, actually making the move even before the Safety Car had picked up the leader. It proved to be a crucial decision, and others who left their pitting to later would pay the consequences. It took the marshals only a couple of minutes to gather up the scattering of debris, so this would be the briefest of safety car periods – barely three laps. Sugden and Mike Rockenfeller were well placed when racing resumed, lying fourth and sixth behind the Safety Car. Bizarrely, Fabio Babini in the leading Masarati was called in for his first pitstop just two laps after the lights went out on the Alfa’s roof. It was a decision that almost certainly cost the Vitaphone team the race.

No such concerns for Sugden and Rockenfeller, who were now perfectly placed to resume their dominance of GT2; Tim (#88) 10th overall, 1st in GT2, and Mike (#66) 11th overall, 2nd in GT2. Marc Lieb, recovering from his hot first stint, admitted that the final stages had been a challenge. “By the end my rear tyres were gone,” he suggested. “We are using a harder compound than the other car, and when the tyres came off the car they looked brand new, but they were giving me no grip.” He also confirmed that the intermittent misfire had been growing more intrusive – as had one of the Vitaphone Maseratis “He nearly put me off the track through the second chicane, round the back of the circuit,” he shrugged. “He came up on the inside and banged into me. I ran wide, across the grass, and picked up a lot of rubbish on the tyres. It took four or five laps to clean them up again.”

For the next hour the two red, white and blue Porsches circulated as if connected by a length of tight elastic. There was never much between them, perhaps a few tenths one lap, and then three or four seconds the next, depending upon how and where they met the traffic. Their margin over the third-placed Scuderia Ecosse Ferrari, Nathan Kinch now in the #83, stood at half a lap and growing steadily. It was a sure-footed performance from both GruppeM drivers, with Tim Sugden just having the edge as the race entered its third hour. Five minutes later, from a deficit of a mere three seconds, Mike Rockenfeller dived into the pitlane. It was an exemplary pitstop – driver change, refuel and tyre swap choreographed to perfection - before Marc Lieb was on his way again towards the chequered flag. No sooner had the sound of his flat six disappeared round the bend into Turn One, than Tim Sugden in the #88 was coming into view at the other end of the pitlane. Quickly to a halt, he leapt out and helped Collard into his belts. Meanwhile the fuel hose was already attached and the tyre crew standing by. The moment the refuellers jumped clear, it was the wheelmen’s turn for action . . .it was almost balletic to watch, and honed to an art.

That was until the rear left wheelnut refused to budge. It was only a moment’s hesitation, maybe as much as four or five seconds, that’s all, but enough to ensure that when Emmanuel Collard accelerated hard out of the pit exit, his first view was of Marc Lieb whipping by at full chat. For the first time since the lights went green at the start, the #88 car was not leading GT2.

Back in the garage, two hot and sweaty drivers were recovering from their copybook stints. “That was all very normal, really,” insisted Tim Sugden between mouthfuls of cold water. “We were running on the softer compound today. I was making an effort to look after them, and they were very, very good, but things were always very close between us out there. How far apart Mike and I were depended entirely on the traffic. Perhaps I could have gone a bit quicker, I don’t know, but I’m happy to leave those two to fight it out to the end now. It’s going to be close!

Mike Rockenfeller also had thoughts for his partner. “It’s now really hard for Marc, despite the fact he’s ahead of Manu. Our car is a little slower perhaps, and he has to fight now for the rest of the race. Maybe he’ll be lucky with the traffic somehow? We’ll have to see.” In then end it would indeed be traffic that determined the change of lead, but that was to prove inconsequential in the light of the sixty-six’s ultimate and rare mechanical problems. For the time being, however, it was a thrilling contest to behold, as Collard stated to rein in his team-mate, the gap narrowing relentlessly, little by little, until the two were nose-to-tail once again. The only difference this time was the order, and the clear dilemma this now posed for the team back on the pitwall. As Rockenfeller had feared, Lieb was clearly not able to maintain the same level of pace that Collard could garner from the #88, yet he was leading the class by rights. “I had a four second lead to begin with, but Manu closed up quite quickly. He was quicker than me, for sure,” admitted Marc. There was no-one else in contention, with Kirkaldy now more than a lap down, so it was a clear fight between the two GruppeM cars all the way to the finish.

