KENNOL Grand Prix de France HISTORIQUE 2025 : SATURDAY

Promises kept ! On the occasion of its first day of racing and the presence of a host of champions, the KENNOL Grand Prix de France Historique offered a memorable Saturday to the public at the Circuit Paul Ricard. Tens of thousands of enthusiasts took part.

The flagship meeting orchestrated by HVM Racing, the Circuit Paul Ricard and the FFSA naturally gave pride of place to competition on Saturday, with a flagship line-up featuring a record number of F1 cars from the 70s and 80s.

Charles Leclerc came to greet the public between two “modern” Grand Prix races, and gave the start himself. The Scuderia Ferrari driver, accompanied by his “boss” Frédéric Vasseur, was one of the big names in Formula 1 who accepted the invitation of Jean Alesi, President of the Var circuit.

During the “Fast & Famous : les légendes en piste” sequence, Alain Prost joined the family photo after regaining the wheel of his 1987 McLaren MP4/3 turbo, as did Jacques Villeneuve, seen aboard the Ferrari 312 T5 immortalized by his father in 1980, Mark Webber (on his 2005 Jaguar R5), David Coulthard, René Arnoux (on his 1983 Renault RE40 turbo) and Adrien Tambay and Victor Jabouille, all too happy to discover one of their fathers’ old F1 cars.

1. F2 Classic INTERSERIES : RACE 1

This inaugural round of the InterSeries 2025, reserved for pre-1979 F2s, remained the preserve of the March drivers, who set the six fastest times in qualifying.

In the absence of poleman and reigning champion Mark Charteris, the race saw a sumptuous tussle between Italy’s Manfredo Rossi and Germany’s Wolfgang Kaufmann, who eventually won by 8/10 of a second! James Lay, who started from the back of the grid and set the fastest time of the race, completed the podium. The first Frenchman, Fabrice Lhéritier, was 5th.

Top 5 : 1.Kaufmann (March 782), 2.Rossi (March 762), 3.Lay (March 762), 4.Morris (March782), 5.Lheritier (March 752).

2. F3 CLASSIC INTERSERIES : RACE 1

After narrowly losing out in F2 and Formula Junior, Manfredo Rossi finally took victory in the pre-1985 F3 category. Starting from pole, the Italian driver quickly got rid of his compatriot Davide Leone, who was accompanying him on the front row, before embarking on a long duel with British driver Alex Ames. It was a spectacular match, which he finally won despite the few raindrops that appeared towards the end of the race. The field also allowed Philippe Sinault, Alpine’s main team in WEC, to make a welcome return to the driver’s seat.

Top 5 : 1.Rossi (Ralt RT3), 2.Ames (Argo JM6), 3.Michel (Chevron B38), 4.Dousse (March 783), 5.Hodgen (Chevron B38).