User:SmackJam/sandbox/2020 Tim Hortons' 2 Hours

The 2020 Tim Hortons' 2 Hours was the third round of the 2020 Championnat AXA Alpine season. It took place at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on July 29th, 2020.

The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, where the race was held

Background

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This race was the first held outside of France, the country where the competition and many of its teams operated out of. Therefore, many believed it would be an extreme test of the logistical prowess of the competition, especially with the quick turnaround time from the previous round. Because of the international travel and quick turnaround, many privateer teams in the Production class pulled out of this round, electing to stick with the ones in mainland Europe alone. The race date was announced on the first day of the season, allowing more time for teams to prepare for the race.

Entry list

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The round at Gilles Villeneuve saw the largest entry list of any round yet. A total of 22 cars sat on the grid when the flag dropped, including eight in the LMP class, seven in the GT class, and seven in the Production class. Many low-budget France-based teams declined to participate in this round, including Silvestre, Equipe Vitesse, and Mountain Racing. However, the location drew many American and Canadian entries, as JDC MotorSports added an entry, alongside new entrants with Compass Racing and Multimatic Motorsports, among others.

Qualifying

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As per usual, qualifying was commenced through a random drawing of lots, with entries being seeded by class. The #28 Alpine A430 of TDS Racing drew overall pole, flanked by the championship-leading #36 Signatech Alpine entry. Newcomer Team Speedcar drew the GT class pole, while Starworks Motorsport took class pole in Production. The Production class-leading #85 JDC MotorSports car drew last overall for the second consecutive race.

Qualifying results

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Pole positions in each class are indicated in bold.

Pos. Class No. Entry Driver Time Grid
1 LMP 28 TDS Racing Loïc Duval 1
2 LMP 36 Signatech Alpine Nicolas Lapierre 2
3 LMP 3 Renault DP World Team Guanyu Zhou 3
4 LMP 131 Rebellion Racing Thomas Laurent 4
5 LMP 31 Renault DP World Team Daniel Ricciardo 5
6 LMP 48 IDEC Sport Paul-Loup Chatin 6
7 LMP 55 Multimatic Motorsports Olivier Pla 7
8 LMP 35 Signatech Alpine Pierre Ragues 8
9 GT 88 Team Speedcar Grégoire Demoustier 9
10 GT 13 Compass Racing Kuno Wittmer 10
11 GT 18 Team Prémat Alexandre Prémat 11
12 GT 75 IMSA Performance Patrick Pilet 12
13 GT 23 Panis-Barthez Compétition Julien Canal 13
14 GT 50 Larbre Compétition Erwin Creed 14
15 GT 76 IMSA Performance Jean-Karl Vernay 15
16 PRO 8 Starworks Motorsport Paul Dalla Lana 16
17 PRO 1 Course de Dragon Patrick Ponce 17
18 PRO 92 DGM Racing Alex Labbé 18
19 PRO 46 Graff Racing Tristan Gommendy 19
20 PRO 5 JDC MotorSports Romain Dumas 20
21 PRO 52 OAK Racing Gabriel Aubry 21
22 PRO 85 JDC MotorSports Tristan Vautier 22

Race report

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The race began at 14:00 (2:00 PM) local time, with an unchanged grid as every car passed pre-race inspection without issue. The TDS Racing car which started on pole had lost it by turn one, leaving the chapionship-leading #36 Signatech car to take the early lead. The Course de Dragon team was unable to replace any parts on their 1600S, which meant the car was essentially running its third race in less than a week. As a result, the car failed to run through the gears on the start, holding up a long line of Production cars and having to be wheeled to the garage without working past turn two. The car later returned to the race, but finished fifteen laps off the pace of the leading Production class cars. The GT-class pole-sitter retired with overheating issues after twenty minutes having only completed fifteen laps. After forty minutes, the series' first ever red flag was waved after a serious multi-car accident on the Casino Straight. While attempting to navigate lapped traffic, Loïc Duval misjudged the space between his A450 prototype and the GT4 car of Alexandre Prémat. Duval ran into the back of the grand tourer, causing it to careen across the track into the right rear of Tristan Vautier. Prémat struck the guardrail hard, tearing the front end off the car. Vautier's car spun back across the track, sending both himself and Duval's prototype into the opposite wall. All three drivers were able to walk away from the accident uninjured, although suffice to say the cars did not. This resulted in a 30-minute red flag to clean up the debris and remove the cars from the track. Not long after the green flag was waved once again, the #23 retired with fuel pressure problems. The Compass Racing car, which had jumped into the lead early in the race, held the lead throughout, taking home the GT-class victory. After just over 90 minutes, an oil line failure caused the OAK Racing entry also to retire. The Rebellion car, which took the lead via pit strategy just before the red flag, was able to hold off the Signatech charge and took home the overall victory. The second JDC entry took home the Production class victory, getting by Michael Valiante in the Starworks car on the final lap.

