Showing posts with label Blancpain Endurance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Blancpain Endurance. Show all posts

Friday, 30 September 2022

Angelique Detavernier

 


Angélique Detavernier is an endurance racing specialist from Belgium.

Although she has been involved in motorsport from a young age, including as a driver manager, she only began racing in 2013 after winning a karting competition. She first raced in the VW Fun Cup in Belgium. 

For most of 2014, she raced a Porsche 997 GT3 Cup, mainly in the Dutch Supercar Challenge. Her best results were two third places in the GTB class, at Zolder and Assen. In the same car, she was fourth in the Zolder 24 Hours, with Miguel Vandereyt, Frederic Vervisch, Louis-Philippe Soenen, Francois Bouillon and Patrick van Glabeke. 

As well as the Porsche, she raced a Maserati in the Maserati Trofeo, finishing tenth at Spa and fourteenth at Abu Dhabi. She also returned to the Fun Cup and managed a pole position. 

In 2015, she had a second try at the Zolder 24 Hours in a Porsche 997. Driving as part of a four-driver team, she was 24th, and third in class. She was slated to enter the European rounds of the Maserati Trofeo this year and contested the Paul Ricard and Red Bull Ring rounds. Her best result was a twelfth place at Paul Ricard. At some point, she did some more Fun Cup racing, starting once from pole, and at least one Supercar Challenge race. 

Her third Zolder 24 Hours in 2016 gave her a debut top ten: a seventh place in a Porsche. In another two firsts, she raced an Audi R8 LMS in a couple of VdeV races and a Mercedes AMG in the Nurburgring round of the Blancpain Endurance Series. She was also third in a Fun Cup race in Dubai, 

In 2017 she did another couple of Blancpain Endurance races, driving an Audi R8 LMS. She was fourteenth in one GT Sports Club race at Spa, and did not finish the other. 

She had another guest outing in the car in 2018, again at Spa, in the 24H Series. She and her team-mates were eleventh in their class. This was in addition to a strong season in the GT Sports Club series, driving a Ferrari 488 rather than the Audi. She was eighth in the championship with a best finish of fourth, at the Hungaroring.

Having proved herself as a driver, there were more major races in different cars for her in 2019, firstly driving an AMG Mercedes GT4 in the Blancpain Endurance Series and the European GT4 Challenge. She was second in class at Zandvoort in the GT4 Series and third in class at the Nurburgring. She also did one Blancpain race in a Boutsen-Ginion BMW M6, finishing 22nd overall and fourth in class, and another in a Lamborghini Huracan. This time, she was fifth and tenth overall at Circuit de Catalunya.  

The worldwide coronavirus crisis curtailed motorsport severely in 2020 and Angelique did not race. In 2021, she added another string to her bow, doing three out of seven rounds of the Belcar championship in a Norma prototype and finishing third at Hockenheim and Zolder. 

Her focus switched from Belgium to France in 2022, racing a GT4-spec Audi R8 LMS in the FFSA GT championship. Her best result was a third place in the Am class at Magny-Cours. Her team-mate was Sebastien Rambaud.

She stuck with prototypes in France for 2023, racing in the Wolf Thunder Series and scoring at least one podium. Moving to Italy, she competed in the Italian Sport Prototype Cup in 2024, driving an Aprilia-engined Wolf. Hert best finish from four races was a fifth place at Monza. 

She is better-known as a model and was previously in a relationship with Formula E driver Stoffel Vandoorne.


(Image copyright Angelique Detavernier)

Sunday, 23 June 2019

Naomi Ran Zhang


Naomi Ran Zhang is a Chinese driver who has been active since at least 2009 and is currently racing GTs in Asia.

Her Chinese name is Ran Zhang, but she uses the Western name Naomi.

She has been showing her versatility since her first year, when she raced in the Clio Cup and Asian GT Masters. Driving a Ferrari 360 Modena in the GT Masters, she won Class B, with one victory.

