Karen Gaillard leads laps, shows strong pace at Magny Cours in European Endurance Prototype Cup

Karen Gaillard and her ANS Motorsport teammates showed strong pace and led laps in the European Endurance Prototype Cup in Magny-Cours midway through the 4-hour race, but a late-race retirement in difficult weather conditions ended their podium hopes.

Photo credits: Davy Delien

Karen Gaillard showed plenty of speed and potential at the latest round of the European Endurance Prototype Cup at Magny-Cours, as the Swiss racer and her ANS Motorsport teammates ran at the front of the NP02 class for most of the 4-hour race, in clear contention for a podium position before a late-race crash in extremely challenging weather conditions halted their race prematurely.

Gaillard, who joined the Iron Dames project in 2024 and is contesting her rookie GT3 season aboard the pink Lamborghini Huracan in the Michelin Le Mans Cup, has also returned for her second season in the Ultimate Cup-run European Endurance Prototype Cup, sharing the Nova Proto NP02 prototype with teammates Iko Segret and Marc Faggionato.

The young Swiss racer was Vice-Champion in 2023, having secured four podiums out of six races – including two top-five overall finishes. In her 2024 double program, Gaillard has enjoyed a highly encouraging debut in the Le Mans Cup, with strong performances including a second place at Paul Ricard and a top-five at Mugello, where she held her own among more experienced gold-rated drivers.

Her European Endurance Prototype Cup campaign has been less fortunate, despite often showing front-running pace. Gaillard and her teammates secured three top-ten finishes overall, starting with a fifth place in class at Paul Ricard, a fourth place at Hockenheim, and a fifth place in a disrupted Mugello round – which saw heavy downpours and lengthy red flag interruptions.

In all rounds, the trio demonstrated impressive pace, contending for podium positions but were often unlucky and unable to capitalize on their potential. This was again the case at Magny-Cours, the fifth and penultimate round of the season. Gaillard, Segret, and Faggionato climbed the order throughout the opening hours and even took the race lead during Gaillard's stint. Unfortunately, an accident in the final 30 minutes ultimately resulted in the team's first DNF of the season.

The team's pace was immediately evident from pre-event testing, where Gaillard led the second session. During official practice on Friday, the ANS Motorsport trio consistently ran in the top three, a promising start to the weekend.

Qualifying at Magny-Cours was a challenging affair for the ANS Motorsport team, with all three drivers showcasing their abilities in each session despite a series of disruptions.

Marc Faggionato was first up in the #71 Nova Proto NP02 for the opening session of qualifying on Saturday morning. The session was intensely competitive, but a red flag mid-way through halted the action early. Despite the interruption, Faggionato managed to secure a position of 14th in the NP02 class.

The second qualifying session saw Karen Gaillard taking over the car: she put in a strong performance, setting a best time of 1:35.777, which positioned her sixth in the NP02 class and 11th overall. The session also ended prematurely due to another red flag, limiting her chances to improve further.

Iko Segret then stepped into the car for the third and final qualifying session, aiming to make the most of the team's efforts. Segret delivered an impressive run, securing third place in class and ensuring the car would start from 10th overall in the aggregate standings.

Photo credits: Davy Delien

The race itself turned out to be a tricky 4-hour endurance at Magny-Cours, marked by extremely challenging weather, including heavy rain that led to unpredictable conditions. The race started under the safety car due to the treacherous conditions, with Marc Faggionato taking the wheel for the first stint.

As the green flag waved after just a couple of laps behind the safety car, Faggionato faced limited visibility and water spray from the cars ahead. He initially dropped to seventh in class but managed to keep the car on track despite several incidents and spins among his competitors.

As the conditions slightly improved, he steadily gained positions, moving back up to his starting spot by lap 12. Bronze-rated Faggionato demonstrated impressive racecraft, maintaining a consistent pace and making up ground on the cars ahead. After 50 minutes into the race, as some teams began their pit stops, he stayed out, climbing to fourth in class and eighth overall.

He eventually pitted on lap 29, just before a Full Course Yellow caused by a slowing competitor. At the end of the pit cycle, Faggionato was back into the top-10.

Karen Gaillard took over halfway through the second hour, rejoining the race in eighth in class with 2 hours and 20 minutes remaining.

Despite nightfall descending on the circuit, Gaillard immediately found her rhythm, advancing to sixth in class within a few laps. She continued her charge up the order, climbing as high as second overall as she steadily closed the gap on the class leader, Erwin Creed.

Gaillard’s stint was characterized by her consistent lap times, running at a pace of 1:54, which allowed her to take the lead of the race by lap 65. She worked hard to open up an 18-second margin over her rivals before making her scheduled pit stop.

With just over an hour remaining, Gaillard handed over to Iko Segret for the final push to the finish. Segret rejoined the race in sixth position within the NP02 class, facing the task of closing the gap to the leaders. As the rain intensified, Segret fought valiantly, initially dropping a spot but recovering well to maintain pace with the frontrunners.

The treacherous conditions worsened significantly with 40 minutes left, and Segret was forced to pit again to fulfill the team’s mandatory stop requirements. With the track becoming even more slippery, a major rain shower hit, and Segret unfortunately slid off into the gravel with just 24 minutes remaining, triggering a safety car period and ending the team's race prematurely.

Despite the setback, the team’s performance throughout the weekend highlighted once again their potential, with each driver delivering strong stints under extremely difficult circumstances.

Gaillard's remarkable stint in the middle of the race, where she led the field and demonstrated a fierce pace, was a good highlight of her weekend, and another testament to her growing confidence in endurance racing.

"We didn’t finish after an accident in the last hour. But we can be very proud of our performance during the whole week and this is what we have to remember!" - Karen commented. "I’ve learned a lot with difficult conditions on a wet track during the night. I’m happy with my stint that was strong."

"Congrats to Marc [Faggionato] because doing the start in those conditions is never easy and he did it really well! Congrats to Iko [Segret] who was incredibly fast the whole week", she added, praising her teammates strong runs. "Thanks a lot to our mechanics and engineer! The car was amazing to drive, the pit stops were good and the strategy too!"

There’s however no time to rest for Gaillard, as she will head straight to Portimão, Portugal, for the final round of the 2024 Michelin Le Mans Cup with Iron Dames.