Meeuwissen Takes Mustang to 400km of Paul Ricard Pole

Against the idyllic backdrop of southern France, the Ford Mustang of Jac Meeuwissen and Ties Meeuwissen claimed pole position for the Iberian Historic Endurance 400km of Paul Ricard.

Qualifying session featured a thrilling battle at the top of the timesheets. Circuit specialists Grégoire Colinet and Guillaume Colinet initially set the pace in their Alfa Romeo GTAm, carrying the iconic Paris Match livery of the car that contested the Tour de France Automobile in period.

As the session unfolded, however, the Dutch duo from JTM Engineering emerged on top, posting a benchmark lap of 1m51.305s to secure pole position for Saturday's race as well as the fastest time in the H-1965 class. The Meeuwissens, who had originally planned to compete in a Shelby Cobra Daytona before switching to the highly competitive Mustang, were pushed all the way by the Portuguese pairing of João Mira Gomes and Nuno Afoito. Driving their Lotus 7, they remained firmly in contention for pole throughout the session, eventually finishing just two tenths adrift while claiming top honours in the GTP & SC category.

The second row of the grid will feature the elegant Lotus 23B shared by French quartet Xavier Rascagneres, Jérôme Peyrat, Didier Mantz and Régis Prevost. Alongside them will be the experienced Portuguese trio of Piero Dal Maso, Guilherme Dal Maso and José Carvalhosa, whose Porsche 911 2.5 ST topped the H-1971 class.

Lining up on the third row are British drivers Paul O'Reilly and Peter Young, returning to Race Ready competition with their Lotus Elan S1. They will share the row with Rui Garcia, making his Paul Ricard debut aboard a Fiat 124 Sport Coupé, this time partnered by the experienced Ricardo Pereira, as the duo look to make their mark in an exceptionally competitive field.

The H-1976 class also produced a fiercely contested qualifying session, with less than eight tenths of a second covering the top three. The Group 4 Datsun 240Z of Ralf Schnitzler and Patrice Campillo edged out the Porsche 911 2.7 RS of Eduardo Reis and José Carvalhosa by just 0.05s. With a three-hour race ahead and less than a second separating the leading contenders, the Ford Escort Mk2 RS2000 of Filipe Carvalho, António Carmona and Pedro Ramos also looks set to challenge for overall honours.

One of the pre-race favourites, the Ford GT40 of Olivier Muytjens and Brice Pineau, suffered a mechanical issue during qualifying, jeopardising the iconic British machine's participation in the race. In response, the HY Racing duo will switch to their equally competitive reserve Shelby Cobra Daytona, a proven race winner that keeps their hopes of victory in the 400km of Paul Ricard very much alive.

The winner of the second edition of the 400km of Paul Ricard, as well as the recipient of the Index of Performance award, which includes a Cuervo y Sobrinos timepiece, will be crowned tomorrow. The race gets underway at 09:00 local time.

QUALIFYING RESULTS