Bentley Team HTP looks back at a successful weekend in Germany and Italy: The Bentley Continental GT3 secured a podium finish in two different Championships. Following a second place finish in the Blancpain Sprint Series in Misano (Italy), Maximilian Buhk (D) and Vincent Abril (F) keep their title hopes very much alive. Fabian Hamprecht (D) and Clemens Schmid (A) also came second at the season finale of the ADAC GT Masters at Hockenheim.
After Podium in Misano, Title chances are still open
Bentley Team HTP experienced an up-and-down weekend at the Italian race track of Misano. Maximilian Buhk (D) and Vincent Abril (F) title hopes got a boost when they scored another podium finish in Sunday’s feature race and reduced their point’s gap in the championship. For Max van Splunteren (NL) and Jules Szymkowiak (NL) in a second Bentley, the weekend was brought to an early end following an accident in the qualifying race.
Thanks to a flawless performance, Buhk and Abril secured second place in the main race, racing the #84 Bentley Continental GT3 with the number 84. Both drivers are now in second place in the Championship’s standings with 101 points. Their closest rivals, Robin Frijns and Laurens Vanthoor (109), are only eight points ahead in the ranking.
Due to a contact with another driver, the qualifying race saw an early finish for Jules Szymkowiak in #83 Bentley Continental GT3. The Dutchman hit the track barriers, hindering him from participating in Sunday’s race.
The final round of the Blancpain Sprint Series will already take place this coming weekend from 9th until 11th October in Zandvoort, Netherlands
Heart-stopping Season Finale with a Podium for Bentley Team HTP
The ADAC GT Masters celebrated a worthy showdown for the season finale at Hockenheimring. Fabian Hamprecht and Clemens Schmid, driving the #8 Bentley Continental GT3, climbed onto the podium in Saturday´s race. Coming from seventh on the grid, the driver pairing fought their way up with impressive overtaking manoeuvres.
The #7 Bentley Continental GT3 with Luca Stolz (D) and Tom Dillmann (F) started from Pole Position. Stolz was leading the race in the early part, but was forced to retire whilst running in first position.
In Sunday’s race, Hamprecht/Schmid did not cross the finishing line in their Bentley Continental GT3 in the final race of the season, Stolz/Dillmann came home in 11th place.
“All-in-all we had a successful weekend with podiums both in Hockenheim and Misano. It is a great achievement by the team to get on the podium at two different race meetings in one weekend”, said Bentley Team HTP-Team Principal Norbert Brückner. “We have everything going for us now in the Sprint Series and are in a good position for the title. It is just a shame for Jules and Max for not having been able to start the race on Sunday.”
Driver Quotes:
Maximilian Buhk: „I had a perfect start and a good first lap in the main race. After that, I had a nice battle with the Lamborghini and waited for him to make a mistake. After I managed to overtake him, I tried to drive away. I am very pleased with our result.”
Vincent Abril: „There was nothing we could do against the Ferrari in the lead. Second place is the maximum we could achieve and we can be very happy about that. The 18 points are very important for the Championship.”
Tom Dillmann: „It all went well during the first race and it looked promising. We knew, we would be having a good run over the distance, but then bad luck struck us. It was not easy in the rain for the second race, which we had already expected.”
Clemens Schmid: „The first race went really well, I had a good start and a great fight with Bruno Spengler in the BMW, but it is not easy to drive past a DTM-Champion and I did not want to risk too much. But we managed to get in front of him after a good pitstop strategy. The plan worked. We suffered bad luck in the last race and had an early finish.”