Motorsport

MGF Trophy (France) - Round 1 - Paul Ricard Circuit

Mark Mansfield's maiden race

The Results Pos Driver Time 1 Staiano, Rene 1h 01'23.90 2 Real, Frederic 1h 01'28.63 3 Favre, Olivier 1h 01'32.52 The full results listing

Position changes during the race

Cars at the event included formula 1 cars from '75 through to '83, Ferarri-Porsche challenge, historic prototypes such as the Jaguar type D, Lotus 10, 11, and 15, Ford oldies, and many more.

The MGF practice sessions started Sunday evening. The weather was bright but very cool.

Most of the competitors are now racing the MGF Trophy cars for their third consecutive season. The ambiance among the drivers is friendly. The leading drivers are well motivated and a few of them are Rover/MG car dealers.

The MGF Trophy is affordable compared to many other types of racing. Also there are three disciplines practiced: track, road rally, and hill climb.

For me, this was my first car race event ever and I was very pleased to be there. I had bought my car from Philippe Chevalier, winner of the '96 trophy. However, the car required a great deal of work and I finished by getting the engine and the chassis rebuilt in England just in time for the first race of the season.. Now the car is in great shape. My goal for the race was to finish without incident and to enjoy the driving.

Not having a stopwatch with me, I made only 12th out of 13 in the Easter monday morning qualifying sessions and was a bit disappointed. A little after midday we moved on to the track in preparation for the race. I had a great start and after two laps I'd moved up to sixth place which I managed to maintain until lap 11. By lap 15, I'd dropped to 8th and managed to hold it until the end of the race (32 laps).

In all, great fun and the chance to drive on some very famous race tracks. The next event is at Magny-Cours on the 30th/31st May '98.

The amount of sponsorship in the trophy is minimal, but if there are any potential sponsors out there who feel this race series would interest them, please contact Mark Mansfield

Our thanks to Mark Mansfield for these exclusive on-track details.

More motorsport
MGF Cup/Trophy page
MGF Cup (UK) Round 1

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