Motorsport News
Bernard Franke Wins 2007 GT2 Touring Car Championship
By source: Franke Racing
Oct 18, 2007, 13:49

Driving his Volvo S60 Challenge car, Bernard Franke has won the GT2 championship (formerly named GTO class) for the second straight year. Racing at the famous “Le Circuit Mont-Tremblant” for the final 2 races of the season, the pilot was not in the best of condition suffering from a bad cold and a shoulder spasm.

Having qualified conservatively for the race #1 on Saturday, Franke decided to take it easy for the first 2 laps of the race in order to avoid the usual first lap crashes. From then on, lap after lap, determined and well concentrated, he began to pass the slower cars to finish 6th in his class for the race.

The next day, Franke did a very short qualifying run in order to preserve the car. At the drop of the green flag for the #2 race, the pilot once again used restraint and controlled his emotions as the championship was on the line. About halfway through the race, Franke increased his tempo. He saw his lap times starting to drop to the point that he beat his personal lap record. From then on, he kept his cool knowing he had enough points to win the Championship if he finished the race. After a very intense 15 laps of racing with GT cars from 3 different classes the Silver and Blue Volvo S60 crossed the finish line 8th in his class winning the second GT2 Championship in a row.

Franke’s summary of the season: “The first half of the season was fantastic! The car ran well and we had an epic race 3 at Sanair. From then on, a string of nasty distractions tested my determination and caused us to lose some ground in the second half. However still leading the Championship I just did not back down: I forged ahead one race at a time. This season was so much harder than 2006! Cars with better horse power to weight ratio raced in the class so we knew from day one this would turn out to be a high speed chess game. After a grueling 9 race season throughout Québec and Ontario I was very happy to see the checkered flag at the finish line and to win the title.”

During the last 24 months, the Franke Racing team has accumulated 13 podium finishes in 17 races and finished every single race it has entered. For Volvo cars it also means winning its second manufacturers championship with Franke Racing and Charles Hammer from Chag Autosport who finished 5th in the final standings.

This year’s sponsorship partners included “Care by Volvo” from Volvo cars of Canada, Castrol oil products, Wurth Canada, Vitro Plus Ste-Agathe, Evolve Cars, Fix Auto Ste-Agathe, X-Vitres tinted glass and Infographie Boréale.

Bernard Franke is president and co-owner of Franke Volvo in Ste-Agathe-des-Monts, Québec. Among his driving achievements he has won the Québec Rally Championship in 1983, the Eastern Canadian Rally Championship in 1984, the Canadian Rally Championship Runner up (1984-1986) and the Canadian Manufacturers Rally Champion for Volvo in 1986 at the wheel of 240 Turbo Group A rally car. After a 13 year sabbatical from motor racing where he competed in Duathlons and Marathons, Franke began racing F125 shifter karts in 2000. In 2005, he raced a Mercedes-Benz C280 in the Hankook Touring car Championship. In 2006 with his actual Volvo S60 Challenge car he won the GTO touring car Championship and won the Manufacturers Cup for Volvo Cars of Canada.

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