The following year, she tried single-seaters, in the form of Asian Formula Renault, but was not as fast, and only finished 17th at the end of the season. Her best finishes were two eighth places, at Zhuhai.

In 2011, she kept her options open, with guest appearances in the China GT Challenge, in the Ferrari, and the Volkswagen Scirocco-R Cup. However, her main focus was Formula Pilota in China. She was 24th overall after a part-season, one of four women who entered that year.

From 2012, she concentrated on the Audi R8 LMS Cup in China. In 2013, she got into the top ten once - a ninth place at Ordos. She was 20th overall, after finishing 25th in 2012.

A break from motorsport followed.

More recently, she has been active in the Blancpain Endurance Series. Her first race in the Blancpain championship was in a Mercedes AMG GT4 run by Craft-Bamboo Racing, shared with Diana Rosario. They were fourth and sixth at Ningbo in 2018.

She raced in Europe for the first time that year, taking the wheel of a familiar Audi R8 LMS Cup car at the Nurburgring. A large number of Asian LMS Cup drivers came over for the two races, in which Naomi was twelfth and thirteenth.

In 2019, she joined up with the iRace team, sharing a similar Mercedes with Alan Yeo at Sepang and finishing fifth in the GT4 class twice.

At the age of 35, she also returned to single-seater racing in 2019, driving for KRC in the Asian Formula Renault series. She was tenth and ninth in the Pro class in her two races at Zhuhai in March.

(Image from www.gt-world-challenge-asia.com)

Sunday, 9 August 2015

Female Drivers in the Spa 24 Hours, 2001-present


A victorious Lilian Bryner and her Care Racing team-mates in 2004

After 2000, the Spa 24 Hours became a race for sports and GT cars. It was part of the FIA GT Championship from 2001 until the series' demise in 2009. After one year as part of the FIA GT2 European Cup, it was picked up by the Blancpain Endurance Series.
Women drivers have continued to play an important role, none more so than Lilian Bryner, who became the first female winner in 2004. In recent years, the number of female entrants has declined, but this may change in the future. Parts 1 and 2 of this list are here.

2001
Vanina Ickx/Xavier Pompidou/Christophe Tinseau/Tim Verbergt (Porsche 996 GT3-RS) – DNF

2002
Sylvie Delcour/Philippe Tollenaire/Loic Deman (Porsche 996 GT3-Cup) – 21st
Fanny Duchateau/Jean-François Hemroulle/Jeffrey van Hooydonk (Vertigo Streiff) – 26th
Vanina Ickx/Renaud Kuppens/David Saelens (Gillet Vertigo Streiff) – DNF
Lilian Bryner/Marco Zadra/Andrea Piccini/Jean-Denis Déletraz (Ferrari 550 Maranello) – disqualified

2003
Lilian Bryner/Enzo Calderari/Fabrizio Gollin/Luca Capellari (Ferrari 550 Maranello) – 2nd (1st in GT class)
Sylvie Delcour/Loic Deman/Peter Scharmarch/Christian Land (Porsche 996 GT3 Cup) – 12th (1st in Class G3)
Vanina Ickx/Jean-Luc Blanchemain/Stefano Zonca/Pertti Kuismanen (Chrysler Viper GTS-R) – DNF
Paula Cook/Jacques Laffite/Neil Cunningham (Morgan Aero 8) – DNF

2004
Lilian Bryner/Enzo Calderari/Luca Capellari/Fabrizio Gollin (Ferrari 550 Maranello) – 1st
Vanina Ickx/ Jean-François Hemroulle/Peter Wyss (Porsche 996 GT3 Cup) – 10th
Liz Halliday/Moreno Soli/Franco Groppi/Luigi Moccia (Porsche 996 GT3 Cup RSR) – 14th
Sylvie Delcour/Lino Pecoraro/Philippe Ménage/José Close (Lotus Elise) – N/C
Fanny Duchateau/Loic Deman/Marc Duez/Stéphane Lémeret (Chrysler Viper GTS-R) – DNF

