Covid ou pas covid, 2020 sera une saison chargée pour Sarah Bovy. En effet, la Belge s’alignera 16 fois sur diverses grilles de départs entre le 1er weekend d’aout et la mi novembre ! En tout, 9 weekend de courses vont s’enchainer pour Sarah et elle devra faire preuve d’éclectisme…
 
En programme « principal », on retrouvera la liégeoise au départ de l’entièreté du championnat de France de la Ligier JS Cup. Elle partagera le volant de la JS2R #44 du team MT racing avec Thierry Petit, ex champion de France Mitjet. En route vers la première joute du championnat qui se déroulera au Mans ce weekend, Sarah se confie :
 
« Avoir l’occasion de disputer tout un championnat sur une super voiture, qui plus est au sein d’un team compétitif… c’est inespéré compte tenu des circonstances ! Je vois tellement de collègues pilotes autour de moi qui ont vu leur programme tomber à l’eau suite à cette crise sanitaire. Je me considère donc particulièrement privilégiée de pouvoir une fois de plus compter sur mes deux partenaires fidèles Judg et Intensum. Leur confiance et leur determination à me voir courir dans les meilleurs conditions possibles ne font que booster ma motivation à sortir tout ce qu’on pourra de notre Ligier ! »
 
Seule femme au départ et donc seul équipage mixte du championnat, le duo Petit/Bovy pourra compter sur une solide concurrence : on annonce plus de 25 voitures au départ de chacune des manches de la JS Cup France !
 
Mais Sarah ne s’arrête pas là, toujours prête a relever des défis divers et variés, elle prendra également part à 2 manches du championnat de France … Camion - vous avez bien lu ! Le Lion Truck Racing, team quintuple champion de France de la discipline lui confie en effet le volant d’un de ses camions au Castellet et aux 24h du mans !
 
« Ça n’est pas un secret, je rêve des 24h du Mans depuis toujours. Je n’aurai jamais pensé y participer pour la première fois au volant d’un camion (rire). Blague à part, je suis très heureuse de m’attaquer à ce challenge. Après avoir découvert la course camion l’année dernière, j’y ai retrouvé ce qu’il nous manque parfois au plus haut niveau du sport auto : la camaraderie dans les paddocks, un public incroyable et passionné, et des bagarres à couper le souffle en piste !
Je dois avouer que l’idée de me lancer au départ entourée d’une vingtaine de camions de 5 tonnes, avec 1200cv sous le capot, 0 aide au pilotage et 16 rapports à gérer en boite manuelle me terrifie un peu… mais j’aime sortir de ma zone de confort et découvrir de nouvelles sensations! »
 
Enfin, cerise sur le gâteau de ce programme multivitaminé, Sarah rejoindra une fois de plus le team Monster Trendy aux 1/2 25h Fun Cup ! Un habitude vieille de 5 saisons désormais et que même une pandémie mondiale et la division en 2 du temps de course de l’épreuve n’aura pas réussi à déboulonner. ​

« We did it! We crossed the finish line of the Spa 24h! What a fantastic feeling… I can’t believe that after 10 years and 3 unsuccessful attempts, the fourth one was the good one for me. Finally, all I needed was a Lambo! »

That were Sarah’s first words at the end of the World’s most difficult GT race… With her team mates Giorgio Maggi, Clement Mateu & Jurgen Krebs they brought the #67 Lamborghini prepared by Attempto Racing to the checkered flag without any driving mistake or mechanical issue. 

With 63 cars on the starting grid, 36 team qualified in the same second and an incredible amount of pro and factory drivers, it’s fair to say that the 69th edition of the Spa 24 hours was a huge challenge for the drivers and crew of the #67 bull. 

« We knew from the very beginning that we were missing preparation, and it’s normal - we announced our participation one week before the race. I discovered the car on Tuesday, in the rain and made my first laps in dry conditions a couple of hours before the qualifications. So finishing this race P6 in class and P31 overall is a great performance! ».

Despite the fact that she discovered the GT3 Lamborghini during the race week, Sarah did a very good job and learned very quickly.  Best performer of the car during the qualifications, she then took the start of the race and managed to keep a very fast pace all along her double and triple stints (8 hours in total). 

« The four drivers as well as our mechanics made a great job during the race. Between Giorgio Maggi’s best time during his first stint on Saturday and mine during my last stint on Sunday, there was only 0,016 seconds difference! That shows how hard we pushed all along the 24 hours, trying to use the full potential of our beautiful car… No doubt that after that great experience (and with a little more time to get prepared before the race), I’m now ready and looking forward to fight for top results in further races with the GT3 Lambo! 

