The 2010 FIA GT1 Paul Ricard round was an auto racing event held at the Paul Ricard HTTT, Le Castellet, France on 2–4 June. The Paul Ricard event was the fourth round of the 2010 FIA GT1 World Championship season. The circuit had previously been utilized by the FIA as a test circuit for all manufacturers as part of FIA GT1's balance of performance, and was also used by the FIA GT Championship in 2009. Support series for the event include the FIA GT3 European Championship, the GT4 European Cup, and the Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo.

Background Success Ballast Entry Ballast No. 5 Matech Competition No. 7 Young Driver AMR No. 13 Phoenix Racing / Carsport No. 23 Sumo Power GT After three rounds of the championship, Romain Grosjean and Thomas Mutsch of Matech once again lead the Drivers Championship for the first time since their victory in Abu Dhabi to start the season. Grosjean and Mutsch lead the Vitaphone pair of Michael Bartels and Andrea Bertolini by twelve points. In the Teams Championship however it is Vitaphone who are on top but are carrying only a four-point margin over Matech. Also, following a fire at Silverstone, Phoenix is once again down to a single Corvette, reducing the series grid to 23. Defending GT1 class race winner Enrique Bernoldi, who won the 2009 FIA GT event in a Corvette, is also part of the 2010 field with Vitaphone Maserati.

Following the previous round in Brno, performance balancing modifications were published by the FIA which affected four manufacturers. The affected four, Corvette, Maserati, Ford, and Aston Martin, all had weight added to their minimum requirement in order to retard their performance potential, with Maserati having the most dramatic change with added to their minimum. Further, the Fords also had their air restrictors reduced in size in order to decrease engine power. In addition to performance balancing weight additions, four teams had success ballast further added following their performances at the Brno round. Brno Championship Racing winners Romain Grosjean and Thomas Mutsch in the No. 5 Matech Ford will carry of ballast for the second time this season, while the No. 7 Young Driver Aston Martin, No. 13 Phoenix Corvette, and No. 23 Sumo Power Nissan are also carrying with ballast.

Qualifying Vitaphone Maserati drivers Michael Bartels and Andrea Bertolini earned their second consecutive pole position in FIA GT1 by setting a lap time over half a second faster than any other competitor in the third qualifying session. Peter Kox and Christopher Haase gave Lamborghini their first front row start in FIA GT1 by taking second.

Qualifying result For qualifying, Driver 1 participates in the first and third sessions while Driver 2 participates in only the second session. The fastest lap for each session is indicated with bold.

Pos No. Driver 1 Team Session 1 Session 2 Session 3 Grid Driver 2 1 1 Andrea Bertolini Vitaphone Racing Team 2:04.189 2:04.469 2:03.511 1 Michael Bartels 2 24 Peter Kox Reiter 2:04.729 2:05.098 2:04.028 2 Christopher Haase 3 23 Michael Krumm Sumo Power GT 2:03.785 2:04.659 2:04.392 3 Peter Dumbreck 4 11 Mike Hezemans Mad-Croc Racing 2:04.716 2:04.139 2:04.438 4 Xavier Maassen 5 22 Warren Hughes Sumo Power GT 2:04.541 2:05.035 2:04.701 5 Jamie Campbell-Walter 6 37 Christophe Bouchut All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport 2:04.543 2:05.053 2:04.993 6 Marc Basseng 7 38 Dominik Schwager All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport 2:05.097 2:05.065 2:05.058 7 Nicky Pastorelli 8 8 Christoffer Nygaard Young Driver AMR 2:05.124 2:05.139 No Time 8 Stefan Mücke 9 33 Altfrid Heger Triple H Team Hegersport 2:05.139 2:05.202 9 Alexandros Margaritis 10 2 Enrique Bernoldi Vitaphone Racing Team 2:04.339 2:05.206 10 Miguel Ramos 11 13 Andrea Piccini Phoenix Racing / Carsport 2:03.924 2:05.360 11 Marc Hennerici 12 34 Matteo Bobbi Triple H Team Hegersport 2:04.383 2:05.664 12 Bert Longin 13 25 Ricardo Zonta Reiter 2:04.187 2:06.058 13 Rafael Daniel 14 6 Olivier Panis Matech Competition 2:04.624 2:06.110 14 Natacha Gachnang 15 5 Romain Grosjean Matech Competition 2:05.102 2:06.414 15 Thomas Mutsch 16 4 Seiji Ara Swiss Racing Team 2:04.945 2:07.320 16 Max Nilsson 17 7 Darren Turner Young Driver AMR 2:05.189 17 Tomáš Enge 18 40 Bas Leinders Marc VDS Racing Team 2:05.262 18 Maxime Martin 19 9 Frédéric Makowiecki Hexis AMR 2:05.330 19 Thomas Accary 20 12 Oliver Gavin Mad-Croc Racing 2:05.334 20 Pertti Kuismanen 21 3 Karl Wendlinger Swiss Racing Team 2:05.387 21 Henri Moser 22 10 Jonathan Hirschi Hexis AMR 2:05.637 22 Clivio Piccione 23 41 Renaud Kuppens Marc VDS Racing Team 2:05.703 23 Markus Palttala

