#39 and 40 Oreca 07 – Gibson (LM P2)

Owner: Pascal Rauturier
Team manager: Pascal Rauturier
Engineers: Paul Rivière (#39) and Pascal Tortosa (#40)
Location: Morangis
Website: graffracing.fr

2015 ELMS classification: LM P3 Teams Championship, 6th (18 points)

2016 ELMS classification: 2nd and 9th in LM P3 Teams Championship (93 and 24.5 points)

2017 ELMS results:

4 Hours of Silverstone: 4th Matelli / Allen / Bradley (FRA / AUS / GBR), Oreca 07 Gibson

7th Trouillet / Petit / Guibbert (FRA / FRA / FRA) , Oreca 07 Gibson

4 Hours of Monza: 4th Trouillet / Petit / Guibbert (FRA / FRA / FRA) , Oreca 7 Gibson

8th Matelli / Allen / Bradley (FRA / AUS / GBR), Oreca 7 Gibson

Jean-Philippe Grand, who began his racing career in the seventies, founded his own motorsports team in 1985 partnered with journalist François Fayman. Grand had just won the Formula Ford French Championship.

Success came quickly for Graff Racing and with it a reputation for reliability:  Formula Ford (thirteen titles, European Champion in 1996 and 1997), Formula Renault (five titles, plus winner of the Eurocup in 2002), Formula 3 (three times Champion of France, victory at Macau in 1997).

The single-seater specialist, based in Chinon (central France), also won the Porsche Carrera Cup in 2007 and 2009. Chinon being a mere 100 km from Le Mans, Grand was ideally located to take more than a passing interest in Le Mans 24 Hours. In 1980 he entered a Chevron B36 of which he shared the wheel with future constructor Yves Courage.

Their maiden Le Mans ended in retirement. However, Graff Racing went on to race the Le Mans 24 hours 11 times with various chassis: Lola, Spice - and Rondeau, three times. The best result was 11th in 1984 and 1987 and a class win in S2.0 in 1981 (Lola T298).

Jean-Philippe Grand was also known for putting sports journalists behind the wheel, e.g. Marc Menant (TF1, La Cinq, Europe 1) and Jean-Luc Roy (currently with RMC).

The French outfit can boast talent-scouting skills, having spotted the potential of Christophe Bouchut (winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1993), Jean-Christophe Boullion, Emmanuel Collard, Philippe Gache, Loïc Duval (winner of the of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2013), Patrick Pilet (Porsche GT factory driver), Nicolas Lapierre (Toyota Gazoo Racing) and Simon Pagenaud (2016 IndyCar Series champion).

In 2008, Jean-Philippe Grand sold the business but stayed on as sporting director. Graff Racing went on to enter the Porsche Carrera Cup and the French GT championship and won the team trophy in 2010. In 2013, Grand stepped down and Pascal Rauturier bought the team. He based the outfit in Morangis on the outskirts of Paris, with the aim of racing Le Mans 24 Hours again as soon as possible. It was a second lease of life for Graff Racing and the team ran campaigns in the Porsche Carrera Cup with Eric Trouillet and in GT Tour with a Porsche GT3-R (with Marcel Sciabbarrasi and Gaël Castelli).

In 2014, the team also entered a few rounds of the Blancpain Endurance Series with Nicolas Marroc and Eric Trouillet (joined by Roland Bervillé and Lonni Martins for the longer races).

Drivers Trouillet, Franck Gauvin and Yann Clairay shared the wheel of a Porsche 997 Cup and a Ligier JS530 EVO.

In 2015, the team fielded two Ligier JS53 EVOs in the VdeV championship, one of which came third. By the last round of the ELM at Estoril, Portugal, Graff was a step closer to a ticket to the 24 Hours of Le Mans. It entered a Ligier JS P3 driven by Eric Trouillet, Thomas Accary and Garry Findlay.cThe crew came second in class.

In 2016, Graff pursued its commitment to endurance racing, running a full-season ELMS campaign with two Ligier JS P3s, plus the (Ligier JS53 EVO3) in the VdeV. Eric Trouillet, Paul Petit and Enzo Guibbert formed the crew of the #9 ELMS car. The three men won twice at Paul Ricard and Spa-Francorchamps and were runners-up in the drivers championship, as was the team.

The #10, driven by John Falb, Sean Rayhall and Vincente Potolicchio finished ninth. Fabrice Rossello and Eric Trouillet were vice-champions of the VdeV with one win in the bag. Of the three Ligier JS P3s entered for Road to Le Mans, John Falb’s finished third.

2017 is a decisive year for Graff Racing. Still active in VdeV, the team only fielded one Ligier JS P3 with Rémy Deguffroy, Franck Gauvin and Eric Trouillet at the wheel. It also entered the Michelin Le Mans Cup with a Ligier JS P3 for Emilien Carde and Adrien Chila. There are four Graff Racing cars (Ligier JS P3) in Road To Le Mans. To prepare for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the team is running another ELMS campaign with two Oreca 07 - Gibsons in LMP2. The #39 is driven by Eric Trouillet, Paul Petit and Enzo Guibbert and the #40 by Franck Matelli, James Allen and Richard Bradley, former winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in LMP2 in 2015. At Silverstone, the first round of the season, the #40 came fourth and the #39 was classed seventh. In Italy, Enzo Guibbert took pole position with the #39. The car finished fourth, with the #40 in eighth place.

The long-awaited race is just around the corner now. After a 24-year hiatus, the 32-year-old team, that boasts 29 titles, will soon be able to add a 12th Le Mans 24 Hours to its record. James Winslow will be joining Eric Trouillet and Enzo Guibbert in the #39, but the #40 crew remains the same.

Photo : PASCAL SAIVET / VISION SPORT AGENCY