For now, I would like to thank all the fans, who were over-exited during the parade, in the tribunes, in the paddocks and of course on social networks. It was fantastic to see and feel your support! Thanks also to all the Belgians and international medias who offered me an incredible media coverage - that will for sure help me in my future! And finally, thanks to all the persons who made this adventure possible : my sponsors, partners, family and friends! ».

You can find videos and pictures of the race week on Sarah’s social networks: 
Facebook : @SarahBovyRacing - Judg : @SarahBovy - Instagram : @Sarah_Bovy

Ten years after her first participation in 2007, when she was 18 and driving the Belgian Gillet Vertigo, Sarah Bovy will take part for the 4th time, during this last week of July, to the Spa 24 Hours! 
 
« After joining the Lamborghini family in the Young Drivers Program last year and taking part to the European Super Trofeo, it was my main target for 2017: racing the mythic Spa 24 hours with a Lambo! I’m glad I can now officially announce my participation with the famous and competitive German team Attempto Racing. With my team mates Jurgen Krebs, Clement Mateu and Giorgio Maggy we will fight for the best result possible in the AM class ».
 
Funny fact, this year, Sarah should be the only woman taking part to this legendary race, out of more than 200 drivers! 
 
« It’s not the first time, and certainly not the last time this happens to me. It’s always a bit funny but doesn’t change anything to my approach of the race: first, get familiar with the car – which I will discover for the first time in its GT3 version – and the way the team is working, then being consistently fast, efficient and bring the car back at the end of each stint in the best conditions ». 
 
You can follow Sarah’s race week on her social networks: 
 
Facebook : @SarahBovyRacing - Judg : @SarahBovy - Instagram : @Sarah_Bovy

Last weekend, the Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo was stopping in the famous Nurburgring. With 40 Huracans on the grid, the competition was, once again at its highest level. For Sarah and her team, this meeting was a big challenge.

"Leipert Motorsport is a German team", explains Sarah. "So in a certain way, it was also a home race. But this time, neither Ben nor I did know the track… During free practices, we thus focused on improving our sensations on this very technical circuit. But as usual, the track time was quite short".

On Friday, for the qualification, the two drivers did their best to push as hard as possible. In this exercise, Ben qualified 20th and Sarah went over the limits:

"I was in my first flying lap and I managed to create a very good gap between me and other cars and to put the ideal temperature in my tires. I therefore decided to take my chance and to push full-throttle in that lap. Unfortunately, it was too much and I spun, with the consequence that I could not record a laptime".

After a good first race where Ben and Sarah managed to fight for their position despite a few unfortunate contacts, Sarah was determined to erase her little mistake in quali with a solid stint in race two.

"I took the start from the last line on the grip, P40th. I remember laughing with my teammate on the grid saying "gaining 10 positions? I bet I can do 20!" I focused on taking a strong start and overtook 2 competitors by the exit of the first corner. After that, I passed 2 cars per lap on average. But I had no idea of our position when I pitted in".

Sarah was actually P18 at that time! Ben did finish this tough race by fighting hard for maintaining the position against solid PRO drivers. Thanks to his great pace until the very end of the race, the two youngsters finished the race with 20 positions gained!

"That's a great sensation, such a big fight. I can tell you, and will show you in up-coming videos, PRO-AM drivers are fighting for their positions just as hard as the PRO! But it was really cool to finish this race with not a single scratch on the car knowing how hard the battle was on track… ".
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The team and the drivers can now take a short break before the World Final of the Lamborghini Super Trofeo that will take place in Valencia on the first weekend of December! Stay plugged!  

The 4th round of the Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo took place in Belgium last weekend, in opening of the world famous GT endurance race: the Spa 24 hours. With 50 Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo on the grid – a world record for a one-make series – no need to say that Sarah was looking for this round with big expectations…

"Home-race is always something special", Sarah says. "As I grew up on that legendary track, I really wanted to make the difference here. I knew also my Australian team mate, Ben Gersekowski was here for the first time and it's definitely not an easy track to learn, especially with a 620 horsepower Lamborghini! For sure, the weather conditions didn't help, we had rain during FP1, drying track for FP2 … with all the red flags and conditions changes, none of us really had any idea of the set-up or the track feeling before our qualifications".

During the first qualification, under wet but drying conditions, Sarah never found the right pace: 

"First on track during the first few laps, my laptimes were very good, consistently in top 10 overall. However, five minutes before the end of the session, with the track drying very quickly, I suddenly lost all grip and realised that my tires were completely over-heated and way too high in pressures. We eventually finished with a disappointing P33 on the grid. Fortunately, the day after, under dry condition, Ben did much better and qualified the car in 18th position for the second race!"