Results

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Pos Class No. Team / Entrant Drivers Chassis / Car Laps Time/Retired
Engine
1 LMP 131   Rebellion Racing   Thomas Laurent
  Nathanaël Berthon
Alpine A470 66 2:00:36:247
Gibson GK428 4.2L V8
2 LMP 36   Signatech Alpine   Nicolas Lapierre
  Pierre Thiriet
Alpine A470 66 +2.451
Gibson GK428 4.2L V8
3 LMP 31   Renault DP World Team   Daniel Ricciardo
  Esteban Ocon
Alpine A470 66 +3.015
Gibson GK428 4.2L V8
4 LMP 55   Multimatic Motorsports   Olivier Pla
  Jean-Éric Vergne
Alpine A470 66 +8.665
Gibson GK428 4.2L V8
5 LMP 35   Signatech Alpine   Pierre Ragues
  Nelson Panciatici
Alpine A470 66 +12.794
Gibson GK428 4.2L V8
6 LMP 3   Renault DP World Team   Guanyu Zhou
  Sergey Sirotkin
Alpine A470 66 +57.450
Gibson GK428 4.2L V8
7 LMP 48   IDEC Sport   Paul-Loup Chatin
  Paul Lafargue
Alpine A450 63 +3 laps
Gibson GK428 4.2L V8
8 GT 13   Compass Racing   Kuno Wittmer
  Kyle Marcelli
Alpine A110 GT4 56 +10 laps
Renault TCe M5P 1.8L I4
9 GT 75   IMSA Performance   Patrick Pilet
  Kévin Estre
Alpine A110 GT4 56 +10 laps
Renault TCe M5P 1.8L I4
10 GT 50   Larbre Compétition   Erwin Creed
  Romano Ricci
Alpine A110 GT4 56 +10 laps
Renault TCe M5P 1.8L I4
11 GT 76   IMSA Performance   Jean-Karl Vernay
  Raymond Narac
Alpine A110 GT4 55 +11 laps
Renault TCe M5P 1.8L I4
12 PRO 5   JDC MotorSports   Romain Dumas
  Frédéric Makowiecki
Alpine A110 46 +20 laps
Renault TCe M5P 1.8L I4
13 PRO 8   Starworks Motorsport   Paul Dalla Lana
  Michael Valiante
Alpine A110 46 +20 laps
Renault TCe M5P 1.8L I4
14 PRO 46   Graff Racing   Tristan Gommendy
  Nicolas Minassian
Alpine A110 46 +20 laps
Renault TCe M5P 1.8L I4
15 PRO 92   DGM Racing   Alex Labbé
  Stewart Friesen
Alpine A110 46 +20 laps
Renault TCe M5P 1.8L I4
16
DNF
PRO 52   OAK Racing   Gabriel Aubry
  Enzo Guibbert
Alpine A110 33 Oil Line
Renault TCe M5P 1.8L I4
17
DNF
LMP 28   TDS Racing   Loïc Duval
  François Perrodo
Alpine A450 31 Crash
Gibson GK428 4.2L V8
18
DNF
GT 23   Panis-Barthez Compétition   Julien Canal
  Will Stevens
Alpine A110 GT4 30 Fuel Pressure
Renault TCe M5P 1.8L I4
19 PRO 1   Course de Dragon   Patrick Ponce
  Paul Girardot
Alpine A110 1600S 29 +37 laps
Renault Cléon-Alu 1.6L I4
20
DNF
GT 18   Team Prémat   Alexandre Prémat
  Stephen Vajda
Alpine A110 GT4 27 Crash
Renault TCe M5P 1.8L I4
21
DNF
PRO 85   JDC MotorSports   Tristan Vautier
  Sébastien Bourdais
Alpine A110 23 Crash
Renault TCe M5P 1.8L I4
22
DNF
GT 88   Team Speedcar   Grégoire Demoustier
  Alain Ferté
Alpine A110 GT4 15 Overheating
Renault TCe M5P 1.8L I4