The No.22 GT-R of Brits Struan Moore, Matt Parry and Australian GT Academy winner Matt Simmons pulled off a 13th place finish in the three hour battle.

The trio had looked set for a top ten finish only to suffer a late race drive-through penalty for contact.
The No.23 machine piloted by the Nissan factory stars was even more unlucky with Lucas Ordóñez left with nowhere to go when he was caught up in a massive green flag crash.

Contact between two cars on the start caused drama for the tightly packed 50 car field with Ordóñez one of 16 cars caught in the crash – an incredible 32 per cent of the field involved in the incident.

Teammates Katsumasa Chiyo and Alex Buncombe sadly never got to drive in the race.

The 13th place finish for the No.22 car came after a brilliant performance in qualifying by Matt Parry who put the car sixth on the grid.

“It felt good to be able to pick off the cars ahead of me at the start of my stint, and the car felt really good for the entire time I was on track,” Parry said.

“The penalty was just one of those things, and I’ll learn from it, but it’s disappointing to think that, without the drive-though, we could have finished well inside the top ten.

“That would have been a fantastic debut for the No.22 car, but I think we can look forward to the next race with a lot of confidence.”

Motul Team RJN will now set its sights on the second round of the championship at Silverstone in the UK on May 13-14.

The first test for the for the new car took place on April 11-12 at Fuji International Speedway where development drivers, Masataka Yanagida and Michael Krumm were joined by Mitsunori Takaboshi, who is competing in this season’s Super GT GT300 class driving the current model Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3.

Additional tests will take place in both Japan and Europe to develop the new GT-R which will replace the current specification car which is competing in championships around the world in 2017 including Super GT GT300 in Japan, Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup throughout Europe and Pirelli World Challenge in the USA.

“It was amazing how all the systems worked so well right from the beginning and the potential for making further improvements is very high,” said Michael Krumm.

“As this car will be used worldwide by a variety of drivers with different styles, I want to work hard to ensure that it is possible to drive it safely at high speeds. I’m looking forward to the next tests.”

Car #2 sees a completely new trio, composed of Nathanaël Berthon, who has won this year the Tropée Andros with Team WRT on a very different kind of ground, Stéphane Richelmi, who comes back to the Belgian squad for which he drove in 2015, and Bénoît Tréluyer. The 40-year-old Frenchman joins with one WEC World Champion title and three wins at Le Mans 24 Hours under his belt, but ready to enrich its string of successes with Audi.  “This season, I want to enjoy myself and push my limits”, explains the Frenchman, “In LMP, due to the technology, we drivers were dependant on the car and were less involved in the overall performance. This is not the case in GT racing where “attack” really does mean attack! I’m lucky to still be defending the colours of Audi and  WRT is an incredible organization, I am really impressed. After working with the best WEC team, I was expecting to go down a step… Not at all! In addition, there is a very friendly atmosphere. The only difference is that here everybody speaks French, which is obviously a bonus!  Nathanaël and Stéphane are quick and friendly, I am delighted to be able to bring some experience to the line-up.”

Car #3 will also see a welcome returnee, as Niki Mayr-Melnhof is back with the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT after a few seasons. The personable Austrian will have as team mates two newcomers, young guns Josh Caygill from Great Britain and Australia’s Jonathan Venter.

In car #5, two established values of the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT such as Will Stevens and Dries Vanthoor will team up with another member of Audi’s former WEC squad, Marcel Fässler, who has shared WEC and Le Mans crowns with Tréluyer. The youngest of the trio, Dries Vanthoor, is ready to go for big things: “I think we have a strong trio of fast drivers”, says the young Belgian, “and I am sure we will benefit a lot from Marcel’s great experience in long-distance races. Monza, for sure, is not listed among the most favorable tracks to us, but we are ready to fight against the power cars with the good weapons we have in Endurance races: consistency,  team work, strategy. The objective is to reach a good result and score as many points as we can. We’ll also have to see how the new tires perform. What reassures me is that at Misano, even if we didn’t have a good weekend, once the car’s set-up was good, Marcel and I had an excellent pace.”

Finally, car #17, will combine experience and youth, as newcomer Jake Dennis joins the team and GT racing from GP3, alongside Stuart Leonard and Robin Frijns, who start their second and third season, respectively, with the team. This line-up, though, is experiencing a last-minute change, as it was known today that Robin Frijns has to withdraw due to a knee injury yesterday while training. It will be an expert driver such as Markus Winkelhock subbing for the Dutchman in this situation of force majeure.

Ahead of the traditional Spring event at Monza, Team Principal Vincent Vosse sets out clearly his expectations: “We never go to Monza with full confidence, as we know it is not the most favourable track for us, but we are definitely motivated to get a good result. It’s some years now that we haven’t achieved a podium finish at Monza, and it would be nice to be on the rostrum this year and get things straight after what we went through at Misano. We know that we are good in longer races and that we have four excellent entries, so we definitely have some cards in our hands… It is going to be a very busy weekend for Team WRT, as we are busy on many fronts, but this happens quite often these days, and we are able to manage it. Last weekend, we were happy to celebrate the title of Mohammed Bin Saud in the Saudi GT Championship and we made prime time news on TV there, which is great. We hope this is well-wishing for this weekend!”

Action at the Autodromo will start on Friday, with qualifying scheduled on Sunday morning and the “3 Ore” kicking-off at 14:45 in the afternoon.

The reigning champion missed out on the Endurance Cup crown last year by only one point. Following his two successes in the Sprint Cup, he is now 12 points clear ahead of the runner-ups in the overall Drivers Championship and is aiming to set the first milestone in the Endurance race on Sunday.

