Picture: Kevin Pecks/ORS
Jules Gounon felt he and his Akkodis ASP co-drivers “did not have the playing cards in hand” for a lot of the season finale of the Fanatec GT World Problem Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup, the place they clinched the title regardless of end behind their competitor. .
Gounon, Raffaele Marciello and Daniel Juncadella took fifth place within the 3 Hours of Barcelona to safe the Endurance Cup two factors away from Iron Lynx Ferrari driver Antonio Fuoco, who completed second.
After the race, Gounon defined that it was a troublesome and generally nervous Sunday afternoon for the Akkodis ASP crew, who ended up counting on Fuoco’s Ferrari to not win the race regardless of the beginning of the weekend. -end with an 11-point lead over the Italian.
In racing, the #71 2020 Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo appeared faster than the Mercedes-AMG and was solely denied a race and a successful place when Dinamic Motorsport used an undercut technique to push forward. his Porsche 911 GT3 R within the last pit. cease.
Marciello then made a robust last stint to safe fifth place and the title for ASP. The workforce later revealed that they had simply seconds to spare earlier than reaching the 65-minute most stint, following a late puncture for Gounon.
Something over 65 minutes would have put ASP beneath investigation for a penalty, threatening the 2 positions they wanted to safe the championship.
“I believe we had been very fortunate at the moment, with Spa as a reminder,” Gounon stated, referring to the backside bracket downside which practically jeopardized ASP’s victory on the TotalEnergies 24 Hours of Spa.
“The final three laps of my stint had been marked by a sluggish puncture, and within the final lap the stress went as much as 0.80 bar, so it was actually troublesome to not have a tire deflation. It was fairly irritating.
“Then we needed to wait within the pit lane to make certain that Lello [Marciello] may full the final stint in driving time.
“Ultimately, we did not have the playing cards in hand. We had been simply hoping for a Porsche to win, which is uncommon for us.
“It has been a implausible season for the workforce, to win Spa and the drivers’ and groups’ endurance title – and Lello general – is one thing actually unimaginable that we ought to be cheering on.”
Marciello added that though Akkodis ASP has not all the time had the quickest automobile within the Endurance Cup this season, its potential to persistently ship excessive factors was essential for the title win.
The #88 Mercedes-AMG completed second within the 3 Hours of Imola, third within the Paul Ricard 1000km and gained the 24 Hours of Spa, whereas its electrical retirement from the three Hours of Hockenheim was overturned by an accident for Ferrari n°71.
“It was an excellent season,” Marciello stated.
“In Endurance, we had just a little extra bother when it comes to velocity. At Imola, Paul Ricard and Hockenheim we weren’t the quickest automobile, however we did not make any errors.
“Akkodis had an unimaginable season. For a very long time, we had been all the time near doing effectively and successful, so every part went effectively: Bathurst for Jules, Kyalami for us, and now this.
Policand: “stability” key for the promotion of motorsport
Akkodis ASP, led by Jérôme Policand’s Auto Sport Promotion workforce, gained its first general title in GTWC Europe after being a sequence common since season one in 2011.
Policand advised Sportscar365 that constructing a robust group of loyal individuals who caught collectively over an extended time frame was a key a part of the workforce’s eventual title triumph.
“It is one thing I all the time need [develop] in my workforce: having the best individuals to push the drivers, the engineers – even me – to enhance,” he stated.
“I created the workforce 20 years in the past as races the workforce and the individuals I labored with for a number of years, even the driving force line-up.
“I have been working with Lello for seven years… Jules began with us in GT3 in 2017 and got here again final yr.
“For me, the bottom line is stability. It is not nearly having the very best riders, tools and engineers.
“It is a workforce effort and generally issues get simpler when the individuals; you may go into particulars. And on the finish, there are the outcomes.
