Race report
GT World Challenge Europe Endurance
Hexis’ maiden victory in Blancpain Endurance
Edited: Feb 7, 2014, 4:14 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Two weeks after wrapping up its world championship campaign with two victories at Donington, Hexis Racing was back racing in long-distance events by entering one of its McLaren MP4-12Cs in the final round of the Blancpain Endurance Series.
Alvaro Parente, Stef Dusseldorp and Fred Makowiecki’s win at Navarra will go down in the history of the French team as it is Hexis’ first in endurance.
Race winners Stef Dusseldorp, Alvaro Parente, Frederic Makowiecki
Photo by: xpb.cc
Hexis Racing knows the 1-hour races inside out with its obligatory pit stop, which is the norm in the World, European, French and German Championships in which the team has raced in the last few years.
The French squad had its first real taste of endurance in 2011 when it competed in the first Blancpain Endurance Series.
The two Aston Martin DBRS9 GT3s were starting to show their age, which did not prevent Hexis from battling for victory at Monza and the podium in the Spa 24 Hours.
This year the team took the decision to devote itself entirely to the FIA GT1 World Championship and the development of the McLaren GT.
It proved to be the right choice as the season ended with second place in both the teams’ and drivers’ classification: in the latter Makowiecki-Dusseldorp were only one point behind the winners!
The Blancpain Endurance Series still attracts a top-class field and 40 cars turned up for the final round in Spain. For this one-off outing Hexis Racing was able to count on three drivers who were with the team in the world championship.
The no. 7 McLaren was at the front in pre-qualifying and then clinched pole. After the first two stints by Alvaro Parente and Stef Dusseldorp it had pulled out a minute over its pursuers.
The third and final part of the race was perturbed by the rain and Fred Makowiecki was champing at the bit behind the safety car for a long time.
The race was restarted for another ten laps, and Makowiecki opened up a gap of around 15 seconds before the last neutralization and the stopping of the race, a few minutes before the final whistle.
“We did a little testing at Lédenon to get to grips with the Michelin tyres which are very different to the Pirellis we use in the world championship,” pointed out team manager, Philippe Dumas.
“We ran into some different problems in free practice and then we managed to get everything together and our drivers had a car that was comfortable to drive.
They did a fantastic job and the pit stops went off without a hitch. We’re becoming a real winning machine! I’m delighted for the team, for McLaren, for all the people who’ve been involved in this season’s adventure and who’ve believed in us.”
The members of the McLaren GT staff, who were at Navarra, were also very pleased to see their car winning for the first time in the Blancpain Endurance Series, and they qualified the performance of their French partners as a “Hexis job!” Difficult to dream of a better homage!
Source: Hexis Racing
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article A wheel bolt cost Vita4one the Blancpain Pro-Am title at Navarra
Next article Hexis and McLaren take on the BES top teams
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Alvaro Parente
HubAuto Porsche squad reveals Le Mans 24 Hours line-up
WEC
WEC
24 Hours of Le Mans
Jul 7, 2021
HubAuto Porsche squad reveals Le Mans 24 Hours line-up
Parente, Goikhberg join Heinricher Racing for 2020
IMSA
IMSA Dec 10, 2019
Parente, Goikhberg join Heinricher Racing for 2020
COTA Blancpain GT America: Battling Bentleys win season opener
SRO America
SRO America
Circuit of the Americas
Mar 3, 2019
COTA Blancpain GT America: Battling Bentleys win season opener
Latest news
“I was getting beat up” – How Daniel Ricciardo burned out on ‘humiliating’ F1 return
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1 3 h
“I was getting beat up” – How Daniel Ricciardo burned out on ‘humiliating’ F1 return
Myers Riley Motorsports adds Andretti alongside returning Fraga for 2027 IMSA GTD campaign
IMSA
IMSA IMSA 3 h
Myers Riley Motorsports adds Andretti alongside returning Fraga for 2027 IMSA GTD campaign
Las Vegas GP reveals neon sign-inspired trophy design
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Las Vegas GP
4 h
Las Vegas GP reveals neon sign-inspired trophy design
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe