It was another great motor sport weekend for Johannesburg’s Cronje brothers, Gavin and Mark. While Gavin, 30, and Belgian co-driver Nico Verdonck were dominating the sixth and final round of the Formula Le Mans Cup for prototype sports cars at Magny-Cours in France, Mark, 31, and co-driver Robert Paisley won the seventh and penultimate round of the Sasol national rally championship in the Western Cape.
Gavin and Verdonck, who clinched the inaugural FLM Cup at Silverstone in England the previous weekend, won two of the three races that made up round six in France in their DAMS entry, taking their tally for the series to a remarkable nine victories in 12 races.
Starting from the front row of the grid in race one, Cronje took the lead on the first lap and was still in front when he handed over to Verdonck. The Belgian went on to win after a heated battle with the Applewood/LD Autosport car of David Zollinger/Damien Toulemonde. Third was the Boutsen Energy Racing combination of Lionel Robert and Dominique Kraihamer.
Cronje showed his mastery of both dry and wet conditions in race two, leading from pole position until he traded seats with Verdonck, who again went on to win. Toulemonde and Zollinger were again a close second, with Johan-Boris Scheier and Gary Chalandon (Boutsen Energy Racing) third.
The track was dry for the third and final race of the final round. Verdonck led at the end of lap one, but on lap 18 the champions’ car suffered its first failure of the season and stopped on the circuit with a broken fuel pump. After four laps behind the safety car the race resumed and Valle Makela and Mathias Beche (Hope Pole Vision Racing) went on to take the final win of the season.
Gavin Cronje: “It was a disappointing end to a great season, but I’m very happy with our performance throughout. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my first experience of prototype sports car racing and hope that next year we can put it to good use in the Le Mans Series and the Le Mans 24 Hours.”
The new monotype (one make) formula, which is aimed at drivers and teams wanting to get started in prototype sports car racing before graduating to the longer endurance races, features a carbon fibre monocoque sports car penned by ORECA and powered by a 6.2-litre V8 engine from General Motors that delivers 321kW (430bhp) and 630Nm of torque.
Cronje, Rotax Max world karting champion in 2001 and a former rookie driver in South Africa’s entry in the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport, is the reigning domestic Formula Volkswagen champion.
STORY COURTESY OF: Peter Burroughes Communications
PICTURES COURTESY OF: GavinCronjeRacing.co.za
