KENNOL Grand Prix de France HISTORIQUE 2025 : SUNDAY

The second day of racing at the KENNOL Grand Prix de France Historique at the Circuit Paul Ricard kept up the spirit of sharing and passion right up to the final laps on Sunday.

Following almost the same timing as Saturday, Sunday once again provided plenty of opportunities to see countless former F1 cars in action and to rejoice at the presence of a large number of renowned champions. Even the appearance of rain in the afternoon did little to dampen the enthusiasm of the large crowd gathered at the Circuit Paul Ricard.

In terms of competitions, the festive programme was particularly impressive in the second F1 Masters race, which was started by Jacques Villeneuve, and in Group C with the new success of three-time Le Mans winner Marcel Fassler.

In the demo, the midday session was also marked by a new and memorable sequence featuring a host of champions, some of whom took the opportunity to get behind the wheel of one of their father’s iconic F1 cars, such as Jacques Villeneuve (1980 Ferrari 312 T5), Adrien Tambay (1979 McLaren M28), Nicolas Prost (1983 Renault RE40) and Victor Jabouille (1979 Renault RS10).

Joining them in other legendary F1 cars were Jean Alesi in his 1989 Tyrrell, his first F1 car, Stéphan Johansson (McLaren), Thierry Boutsen (Wolf), Philippe Alliot (Larrousse) and Julien Fébreau (Arrows), while René Arnoux and Yannick Dalmas eventually joined them in a priceless (Ferrari P4.)

1. F2 Classic INTERSERIES : on top of the world

On Sunday, the public could also enjoy the superb line-up of pre-1979 F2s. No fewer than 25 single-seaters, many of them driven by future F1 champions from the Seventies. The unfavourable evolution of the weather seriously complicated the task of the drivers on a track made trapsome by incipient drizzle. Only third on Saturday, Briton James Lay took advantage of the situation to show more initiative and take the lead for a while, before letting go and allowing Germany’s Wolfgang Kaufmann and Italy’s Manfredo Rossi to lead the final duel for victory. It was a final, hard-fought battle which ended in favour of the former. At the foot of the podium, Fabrice Lhéritier put in the best performance of the five French drivers in contention, just ahead of Laurent Vallery-Masson, the promoter of this Grand Prix de France Historique.

The top 5 : 1.Kaufmann (March 782), 2.Rossi (March 762), 3.Lay (March 762), 4.Lhéritier (March 752), 5.Vallery-Masson (March 77B).

2. F3 CLASSIC INTERSERIES : Rossi walks on water

The winner of Saturday’s race, Manfredo Rossi was imperious on Sunday, putting in a faultless performance on a soggy track. Frédéric Rouvier quickly moved up to the front, but tried his best to close the gap, without ever managing to catch up with the Italian driver, who was truly impressive in race 2. As on the previous day, England’s Alex Ames finished on the podium.

The top 5 : 1.Rossi (Ralt RT3), 2.Rouvier (Chevron B38), 3.Ames (Argo JM6), 4.Martin (Martini MK39), 5.Vaglio-Giors (March 783).