This season, 2B Autosport's Porsche 992 GT3 Cup cars have excelled in both Endurance and Sprint racing. Team manager Bertrand Bonin looks back on his cars' magnificent results in the Ultimate Cup European Series.
2B Autosport arrived at the 2024 season with no clear objectives, having previously been on the podium in the Porsche Cup category of the Ultimate Cup European Series' two GT championships. First and foremost, we wanted to enjoy ourselves," confides team manager Bertrand Bonin. We didn't have any particular ambitions at the outset; that came with the races. "
Engaged in a double program, the Savoyard team has not been idle, running four sprint races and one 4- or 6-hour endurance race each weekend, in addition to all the test sessions. " It takes a lot of organization. Our cars are perfectly overhauled in the workshop, so we have to do as little mechanical work as possible on site. One of my proudest moments of the year was the fact that we only had one technical problem. During the first round of the GT Sprint, a new spark plug broke on Karl (Vandewoestyne) 's car . Apart from that, there was nothing to report, which proves that everything is well taken care of upstream. And the results are there to prove it.
Double Endurance title
In the Ultimate GT Endurance Cup, the N°7 car of Romain Favre, Olivier Favre and Yann Penlou won the Porsche Cup category. The trio never left the podium, and so logically took the spoils. This was the result of excellent adaptation by the team and drivers.
" Within this car, we have a young wolf with big teeth in Romain, his father Olivier who is a Gentleman driver and Yann a very fast Bronze. We have to adapt, because Romain always wants a perfect car to go for the last tenths. We have to find a compromise so that the set-up performs well without being unplayable for his father.
Yann is the best man for the job, because he has real racing intelligence and knows how to put things into words to make Romain understand that he has more to lose by putting in a car that is difficult for his father to drive than it is ideal for him. Putting everyone in the best possible conditions is the key to success.
As well as the drivers' title, the Savoie-based team also won the teams' title. But what's the value of one over the other? " First of all, we only started to believe in it after the first few races. The teams championship reflects the reliability of our cars and rewards the work of the whole team. That's what I like about endurance racing. We always have something to do until the chequered flag: pure adrenaline for several hours! "
In the absence of the Vandewoestynes, the N°417 offered a new crew for the final race at Le Castellet. Already seen in GT Sprint at Hockenheim, Jean-Pierre Ancelin took the wheel. " He's one of the doyens of the championship - Jean-Pierre is 75. For us, it's our diesel. It takes a long time to warm up, but it's extremely reliable! (Laughs) He's capable of setting his best time on his last lap after 10 hours of driving. At his side was Frédéric Greuillet, who didn't hesitate to cross the world to be present at the 6H du Circuit Paul Ricard: " He even travelled 10,000 kilometers to come and drive! Both were accompanied by their coach Philippe Chatelet.
Fraternal battle in Sprint
Karl Vandewoestyne came to the Ultimate Cup European Series from the Roscar GT Challenge, which he had won twice, to take on new competition while continuing his apprenticeship.
In his wake, his little brother César followed with the same determination: " They were initially going to concentrate on Endurance racing (where they finished on the podium four times in as many races) , but they also decided to take part in the Ultimate GT Sprint Cup. Both have made real progress in a number of areas: lap performance, race pace, intelligence in managing a stint. The funny thing is that all the progress Karl has made, César has made too. "
As the weekends went by, the Vandewoestyne family grew in strength and never left the front runners. This led Karl to third place overall, even with one round less than his rivals.
In the Porsche Cup category, the two finished tied. With more victories than any other driver, Karl unintentionally deprived his younger brother of a first motorsport title. Yet César had his fate in his own hands going into the final race. " The night before, Karl joked with me, asking: 'Bertrand, what can you do to make me champion?' We laughed, because for us it was impossible for César not to be champion. He had to finish the race and be crowned, and we'd forgotten about the accident hypothesis because he hadn't had one all year. "
Caught up in an incident at the start, César was forced to retire. He didn't score any points and saw his elder brother overtake him in the championship. " Karl was saddened because he was happy that his brother could add his first major victory to his list of honours. Both really deserved it, but it's true that César did a great job. "
In 2025, 2B Autosport will be defending its titles in both categories: " Ideally, we'd like to have two cars entered in Endurance and as many in Sprint. The calendar doesn't overlap with other championships, and the circuits remain interesting. " The ambition will be clear: to win back their crown.