The 2 Tours d’Horloge, the world’s only 24-hour race for historic cars, gets under way today (Saturday 7 November) at 4pm local time (3 p.m. UK), with the No.55 Chevron B19 prototype on pole position. The race will be streamed live on YouTube.
Stippler untouchable
A traditional end-of-season fixture, the 2 Tours d’Horloge takes place this weekend at Circuit Paul Ricard. The first highlight came on Friday evening with qualifying, held after dark on a track still damp from earlier showers. Frank Stippler set the pace from the opening minutes, then bettered his own time in the closing seconds of the 90-minute session with a lap of 2:13.836. At the wheel of the Côtes du Rhône Racing Team’s No.55 Chevron B19, which he shares with Alexander Furiani and François Rivaz, the German will be looking to go one better after finishing runner-up last year.
Marc de Siebenthal qualified second in the No.61 KMW Porsche SP30, winner of the 1000km of Navarra earlier this season, while Christian Vaglio-Giors took third in the No.28 Chevron B16.
The class pole positions went to the No.46 Porsche 964 Cup of 2B Autosport in Grand Touring and the No.183 BMW 635 CSi of Châteaux Sport Auto in Touring.
Frank Stippler, driver of the no.55 Chevron B19: “The car was balanced nicely, so I can’t complain about the performance, but we still have some gearbox issues. It’s not the best start for the 24 hours! In fact, we rebuilt the gearbox for the big one, and it is kind of stiff and not very precise, which is exhausting for the arm. The mechanics are going to open the gearbox again to see what’s going on, and we hope that we will find the cause. Otherwise, it will be quite exhausting to drive, and I doubt that the gearbox will last. The car is obviously quick, but we need to survive. The main target is to get the right rhythm and to stay in the race… without too many pit stops.”
Juju Noda wins
Three support races have already taken place today in wet conditions. Guillaume Mahé won the first ASAVE Racing 65 race in a Shelby Cobra Daytona, while Jean-Jacques and Johan Renaut took the ASAVE Racing 76 race in a Porsche 911 3.0 RS. There was no shortage of entertainment in the opening BOSS GP race, Europe’s fastest racing series: Japanese driver Juju Noda, 20, took the win in a Dallara World Series V8 T12 Evo, ahead of a field that included Ingo Gerstl in the Toro Rosso STR1 Formula 1 car, powered by a 3.0-litre Cosworth V10. The second BOSS GP race follows later today, on a dry track.
Live on YouTube From 3:00 pm (UK)
The 2 Tours d’Horloge gets under way today at 3pm UK time, with Romain Dumas, who has won the 24 Hours of Le Mans twice, as official starter. The pre-race programme promises plenty of action, with a retrospective of Alpine and Renault’s endurance racing history presented by The Originals Renault – La Collection. Victor Jabouille will drive a 1978 Renault Alpine A443, Stéphane Ortelli a 1974 Renault Alpine A441 and Alain Serpaggi a 1965 Alpine M65. The race proper will be preceded by a traditional, ceremonial Le Mans-style start, with drivers sprinting across the track to reach their cars. The 2 Tours d’Horloge can be followed live on V de V Sports’ YouTube channel.
