Monday Pit Stop #9
The Easter weekend is unique in that it's the only time of year when racing also takes place on a Monday: the most famous example probably being the Coupe de Paques, the opening round of the French GT Championship that traditionally takes place at Nogaro. In total, there are seven categories, 19 races, and more than 200 cars taking part.
Easter Monday also hosts the opening round of the British GT Championship, backed by Pirelli, at Oulton Park: a miniature version of the Nürburgring Nordschleife, which plunges through the green English countryside. With a Lamborghini run by Barwell Motorsport taking pole and the win in both races (thanks to Rob and Ricky Collard in Race 1, followed by Alex Martin and Sandy Mitchell in Race 2) the Italian manufacturer has got the GT season off to the best possible start, despite some typically British rain.
On the other side of the world, the weekend started off with the very first Formula E race to be held in Tokyo, aired in the early hours of Saturday morning in Europe. On a bumpy track that ran around the Tokyo Big Sight exhibition centre. Maximilian Guenther brought more success to another Italian brand – this time Maserati – for his first victory of the year, despite coming under pressure late in the race from polesitter Oliver Rowland, who made three good attempts to get past in his Nissan on the final lap. Ex-F1 driver Pascal Wehrlein continues to lead the overall standings for Porsche.
And speaking of Porsche, during the week, four-time F1 world champion Sebastian Vettel had another test in the 963 endurance racer as he weighs up whether or not to have a go at Le Mans this year. The German drove the car – which briefly led Le Mans last year – at Motorland Aragon in Spain, having already put it through its paces at Porsche's own Weissach test track recently, and completed roughly two grand prix distances with no problems, on a similar pace to the factory drivers.
"Of course I also keep an eye on other motorsport disciplines and know many drivers who are active in the WEC and Le Mans,” said Vettel. “At some point, my curiosity was so great that I had the idea of trying it out myself. Driving the Porsche 963 on the track here in Aragon - that was definitely fun. The driving experience is different simply because of the roof over your head, as well as dealing with the higher weight and the tyres. The Porsche works drivers were very helpful and explained to me what was special and what I needed to get used to. That made it easy for me.”
Another traditional Easter event is the Circuit of Ireland Rally, a somewhat diluted version of the traditional race first held in 1931, which was a bit like an Irish Targa Florio: an entire lap of the island, which took place more or less non-stop over the entire four days of Easter. Jimmy McRae, father of Colin, is the record holder, with an incredible seven wins. These days it's more like a normal stage rally, won by Matt Edwards on Pirelli tyres in a Ford Fiesta Rally 2.
In other Ford-related rally news, Jon Armstrong – a former runner-up in the Junior WRC – will undertake a full European Rally Championship factory campaign this year in another Rally 2 Fiesta backed by M-Sport.
However, no rally report from this weekend would be complete without a very special mention about a driver very close to us. By day, Francesco Garosci works in Pirelli's Formula 1 activation department, looking after guests who are experiencing Hot Laps and other activities at various grands prix all around the world. But Francesco has another life – as a rally driver. He had the opportunity of a lifetime to complete on the Safari Rally last weekend, in a two-car team with his father.
At first, it looked like the whole project was in jeopardy due to a homologation issue on his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X. But thankfully Francesco was finally admitted into the national rally that runs alongside the WRC event – where he claimed a podium finish!
