The southern French race track in Paul Ricard, located in the mountains above Nice, is and remains a good place for racing driver Wolfgang Kaufmann. As part of the historic French Grand Prix, the man from Molsberg once again competed in Formula 2 with his March 782 BMW.
 
In the training sessions, Kaufmann already showed his potential, but initially spared the historical material. "In qualifying, which decides the starting order in the first race, I didn't use all of the driving time," said Kaufmann. However, the short impact on the high-speed track was easily enough for the third fastest time.
On Saturday, the first race was the task before Wolfgang Kaufmann. Due to very high temperatures, the race management decided not to start the classic (standing) Grand Prix as usual, but to send the field on its journey with a rolling start. "That was a bit of a pity, because on the one hand it's simply part of these cars, on the other hand you can really show your skills as a driver with a standing start," said Wolfgang Kaufmann, at least slightly disappointed.
Kaufmann got off to a good start when the car was cleared to start, but initially had to settle for third place for the first few laps. But after a few laps he was able to move up to 2nd place. The distance to the leader had already grown considerably. "But I had a good rhythm and was able to drive a few fast and smooth laps, which gradually brought me close to the top position," said a happy Kaufmann. In the penultimate lap he was even able to pass, but the lead was not to be his for long. "At the beginning of the start-finish, the speed dropped a bit too much for me, so that when I accelerated out, I lost first place again." Kaufmann was not able to regain the top position in the last few meters, but was more than satisfied with his position in view of the way the race went 2 on target.
 
The second race on Sunday started from the first row, and the field started rolling again. This time, Wolfang Kaufmann prevailed directly in the first corner and took the lead in the heavily occupied Formula 2 field. In the first half of the race, an exciting battle for positions with the previous day's winner ensued, in which the lead changed several times per lap. At half time, Kaufmann was able to gradually break away and secure the lead. Thanks to the high level of consistency in the lap times, he even increased the gap a little and won the second race of the weekend with ease.
"The historic Grand Prix in Paul Ricard was again an unbelievable event," said Wolfgang Kaufmann enthusiastically. "Lots of spectators, a super exciting program, super cool races and really nice trophies for the winners." As a special treat, there were also many former Formula 1 heroes such as Rene Arnoux, Patrick Tambay, Jean Alesi or Yannick Dalmas, who at the award ceremonies the trophies handed over. "It was indescribable to be able to receive congratulations from such greats or to be able to talk about shared times from Formula 3 and FIA GT, as with Dalmas."
 
The season is not yet over for his March 782 BMW Formula 2 car. The races in Dijon are still firmly in the program. A start in British Oulton Park could possibly take place.