Races

Qualifying race

Race result

Pos No. Team Drivers Manufacturer Laps Time/Retired 1 1 Vitaphone Racing Team Michael Bartels Andrea Bertolini Maserati 27 2 24 Reiter Peter Kox Christopher Haase Lamborghini 27 −5.569 3 22 Sumo Power GT Warren Hughes Jamie Campbell-Walter Nissan 27 −7.798 4 11 Mad-Croc Racing Xavier Maassen Mike Hezemans Corvette 27 −10.639 5 2 Vitaphone Racing Team Miguel Ramos Enrique Bernoldi Maserati 27 −12.821 6 13 Phoenix Racing / Carsport Marc Hennerici Andrea Piccini Corvette 27 −16.527 7 5 Matech Competition Thomas Mutsch Romain Grosjean Ford 27 −31.121 8 33 Triple H Team Hegersport Altfrid Heger Alexandros Margaritis Maserati 27 −35.443 9 23 Sumo Power GT Peter Dumbreck Michael Krumm Nissan 27 −37.236 10 7 Young Driver AMR Tomáš Enge Darren Turner Aston Martin 27 −45.843 11 9 Hexis AMR Frédéric Makowiecki Thomas Accary Aston Martin 27 −46.941 12 4 Swiss Racing Team Max Nilsson Seiji Ara Nissan 27 −50.362 13 25 Reiter Ricardo Zonta Rafael Daniel Lamborghini 27 −59.155 14 34 Triple H Team Hegersport Bert Longin Matteo Bobbi Maserati 27 −1:03.030 15 38 All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport Nicky Pastorelli Dominik Schwager Lamborghini 27 −1:12.297 16 37 All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport Marc Basseng Christophe Bouchut Lamborghini 27 −1:13.153 17 10 Hexis AMR Clivio Piccione Jonathan Hirschi Aston Martin 27 −1:20.561 18 6 Matech Competition Natacha Gachnang Olivier Panis Ford 27 −1:43.947 19 12 Mad-Croc Racing Pertti Kuismanen Oliver Gavin Corvette 27 −1:52.246 20 40 Marc VDS Racing Team Bas Leinders Maxime Martin Ford 27 −2:18.943 21 3 Swiss Racing Team Karl Wendlinger Henri Moser Nissan 26 −1 Lap 22 41 Marc VDS Racing Team Renaud Kuppens Markus Palttala Ford 26 −1 Lap 23DNF 8 Young Driver AMR Stefan Mücke Christoffer Nygaard Aston Martin 5 Retired

Championship Race

Race result Pos No. Team Drivers Manufacturer Laps Time/Retired 1 1 Vitaphone Racing Team Michael Bartels Andrea Bertolini Maserati 28 2 23 Sumo Power GT Peter Dumbreck Michael Krumm Nissan 28 −7.057 3 33 Triple H Team Hegersport Altfrid Heger Alexandros Margaritis Maserati 28 −24.633 4 40 Marc VDS Racing Team Bas Leinders Maxime Martin Ford 28 −26.209 5 13 Phoenix Racing / Carsport Marc Hennerici Andrea Piccini Corvette 28 −29.670 6 11 Mad-Croc Racing Xavier Maassen Mike Hezemans Corvette 28 −35.824 7 5 Matech Competition Thomas Mutsch Romain Grosjean Ford 28 −46.178 8 22 Sumo Power GT Warren Hughes Jamie Campbell-Walter Nissan 28 −54.364 9 9 Hexis AMR Frédéric Makowiecki Thomas Accary Aston Martin 28 −56.699 10 25 Reiter Ricardo Zonta Rafael Daniel Lamborghini 28 −57.226 11 34 Triple H Team Hegersport Bert Longin Matteo Bobbi Maserati 28 −1:04.943 12 38 All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport Nicky Pastorelli Dominik Schwager Lamborghini 28 −1:05.405 13 10 Hexis AMR Clivio Piccione Jonathan Hirschi Aston Martin 28 −1:11.342 14 41 Marc VDS Racing Team Renaud Kuppens Markus Palttala Ford 28 −1:14.776 15 3 Swiss Racing Team Karl Wendlinger Henri Moser Nissan 28 −1:17.780 16 7 Young Driver AMR Tomáš Enge Darren Turner Aston Martin 28 −1:23.897 17 37 All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport Marc Basseng Christophe Bouchut Lamborghini 28 −1:26.100 18 24 Reiter Peter Kox Christopher Haase Lamborghini 28 −1:47.230 19 12 Mad-Croc Racing Pertti Kuismanen Oliver Gavin Corvette 28 −1:47.240 20 8 Young Driver AMR Stefan Mücke Christoffer Nygaard Aston Martin 28 −1:53.704 21DNF 6 Matech Competition Natacha Gachnang Olivier Panis Ford 17 Retired 22DNF 2 Vitaphone Racing Team Miguel Ramos Enrique Bernoldi Maserati 10 Retired 23DNF 4 Swiss Racing Team Max Nilsson Seiji Ara Nissan 9 Retired

References

External links Paul Ricard GT1 Race in France – FIA GT1 World Championship