Sunday, August 30, Le Castellet. DHG Racing looks back on an eventful Dix Mille Tours weekend at Circuit Paul Ricard, with strong performances, technical setbacks and great successes. The Ferrari F430 GTC Evo delivered a convincing victory and a podium finish, while Bram secured an impressive P2 in qualifying with the Ford Mustang 289. Despite several early retirements, the win provided a strong finish to the weekend.
Thursday: Strong preparation for a versatile race weekend
The weekend already started on Thursday with the test day, where extensive testing was carried out with the weekend’s lineup: the Iso Grifo 5300 GT (Bizzarrini), the Shelby Cobra 289, the Ferrari F430 GTC Evo, the Ferrari 512 M and the Ford Mustang 289. The Lola T92/10 was also brought out of the stable for a successful test day.
Friday: Strong start with competitive qualifying sessions
On Friday, the first official sessions and qualifying sessions got underway. With the Ferrari F430 GTC Evo, Olivier set the fastest time in both qualifying sessions. As the result was determined based on the average times of David & Olivier, the Ferrari ultimately qualified in P4.
Olivier also showed strong pace with the Bizzarrini. He set the fastest time, 1.1 seconds quicker than the rest of the field. However, that lap was deleted, meaning David & Olivier had to start from P5. The Cobra 289 of Nicky and Bram qualified in P9.
Saturday: Podium for the F430 GTC Evo
Two more qualifying sessions were scheduled for Saturday morning. Bram set the fastest time of the session with the Mustang, initially securing pole position. Bram then nobly admitted that he had exceeded track limits during the lap, dropping him back to P2. The Ferrari 512 M of David & Olivier encountered brake problems during qualifying and qualified in P16.
The first races then got underway in the afternoon. First up was the Ferrari F430 GTC Evo, with David & Olivier behind the wheel in Endurance Racing Legends 2. After David’s first stint, Olivier took over. He completed his entire stint without power steering and even set the fastest lap of the entire weekend on his final lap. The Ferrari crossed the finish line in P3, but after the race, the second-placed car received a penalty, promoting David & Olivier to P2. A hard-fought podium finish.
In the evening, it was time for the Bizzarrini and Cobra 289 to take on the two-hour Sixties’ Endurance race. Despite a strong start from both cars, it turned into an unfortunate race: both the Cobra 289 with Bram and Nicky Pastorelli and the Bizzarrini with David & Olivier were forced to retire early.
Sunday: Strong performances and a fantastic finale
Sunday morning proved less fortunate. Both Bram with the Mustang and David & Olivier with the Ferrari 512 M had the pace to run at the front and fight for a strong result, but both races came to an early end due to bad luck.
That left one final race on the schedule: Race 2 of Endurance Racing Legends 2, with Olivier competing solo in the Ferrari F430 GTC Evo. With the power steering working again, Olivier had one clear objective to finish the weekend on a high: win. And that is exactly what he did. With a gap of more than 20 seconds to the runner-up, Olivier crossed the chequered flag first in front of an enthusiastic crowd. A fantastic way to close out the weekend, followed by Olivier collecting the winner’s trophy.
A weekend of ups and downs, but fortunately it could be wrapped up with a victory. On to the next race, hopefully with even more great results.