Ligier European Series: Season’s best results for Cindy Gudet at Spa-Francorchamps
- LIAM REDFORD
- 14 minutes ago
- 6 min read
In her second full-season in the Ligier European Series, Cindy Gudet enjoyed an excellent weekend at Spa Francorchamps, where she twice finished in fourth position. The M Racing driver was extremely consistent within the JS2 R category as she consistently challenged the frontrunners, while narrowly missing out on a podium finish.
Cindy Gudet enjoyed an excellent weekend in the Ligier European Series where she twice finished in fourth position at Spa-Francorchamps. The M Racing driver was extremely consistent within the JS2 R category as she consistently challenged the frontrunners, while narrowly missing out on a podium finish.
In her second full-season in the Ligier European Series, Gudet has enjoyed a consistent campaign in the JS2 R category. As the second half of the season got underway, the French racer sat sixth in the overall championship standings and had finished all five races inside the top-8. The highlight of her season was a pair of fourth place finishes in the season-opener at Circuit de Barcelona, however she also impressed last time out at Circuit de la Sarthe. In an expanded grid of drivers, Gudet finished fifth at her home event while displaying excellent speed as a solo driver.
Although Gudet missed last season’s event at Spa-Francorchamps, she arrived into the weekend high on confidence after a season’s best second place result in the Pro-Am class in the previous round of the GT4 European Series. Alongside Gabriela Jilkova, Gudet has a pair of top-6 results at Spa-Francorchamps in a Matmut Evolution prepared Toyota GR Supra GT4 Evo and therefore she was looking to lean upon these experiences in the Ligier European Series.
On-track action began on Friday as the drivers participated in two free practice sessions. As a solo driver, Gudet was able to benefit from significant mileage as she worked on an effective setup ahead of two races across the weekend. In the first session held early on Friday morning, the M Racing driver set a fastest lap of a 2:34.522 which placed her fifth within the JS2 R category.
After completing a category-high 13 laps in session one, Gudet turned a further 15 laps of the Spa-Francorchamps circuit in free practice two. Gudet was able to improve on her quickest time from the morning session by over one second as she finished the day in sixth position among the JS2 R runners.
Saturday’s action began with qualifying which took place over two sessions. Track conditions were cool which meant generating heat into the tyres was challenging. Nonetheless, Gudet showed excellent speed early in the session and despite the first qualifying session being ended early due to an incident for Miguel Angel Romero, the M Racing driver had set the fourth fastest time in the JS2 R category with a best lap of a 2:35.944.
The second qualifying session quickly followed and Gudet was targeting further improvements after a positive start to the day. With just a couple of minutes on the clock, the session was red flagged for an incident involving a JS P4 machine and as a result, qualifying was unable to be resumed. As no driver had set a lap time in the session, the grid positions for race two were based upon the best times set in free practice.
Race one at Spa-Francorchamps took place on Saturday afternoon with Gudet starting from third place within the JS2 R class after a penalty was applied to a driver ahead. Following earlier rain, the track was damp and therefore the race began behind the safety car. Before the green flag was displayed, a number of incidents for JS P4 machines ahead were well-negotiated by Gudet as the prototype drivers struggled with both grip and technical issues.
When the green flag was displayed, the M Racing driver made an excellent start and held third position as she raced in amongst multiple race winners. Gudet was displaying excellent speed and racecraft in the early exchanges as a number of the recovering JS P4 cars made their way back through. On lap six, a sizeable incident for the JS P4 machine of Iko Segret at Raidillon resulted in the safety car being deployed for a second time.
Under the neutralisation period, Gudet remained in third position and as the green flag was displayed with a little over 30-minutes remaining, this coincided with the opening of the pit window. Gudet pitted at the first possible opportunity along with the majority of those in the JS2 R class.
A fast stop from Cindy’s crew allowed her to rejoin in third position, before she was involved in a fantastic battle with Danish driver August Therbo. Gudet was forced to take to the runoff area at the final chicane following a bold move from Therbo, before he was able to complete the pass down the Kemmel straight on lap 11.
From there, Gudet settled into fourth position in the JS2 R class while the race also entered a rhythm of green flag racing. Cindy was now turning her quickest laps of the entire weekend and as a result, she was pulling away from the drivers behind. The gap to the fifth-placed car was now over ten seconds as the race entered the final quarter.
On lap 15, Jude Peters spun into the gravel in his Team Virage prepared JS P4 machine and this necessitated a third safety car period. Gudet’s margin behind was therefore erased, however the neutralisation brought her in contention with the podium runners as the race resumed for a final seven minutes.
On the restart, Gudet managed the faster JS P4 car of Jacques Nicolet well as he moved his prototype machine ahead while the M Racing driver did not lose ground to her class rivals behind. It was a consistent end to the race for Gudet who maintained her speed and took the chequered flag in fourth position to equal her season’s best result in the Ligier European Series.
Race two of the weekend took place on Sunday morning with Gudet lining up in sixth position within the JS2 R class after the grid was set by the fastest times set in the two practice sessions. As the lights went out, it was a chaotic start as the JS P4 machine of Kristian Brookes slowed and this triggered a chain reaction with multiple cars receiving damage. Further contact was made at turn one with two separate incidents for cars in the JS P4 class. Nonetheless, Gudet drove smartly to avoid any damage while moving up to fifth position.
Due to a number of cars requiring recovery, the race quickly entered a safety car period with the train being brought through the pit lane. Almost fifteen-minutes of the race were spent at a reduced speed before the race resumed on lap four. It was a great restart for Gudet who remained close to those battling for podium positions, while she managed the delayed JS P4 cars well who were keen to make their way through.
On lap six, Maxwell Dodds became beached in the gravel and his recovery necessitated a second safety car period. When the race resumed, this again coincided with the opening of the pit window and the M Racing crew elected to keep Gudet out on track. On the restart lap, Cindy applied significant pressure to Simone Riccitelli and Noe Da Cunha ahead as the fight for the podium positions continued.
Gudet then brought her car to the attention of the crew and after Da Cunha was assigned a ten second penalty for a start infringement, Cindy overtook the Les Deux Arbres machine in the pits. Gudet emerged just behind the Pegasus Racing car of Alain Meyer and good work from the M Racing driver allowed her to quickly pass the Pro/Am class driver.
Following the conclusion of the pit cycle, Gudet was into fourth position with Da Cunha her nearest challenger who was six seconds behind. The leading trio in the JS2 R class had broken away following the stops and therefore Gudet’s main aim was to protect her fourth position.
On lap 12, Gudet ran a personal best time and this ensured that Da Cunha was unable to make inroads on her advantage. After successfully passing the slower JS P4 machine of Christophe Weber, Gudet was behind Jacques Nicolet and she was benefiting from a slipstream from the prototype as the pair ran at a similar pace.
By lap 15, Gudet had dipped into the 2:31s for the first time during the entire event and her pace was regularly comparable to the leading group who were battling for the race victory. A series of fast laps saw Gudet’s advantage over Da Cunha to grow to 14 seconds in the closing stages and after being the second fastest driver in class on the final lap, Cindy took the chequered flag in fourth position to complete an excellent weekend at Spa-Francorchamps.
Gudet displayed her speed and racecraft to leave Belgium with her largest haul of points this season. Despite a number of incidents unfolding around her, she remained calm and consistent and this ensured that the M Racing driver enjoyed a trouble-free weekend. Gudet’s attention will now turn to the next round of the GT4 European Series which takes place next weekend at the Nurburgring, before the Ligier European Series resumes at Silverstone on the weekend of 13th/14th September.