Paul Ricard French Historic Grand Prix 2021

PAUL RICARD

FRENCH HISTORIC GRAND PRIX

11–13 June 2021

Pole was taken by Luxembourg’s Michael Gans driving a Cooper T79, followed by British HGPCA regulars Will Nuthall and Andrew Beaumont in a Cooper T53 and Lotus 18 respectively. It was nice to see a variety of nationalities joining the fun.

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1: #15 Thomas Matzelberger, Cooper T45/51, #248 Klaus Lehr, Maserati 250F, #24 Ingo Strolz, Cooper T51, #25 Francesco Baldanza, Gilby F1 2: #50 Philipp Buhofer, Lotus 24, #40 Andy Willis, Cooper Maserati T51 3: #248 Klaus Lehr, Maserati 250F, #22

Steve Hart, Maserati 250F, #17 Michael

Ganz, Cooper T79 4: #25 Francesco Baldanza, Gilby F1, #14

Michel Baudoin, Cooper T45 5: #6 Julia De Baldanza, Maserati A6GCM, #9 Olivier Huez, Cooper T51, #17 Michael Gans, Cooper T79

The race resumed after a false start, and Gans took advantage of being on pole to lead the first few laps, until stopping with throttle cable problems. This left Nuthall in the lead – a position he held onto until the end of the race.

Germany’s Rudi Friedrichs in his Cooper T53 came through in second, followed by Briton Mark Shaw in a Lotus 21 that was once campaigned by Jim Clark. 6

Race 2

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With the track temperature at 54 °C, a cool Gans flew through from the back of the grid to take the lead after just three laps. He extended his lead to the end, followed by Nuthall (Cooper T53) and Beaumont (Lotus 18). Gans managed the fastest lap a full second faster than Nuthall.

Spanish driver Guillermo Fierro, driving his Maserati 250F, repeated his first race feat of being the first front-engined car home.

6: #10 Will Nuthall, Cooper T53, #12 Rudi Friedrichs, Cooper T53 7: #10 Will Nuthall, Cooper T53 8: #40 Andy Willis, Cooper Maserati T51, #45 Hans Ciers, Cooper T45

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