Technical glitches play spoilsport for Akhil Rabindra: Euro GT4

Le Castellet, 30 May 2021: CMR took a commanding one-two victory in the second European GT4 Series race on Sunday afternoon. The #8 Toyota of Antoine Potty and Stephane Lémeret won the race, with the #30 Alpine of Loris Cabirou and Vincent Beltoise taking second place.

Indian racer Akhil Rabindra of Silver Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 team, along with teammate H Conde, had a bad day and could finish only 29th among 41 cars. Earlier too, the duo failed to finish Race 1 and were not classified. On Saturday, they qualified P14. 

Technical Glitches

Akhil Rabindra’s second round performance was marred by technical glitches at the Circuit Paul Ricard. The 24 year old Bengaluru born driver who also is the only Indian at the European GT4 Championships this season finished at P16 in the silver category. Akhil driving an Aston Martin Vantage GT4 for the AGS Events Racing team took to the drivers seat in Race 2 after he and his teammate Hugo Conde had to retire after 16 laps in Race 1 due to engine issues. Akhil is also the only Asian to have made it to the coveted Aston Martin Racing drivers academy in 2021, a feat that he has achieved for the third straight year in a row.

Retire from Race 1 due to Faulty Engine

Akhil & Hugo earlier had to retire due to a faulty engine in Race 1 after having qualified at P14 in the qualifying race. Race 1 saw them completing 16-laps in 38:29.167 minutes. Post this Akhil took the steering in Race 2 scripting an impressive run to finish P15 in the Silver category. Akhil completed Race 2 in 1:01:40.275 minutes on Sunday evening (30th May,2021) at Circuit Paul Ricard to finish at an overall 29th place from a grid of 41 cars.

Rabindra commented, “There’re plenty of opportunities for us to improve and we’ll be working on it. I, personally, have grasped a lot and can’t wait to work on my shortcomings to better my performances for the upcoming races now.”

Stunning start for Jim Pla

Jim Pla in the #87 AKKA ASP Mercedes-AMG took control of the race right at the start from third on the grid, leaving front row starters Gregory Guilvert in the #42 Audi, Antoine Potty in the #8 Toyota and Charlie Fagg in the #23 McLaren behind.

The two Pro-Am drivers were separated by just a couple of seconds and maintained their one-two overall for half of the race, but on lap 14 Antoine Potty managed to put his CMR Toyota in between the Mercedes and the Audi.

Potty maintained a healthy lead over Charlie Fagg and Thijmen Nabuurs in the battle for Silver Cup honours and when the front runners dived into the pits, the gap between the class leader and his pursuers was over seven seconds.

After all teams had completed their mandatory stops the #87 Mercedes-AMG  was still leading, but Stephane Lémeret in the #8 Toyota lapped quicker than Beaubelique and the Belgian driver made a comfortable pass on lap 18.

Two laps later Fabien Michal in the #42 Audi also jumped Beaubelique to take the Pro-Am lead. In the meantime Vincent Beltoise in the #30 CMR Alpine passed Jop Rappange in the V8 Racing Chevrolet to take second in Silver. On the penultimate lap Beltoise overtook Michal, but time had run out for Beltoise to try and catch his team mate and challenge him for the race win.

Stephane Lémeret crossed the line 2.682s clear of Vincent Beltoise, ensuring a CMR one-two on home soil and the second outright victory of the Toyota GR Supra GT4 in the GT4 European Series. The #17 V8 Racing Camaro of Thijmen Nabuurs and Jop Rappange completed the Silver Cup podium finishing fourth on the road.

Saintéloc Racing claimed its second Pro-Am victory at Circuit Paul Ricard with Fabien Michal and Gregory Guilvert ultimately finishing third overall in the #42 Audi. The #87 AKKA ASP Mercedes-AMG of Jim Pla and Jean-Luc Beaubelique ended the race second in class, finishing fifth overall, while the #5 Team Speedcar Audi of Hodier and Courroye took the final Pro-Am podium spot.

Hodier finished just 0.293s clear of the #34 Selleslagh Racing Team Mercedes-AMG of Bosco and Muth, with the #718 Centri Porsche Ticino car of Jacoma and Busnelli completing the Pro-Am top five.

The battle for Am honours went down to the wire. Christophe Hamon and Michael Blanchemain won the race after Hamon took the lead from the #3 CMR Toyota of Benezet and Cazalbon just four minutes from the end. The #89 AGS Events Aston Martin of Gomar and Herr finished in third place, with Gomar passing the #50 W&D Racing Team BMW of Meloni and Tresoldi right at the end of the race.

The next round of the GT4 European Series will be held at Zandvoort on June 18-20. The series will support the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS Sprint Cup in the Netherlands. The two one-hour races at Zandvoort will be held on Sunday.

Note: The article was updated on May 31.