Then, the two determined team mates had to face the two 50 minutes races of the weekend, and with 50 cars on track under changing conditions, there were a lot of easy traps to fall in! 

"We knew that it would be difficult to achieve a big result in the first race, and the safety car going on track for 15 minutes did definitely not help us… With only 15 minutes of proper race during my stint, I was proud to bring the car back to my teammate in 17th position! Coming from P33, I really had a lot of fun on track. Ben then confirmed his fast learning of the track and managed to reach the finish line with a final gain of 8 positions from our starting place".

For the second race, after a tremendous start of the Aussie driver, the safety car got on the track for more than … 25 minutes! It didn't let a lot of time to gain much more race positions.

"When I got in the car", Sarah says, "I was ready to fight for any positions. Ben did an excellent start but couldn't do much more as the race was interrupted. I knew I needed to fight hard to ensure a good result. We realised that in our class (PRO-AM), all the 'AM' drivers were starting the race and because of the safety car we couldn't built any gap between them and us. When I jumped in the car, I then fought against all the 'PRO' drivers". 

After some very good fights on track, several hot overtaking moves and big team work, the #2 green beast eventually crossed the finish line in P13th overall, 7th in class. The best result Ben and Sarah did so far in the European competition.

"I'm really happy of the final result. It shows that we are able to fight for much better than a few races ago. Here, facing 49 other competitors, we showed we are consistently improving and learning. I can't wait to be on the Nurburgring in September!". 

See you on the 17th and 18th of September for the next race weekend of the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe. 

Last weekend, the competitors of the Lamborghini Super Trofeo took part to the third round of the 2016 European Championship on the Paul Ricard HTTT circuit, in south of France.

It is under very hot conditions that Sarah Bovy and Ben Gersekowski started their race weekend on Friday with one main objective: finally define the right set-up for their car after the Silverstone race where they struggled hard to find a good balance.

"The Huracán Super Trofeo is an amazing car but also a jewel of technology", Sarah said. "The influence of the set-up is therefore determining on our overall performance. As we have no opportunity to test between the races ─ contrary to a lot of our competitors ─, we have to learn during the race weekends and try to find the good set-up, ideally during the free practices, on Fridays. If you add to that the fact that we don't have new tyres to work on the set-up during those free sessions, you will understand how easy it is to take the wrong direction".

"After the end of the first day and the two first sessions, we actually were nowhere. When we finally used new tyres to start the qualifications, the progresses compared to Silverstone were not significant. With Ben and our (new) engineer, we thus decided to start again almost from a blank page between quali 2 and race 1. That was clearly the right decision. The team and mechanics of Leipert Motorsport did a great job to completely modify the set-up and make the car ready for the race".

It is thus with a high motivation and big hopes that Sarah presented her green and orange car on the grid of race 1, starting from 19th position (out of 47 cars). After a great start, Sarah was already in 15th position at the end of the first lap and was fighting to join the top 10 when a gearbox issue obliged her to slow down the pace.

"The car was really good and I was over-motivated to give the wheel back to Ben in P 10 or better. However, with the very hot temperatures, something broke in the gearbox, making it very difficult to use the 6th and then 3nd and 4th gears. I therefore tried to do my best to bring the car back at the end of my stint without loosing positions. Ben then did a great job and managed to keep an excellent pace, notwithstanding our gearbox issues, to finally claim the 8th place in category".

Taking the start of race 2, Ben Gersekowski took a brilliant start, catching no less than nine positions in only one lap. With a car having now a great set-up (and the gearbox issue completely fixed thanks to the mechanic's hard work during the evening), Ben made an excellent stint to bring the car back and pass the wheel to Sarah in 15th position. Notwithstanding a penalty for having left the pitlane a few tents before the end of the minimum required time for driver change, Sarah finally crossed the line within the top 10 of the category, scoring again for the championship.

"All in all, it’s a good week-end, even if we know that with the new set-up we found for the car, together with Leipert Motorsport and our new engineer, we could have claimed a podium in the two races! Anyway, we now know that the car ─ and drivers ─ are able to do it and we have definitely made huge progresses in our understanding of the car. I cannot wait for the next race in Francorchamps. I really thing we will be able to fight for a podium there, at least! This would be the best manner to thank the team, our mechanics, and of course our partners and supporters during my home race.
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Come and join us on 29 and 30 July in Spa Francorchamps, during the 24h of Spa weekend, to live with us a great event!”.