The competitors were eager to get back into action today at Navarra. And with good reason: 160 days had passed since the last V de V Sports race, the 2 Tours d’Horloge held last November. Everyone was rewarded for their patience with an 8‑hour endurance race – a very rare format in historic racing – contested by crews of two, three or four drivers. At the end of a wild race, Marc de Siebenthal and Jean‑André Collard claimed victory with the original KMW SP 30 Porsche, marking its very first win in competition, across all eras!
The day after a qualifying session marked by pole position for the exotic KMW Porsche no. 61, tension rises another notch as the cars are lined up in staggered formation on the pit straight. There is still time to finalize strategies, while keeping a close eye on a highly uncertain weather forecast.
A trio breaks away right from the start, given at 12:30 p.m. on a dry track: Marc de Siebenthal in the KMW Porsche no. 61, Romain Belleteste in the Chevron B16 Bi‑Rotor no. 48, and Benjamin Monnay in the Chevron B16 no. 84. Belleteste and Monnay swap positions several times, before the latter begins to lose ground to his two rivals, conceding an average of one second per lap. On lap 12, Belleteste takes the lead, without managing to pull away from de Siebenthal, who strikes back on lap 21. Both drivers regularly set the fastest lap of the race, closing in on the pole time as fuel loads decrease. After one hour of racing, only two tenths of a second separate them, while Monnay is already nearly 40 seconds behind.
After two hours of racing, the stoppage on track of the Porsche 911 3.0 SC no. 9 brings out the safety car. Daniel Roustan and Jean‑André Collard, who have taken over from their respective teammates in the Chevron B16 Bi‑Rotor no. 48 and the KMW Porsche no. 61, find themselves wheel to wheel once again.
At this stage of the race, everyone is closely monitoring fuel consumption in order to stop at the right moment at one of the Sodifuel fuel pumps, the official Aramco fuel distributor for V de V Sports events. In this respect, the advantage goes to the KMW Porsche, capable of running for two hours without refueling, while the fuel‑hungry Mazda bi‑rotor forces the Chevron B16 to pit every 100 minutes.
Another handicap for the crew of the Chevron no. 48 is that its brake pads must be replaced at mid‑race, whereas those of its rival can last the full 8 hours without change. And as if that were not enough, Daniel Roustan and Romain Belleteste receive three drive‑through penalties for repeatedly exceeding track limits. All of this benefits the Châteaux Sport Auto team, which moves back up to second place with its Chevron no. 84.
The KMW Porsche crew now holds more than a one‑lap lead over its closest rival, but then drama strikes: the car stops in its pit. A mounting for the oil catch tank has broken, and fluid has leaked onto the tires. The car rejoins the race, but now finds itself two laps behind the Chevron.
The race seems decided – but not so fast! In the final hour, the weather intervenes and, against all expectations, the main failure caused by the arrival of rain is not human but mechanical. Moisture seeps into the distributor cap of the leading car, which drops to third place. The KMW regains the lead, while the safety car comes out following the stoppage of the Porsche 944 no. 20. The race is restarted for one final lap, which changes nothing.
Marc de Siebenthal and Jean‑André Collard (KMW Porsche SP 30 no. 61) take the win, ahead of Romain Belleteste and Daniel Roustan (Chevron B16 Bi‑Rotor no. 48). Unlucky in the final minutes, Benjamin Monnay and Augustin Sanjuan (Chevron B16 no. 84) nonetheless secure a place on the podium.
Jean‑André Collard, winner alongside Marc de Siebenthal at the wheel of the KMW Porsche SP 30 no. 61: “Shortly after the rain started, we decided to fit rain tires, and it was the right choice. For a few laps, we were fifteen seconds quicker than those who stayed out. And I must admit, we rather like the rain in Belgium! This is only our second race with this car, after our podium at the 2 Tours d’Horloge in November. This KMW Porsche had never won in period racing; yet it was very competitive in Interserie. Marc de Siebenthal, who prepares the car, is over the moon, as is its owner, my uncle Serge Libens.”
In the category of ‘small’ prototypes under 2 liters, Lionel Vancheri, Florent Cazalot and Maxime Jouvin take victory in the Crosslé 47 S no. 40. In Saloon Car, the win goes to the BMW 323i no. 35 of Éric Wassermann and Charles Veillard. In Grand Touring, Christophe Billot, Nicolas Beloou, Jean‑Bernard Bouvet and Franck Hardonniere prevail in the Porsche 964 no. 66. Finally, in Touring, the BMW 635 Gr.A no. 12 driven by Anthony Schrauwen and Tom Cloet claims first place.
The winners were presented with Depancel watches, Allure and D\[r]iver Black models. The French brand, partner of V de V Sports, will soon produce a special series dedicated to the 2 Tours d’Horloge. The trophies awarded to the winners came from the Fabrique du Chat Noir: a monumental engraved plaque, entirely handmade by Corentin du Chatnoir in his workshop at Les Garennes‑sur‑Loire, near Angers. Finally, Benson & Cherry, official outfitter of V de V Sports, also treated the competitors by offering each of them a polo shirt.
Beyond the sporting aspect, the Spanish meeting was, as always with V de V Sports, placed under the banner of conviviality, illustrated by the giant paella organized on Friday evening, which brought together drivers, mechanics, marshals and officials.
The next rendezvous is scheduled for November 6, 7 and 8 at the Paul Ricard circuit, for the 2 Tours d’Horloge, the only 24‑hour race in the world entirely dedicated to historic vehicles. In the meantime, you can follow our news on Facebook Facebook and Instagram, with exciting announcements to come…
Race 2
The competitors had clearly learned the lessons of the previous day, particularly in the very tricky Turn 17, and no penalties were handed out this time for exceeding track limits. The tireless Damien Kohler, who had won the ASAVE 76 race a few minutes earlier, was less fortunate at the wheel of his Lotus Elan and was forced to retire. Victory ultimately went to another Lotus Elan, no. 26, driven by Patrick Chalendard. Worth noting is the superb third place of the venerable Austin Healey BJ2 no. 161, a 1959 car shared by Serge Libens and Jean‑André Collard. A final tip of the hat to Dominique Jouvin, who took his small Mini no. 111 to the top of the Touring category and achieved a remarkable fourth place overall.
After an excellent start, Florian Zavattin managed to keep up with the pace set by Damien Kohler during the opening laps. Then, notably due to tire wear, the driver of the Ford Escort no. 24 gradually lost ground to the Ford GT40 no. 16. Behind this leading duo, Jean‑Jacques Renaut seemed well on his way to securing another podium after yesterday’s result, but a minor mechanical issue forced an unscheduled stop. His son Johan, who took over at the wheel of the Porsche 911 3.0 RSR no. 17, set excellent lap times, but the delay was too great to hope to catch the Porsche 2.5 ST no. 161 of Vincent Jimenez. In the Touring category, behind Florian Zavattin, Christophe Lambert and Jérôme Lesieur claimed second place in their Alfa Romeo Giulia GT no. 176, despite two spins.
As on the previous day, Nicolas Beloou (no. 12), Dominique Vulliez (no. 36) and Florent Cazalot (no. 11) engaged in a superb battle. Taking advantage of the slipstream on the circuit’s two long straights, they swapped positions lap after lap. Winner yesterday, Cazalot had to settle for third place this time. Between Beloou and Vulliez, the decision came in the penultimate lap, when Beloou made his move.