2005
Lilian Bryner/Enzo Calderari/Steve Zacchia/Frédéric Bouvy (Ferrari 550 Maranello GTS) – 4th
Vanina Ickx/ Jean-François Hemroulle/Heinz-Josef Bermes/Helmut Reis (Porsche 911 GT3) – DNF
Liz Halliday/Justin Keen/Bobby Verdon-Roe/Jens Møller (Lister Storm GT) – DNF
Sylvie Delcour/Jérôme d’Ambrosio/Renaud Kuppens/Bas Leinders (Gillet Vertigo Streiff) – DNF

2007
Sarah Bovy/Bas Leinders/Renaud Kuppens (Giller Vertigo Streiff) – DNF

2008
Catherine Dèsbrueres/Daniel Dèsbrueres/Eric Hélary/Vincent Radermecker (Ferrari F430) – DNF

2011
Claudia Hürtgen/Edward Sandström/Dirk Werner (BMW Z4 GT3) – 2nd

2012
Michela Cerruti/Tom Coronel/Stefano Colombo/Edoardo Liberati (BMW Z4 GT3) – DNF
Sarah Bovy/Marlène Broggi/ Jérôme Thiry/Massimo Vagliani (McLaren MP4-12C) – DNF

2013
Rahel Frey/Matt Halliday/Nikolaus Mayr-Meinhof (Audi R8 LMS) – DNF
Sarah Bovy/Michael Schmetz/Pierre Grivegnée/Bert Redant (Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3) – DNF
Michela Cerruti/Stefano Comandini/Luca Rangoni (BMW Z4 GT3) – DNF
Marlène Broggi/Christophe de Fierlant/Karim Ojjeh/Laurent Pasquali (McLarenMP4-12C) – DNF

2014
Michela Cerruti/Stefano Comandini/Stefano Colombo/Eugenio Amos (BMW Z4 GT3) – 35th
Marlène Broggi/Pierre Hirschi/Philippe Richard/Philippe Bourgeois (Ferrari 458 Italia GT3) – 39th

2016
Michela Cerruti/Loris Spinelli/Cedric Sbirazuolli/Gilles Vannelet (Lamborghini Huracan GT3) - 28th

2017
Sarah Bovy/Giorgio Maggi/Jurgen Krebs/Clement Mateau (Lamborghini Huracan GT3) - 31st

2018
Sarah Bovy/Beniamino Caccia/Andrew Haryanto/Andres Josephsohn (Lamborghini Huracan GT3) - 47th

2019
Christina Nielsen/Richard Heistand/David Fumanelli/Jack Hawksworth (Mercedes-AMG GT3) - 32nd
Angelique Detavernier/Loic Deman/Stephane Lemeret/Marc Duez (Porsche Cup MR) - N/C

2022
Rahel Frey/Michelle Gatting/Sarah Bovy/Doriane Pin (Ferrari 488) - 18th (Gold class win)
Reema Juffali/Tim Muller/George Kurtz/Valentin Pierburg (Mercedes-AMG GT3) - 34th (Bronze class win)
Samantha Tan/Maxime Oosten/Nick Wittmer/Harry Gottsacker (BMW M4 GT3) - 36th

2023
Lilou Wadoux/Louis Machiels/Jef Machiels/Andrea Bertolini (Ferrari 488) - 26th
Reema Juffali/Ralf Aron/Yannick Mettler/Alain Valente (Mercedes-AMG GT3) - DNF
Samantha Tan/Jon Miller/Isaac Tutumlu Lopez/Leonard Weiss (Ferrari 296 GT3) - DNF
Rahel Frey/Michelle Gatting/Sarah Bovy/Doriane Pin (Lamborghini Huracan) - DNF

2024
Lilou Wadoux/Eddie Cheever III/Chris Froggatt/Jonathan Hui (Ferrari F163CE) - 16th

2025
Jessica Hawkins/Antoine Potty/Alexandre Leroy/Rodrigo Almeida (Aston Martin Vantage) - DNF

(Image from http://talkingxena.yuku.com/)