With the gap at just three-tenths and half an hour to go, the ultimate decision on what was to happen next rested with Kenny Chen. The GruppeM team-owner had flown in from the Far East the night before and only arrived at the circuit first thing Sunday morning. Jerry Pyman and Steve Bunkhall turned to him to make the call. “It was very difficult for me. Whatever decision I made, one driver was going to be unhappy. We decided to say that the car in front could defend, but not aggressively – no weaving around or deliberate blocking. The second car was obviously very much faster, and once an opening came up, he should take it. If both cars went off, the whole team would be disappointed, so that was what we told the drivers.” Steve Bunkhall was happy with that. “There are no such thing as team orders, but if the second car is faster, then the lead car mustn’t defend too aggressively. That’s only sensible. This is a team effort after all, and we want to win, as a team.”

If Marc Lieb was unhappy with that, you wouldn’t have known, but he still wasn’t about to pull aside for Collard with a cheery wave. “It was really tight between us,” acknowledged Collard later. “I caught up with him in the (Adelaide) hairpin. He went left, and I was able to get inside him for the hairpin. He cut in a bit, and we touched. It wasn’t a hard hit, and there was no damage. He was still in front, but I passed him on the next lap.” That move would be made simpler by traffic. “I had been told not to defend too aggressively,” conceded Lieb. “Then, as we were lapping some slower cars, I got held up going through Turn Two. He was able to pass me early.”

Once through, the Frenchman was able to ease clear quite readily, and the margin grew by almost two seconds a lap. Then, quite suddenly, it was opening out in huge chunks. Lieb had hit a problem. He came on the radio, trying to explain his predicament. “Say again,” said Steve Bunkhall. “Say again!” Twice more the call went out, and twice more Marc tried to explain. Finally, in his frustration, he shouted into the radio: “It’s the engine! It’s ******!!” This time there was no doubt. The message had been received and understood.

In the interim the gap had widened to over fourteen seconds, but both drivers had eased off. Collard’s times were a relatively leisurely one forty-seven or eight, by his standards anyway, but Marc Lieb was struggling. “The problem wasn’t obvious at first. Then I tried to stay behind Manu, but I could see he was pulling away, so I let him go and tried to look after the engine instead.” With a lap in hand over Kirkaldy there was no immediate concern, but with an ailing flat six, his laptimes had slumped towards the mid-fifties. He coaxed it gently through the final half-dozen laps, but made it to the flag despite the loss of at least one cylinder. “I didn’t shift into sixth at all,” he said in the post-race press conference. “The engine was gone, so I was happy just to finish.” Collard, meanwhile, had swept across the line to take a first win of the year for the #88 car, ninth overall.

If Lieb was happy to finish, Kenny Chen was over the moon. He’d flown from one side of the world to the other to see his team complete a second consecutive one-two. “I’m delighted,” he declared, smiling broadly, but still very conscious of the decision he’d been forced to make just half an hour beforehand. “It’s my team, and I see both cars as my cars. I know every driver always wants to go out there and win, but we’re competing as a team. It’s got to be fair, but at the end of the day, decisions like that are never easy to make. We’re here to win the championship, not fight between ourselves.”

If he’d been hoping earlier that Marc could have held on for the win, Mike Rockenfeller was now just glad to have finished second. “It wasn’t easy to get this result,” he said, “With the engine problem, we were really lucky to finish at all, but it’s given us eight very valuable points, and that could make all the difference this season.” As Tim Sugden conceded in the press conference, “it’s going to be a very good fight between the two cars all year,” and every single point could make the difference between clinching the title and ending as runners-up. If that makes for some broadly dismissive predictions from those who should know better, so be it, but if anyone wants to seek out some serious on-track competition they could do no worse than keep an eye on the two GruppeM cars. Yes, it would be nice to see someone else providing a serious challenge, and Kenny Chen would be one of the first to welcome that opportunity, but until there’s a team with the commitment and support of another manufacturer behind it, then anyone looking for purebred racing might as well enjoy and admire these two evenly-matched GruppeM pairings.
Marcus Potts