From the very first laps on the Paul Ricard circuit, the 2025 season started on a good note for the Toyota GT Supra Evo 2 cars of the French team. During the private and free practice sessions, the two crews quickly took stock of the track’s layout. During pre-qualifying, Jan Duran and Hadrien David (#87) set the 7th time in the Silver Cup (P8 overall), while Gabriela Jilkova and Cindy Gudet (#99) finished P3 in the Pro-AM field (P17 overall).
Despite a few drops of rain just before the qualifying session, the two sessions saw a frenzied fight for pole position.
At the end of Q1, Hadrien David (#87) finished P2 Silver, P3 overall, which meant 2nd row on the Race 1 starting grid. Gabriela Jilkova (#99) finished the session 7th Pro-AM and P20 overall.
Briefly interrupted by a red flag, Q2 was also hotly contested. In the end, Jan Duran (#87) took P3 Silver (and overall), while Cindy Gudet set a very nice performance, P2 Pro-AM (P14 overall).
Race 1 – First podium!
The start of the first race of the season was relatively well behaved. The temperature was ideal (13°C), but the skies were sullen in the south-east of France.
When the lights went green, there was no rush and everyone went through the Verrerie “S” without trouble. Having started 3rd on the grid, Hadrien David (#87) kept his position (P2 Silver), while Gabriela Jilkova (#99) won three places, heading into P5 Pro-AM.
The battle raged on in the three categories while the first hierarchy took shape. After just 14 minutes, Hadrien David took the lead in the Silver category (P2 overall). Gabriela lost two places, neck and neck with strong opponents in Pro-AM.
Events were rapidly accelerating at the front of the pack. Hadrien kept a lot of pressure on the leader before attacking. With 38 minutes to go, after a decisive manoeuvre, he took the lead of the race and upped the pace to put some distance between his pursuers.
Gabriela was fighting with determination and took another position (P6 Pro-AM) before the driver change.
When Jan Duran took the wheel for his stint, the #87 Toyota was still in the lead. Cindy Gudet (#99) was P7 Pro-AM (P22 overall).
It did not take long for the position of the young Spanish driver to come under attack from the #61 Ford. More agile, the Toyota put up a good resistance against the imposing American car, but with 20 minutes to go, Jan Duran had to lose the lead. After a superb relaunch, Jan was up in the exhaust of the #61, leaving his pursuers at a comfortable distance. It was now his turn to put pressure on the leader.
Back in the pack, Cindy Gudet (#99) was pushed around a bit, sitting in P8 Pro-AM (P24 overall), but remained combative against fierce rivals.
The ten final minutes were tense. Jan Duran increased his attempts to retake the lead. Despite his intimidating manoeuvres (including a very nice overtake in the pit straight) and great tyre management, the Matmut Évolution driver finished in second place in the race and the category, with less than a second behind the winner. The season’s starting round came to a close with a very nice podium and a certainty that the crew is in it to fight at the front. Cindy Gudet crossed the finish line in the points in the Pro-AM category (P9).
Race 2 – Just 0.076 seconds from victory in Silver Cup and first Pro-AM podium!
The start of the second race of the weekend was given under overcast and menacing skies. It had rained a bit earlier on the track, making it quite delicate in places, despite it drying up. After two formation laps, the 42 GT4 cars were off. Jan Duran (#87) made a great start, leaping from 4th place to take the lead, before losing the advantage a few turns later. Driving prudently because of the track conditions, Cindy Gudet (#99) only lost one place during this turbulent start.
Certain portions of the track remained very tricky off the line, and after 13 minutes, Full Course Yellow was called, followed by a safety car. At the restart, Jan Duran headed off on the chase and climbed up to P4; Cindy Gudet did the same and positioned herself P2 Pro-AM.
After the driver change, Hadrien David (#87) headed out on track, guns blazing (P5) and Gabriela Jilkova (#99) headed off in the lead of the Pro-AM category (P14 overall).
The final twenty minutes were charged. Hadrien launched himself into an incredible sprint, putting on a lot of pressure and taking out his opponents one by one as he reached the leader.
Gabriela had to face repeated assaults from her adversaries, but the Czech driver managed to stand firm. Attacked on all fronts, she finished by relinquishing the lead with 15 minutes to go, cruelly lacking grip. The fight was intense until the end, but the loss of grip became problematic. Gabriella eventually finished 3rd, securing the team's first Pro-Am podium of the season. Gabriela and Cindy had already experienced podium success on this same track last season.
Back to the leaders, and the battle between Hadrien David and the #3 Audi transformed into a high calibre duel. In four laps, Hadrien took back 3 seconds on the leader to find himself up in his exhaust. The last lap was a demonstration of attacks and parries, fought in very good spirits from both opponents. When they crossed the finish line, side by side, the Audi kept the advantage by 0.076 seconds. The #87 Toyota GT4 Evo 2 missed out on victory by a hair’s width.
As a consolation prize, the Franco-Hispanic duo has taken a three-point lead in the championship, ahead of the winners of this crazy race. Matmut Évolution has also taken the lead of the teams’ classification in Silver Cup. In the overall Pro-Am championship standings, the all-female duo currently sits in 6th place.
The next round of this highly contested championship will take the protagonists to the Netherlands, to the atypical circuit of Zandvoort, a pleasant seaside resort on the North Sea. See you on the 17th and 18th of May.