A strong second place podium finish followed on a great Pole Position in 2016. The 24-year-old would welcome the opportunity to also charge ahead in Monza this year with new team-mates Franck Perera (FRA) and Jimmy Eriksson (SWE). “We had a perfect race in Misano and we were specifically dominant in the main race on Sunday”, says Buhk looking ahead to the weekend.

“Saying that, we should not take this for granted since the competiveness of all cars in the field is probably the closest we have seen in recent years. Monza is a very demanding track for both man and machine and there have been some people suffering bad luck with a technical failure right before seeing the chequered flag. Misano has made us stronger and we know of the potential of the Mercedes-AMG GT3 and our abilities. One way or another, it will be a very exciting first Endurance Cup weekend.”

In the course of the current season and its engagements for Buhk, there have been four more race additions alongside the 24h-Race at Nürburgring and the Blancpain GT Series. The Hamburg driver will compete in four races of the Blancpain GT Series Asia.

The 3 Hours of Monza takes place this coming Sunday (23 April) with the 23-year-old Thai behind the wheel of the #50 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GT3 paired with Italians Michele Rugolo and Alessandro Pier Guidi meaning the team, driver and car line-up heads into the new season unchanged – offering Pasin a strong platform to build on with his rookie year in Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup now behind him.

Last year was Pasin’s first in Blancpain GT and was a case jumping in the deep end and learning as he went along. In those terms it was a very successful season although results didn’t always come as the Ferrari’s BoP plus technical issues came into play. However, the high point was a superbly fought runners up spot in the Paul Ricard 1000 km and the young Thai and his teammates go into their second season together hungry and confident of digging out results.

Blancpain GT is sportscar racing’s toughest call though and Pasin goes up against some of the leading factory-supported teams and professional drivers in sportscar racing over some of Europe’s most renown racetracks. Blancpain GT Endurance Cup, which is promoted by SRO and exclusively reserved for FIA GT3 cars, always features packed grids and this year is set to be no different with an impressive 54 cars from brands including McLaren, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Aston Martin, BMW, Jaguar, Lamborghini, Bentley, Audi and Nissan, as well as Ferrari, on the entry list for Monza and a who’s who of Gold and Platinum drivers in the cockpits (Pasin is ranked as a Silver level driver). The #50 Ferrari will compete in the PRO class so their battle will be for the overall positions.

This will be the young Thai’s sixth year in sportscar racing. He spent his formative years competing in junior single-seater formulae before his sportscar career kicked off in the Ferrari Challenge Asia Pacific, where he became Vice Champion during his rookie year (2012) and Champion the next season (2013). Then it was time to switch continents and that means this will be Pasin’s fourth season racing in Europe, having contested the British GT Championship (2014), International GT Open (2015) and Blancpain GT (2016). Highlights of those European campaigns include winning the Spa 24 Hours Pro-Am and Vice Champion in International GT Open as well as runner up in the Paul Ricard 1000 km. At the same time he’s also contested several of the world’s most prestigious endurance races, including the Daytona 24 Hours, Petit Le Mans 10 Hours and Sepang 12 Hours.

Pasin has a robust record at Italy’s legendary Autodromo Nazionale Monza. Last year it also opened the Blancpain GT season and while the #50 Ferrari showed plenty of pace that challenge ended with a late race DNF. Pasin’s first appearance on the 5.793-km/11-turn circuit actually came in 2013 in a one off outing in Superstars GT Series where he finished on the podium; it was also his first ever time out in a GT3 car. His next visit came in 2014 when he took in the Italian track as part of a late season programme in International GT Open and a visit to the podium beckoned again. His third trip came in 2015, again in International GT open, and once again he walked out to Monza’s unique jutting podium.

Pasin is being supported during the 2017 Blancpain GT Endurance Series by NaRaYa, LaLaMa, NaRa by NaRaYa, Tourism Authority of Thailand and Sport Authority of Thailand.

Pasin Lathouras: “I’m really looking forward to getting back to racing in Monza this weekend, it feels like it’s been a long close season! This will be the second year for me in Blancpain GT and last year I feel that we didn’t get the results to show our pace so there is no question that we are on the hunt for podiums this year. It’s great to be back with AF Corse and with Michele and Alessandro, I would like to thank the team and my supporters for this programme coming together, I hope to be able to reward everyone’s faith in me and now we all need to knuckle down and get on the pace in Monza.”

An endurance specialist, this 27-year-old German driver knows the category, the car and the Blancpain GT Series well. He will undoubtedly be quickly up to speed and should allow Team AKKA-ASP to clearly show their intentions in the Pro-AM Cup. Watch this space…

Team AKKA-ASP in Monza

PRO category
Nr90 Raffaele MARCIELLO (ITA) – Michael MEADOWS (GBR) – Edoardo MORTARA (ITA)
Nr88 Felix SERRALLES (PRI) – Daniel JUNCADELLA (ESP) – Tristan VAUTIER (FRA)

Pro-AM Cup
Nr87 Jean Luc BEAUBELIQUE (FRA) – Nico BASTIAN (DEU) – Jules GOUNON (FRA)
Nr89 Daniele PERFETTI (SUI) – Alex FONTANA (SUI) – Ludovic BADEY (FRA)

Filip Salaquarda, class 1984, has acquired a lot of experience in this championship and has five participations to this championship behind his back now. He scored important results with GT class cars, but also on open wheelers with which he has been shining early on in his career.

Frank Stippler is one of the most successful Audi Factory Driver born in 1975. He is also one of the most experienced driver on the Ingolstadt’s cars, been competing on the Audi’s cars since 2004. Last year he won the VLN Endurance Championship on the Audi R8 LMS, repeating the victory scored in 2014. His long career features two victories of the 24 Hours of Nürburgring in 2011 and 2012, but also a second place at the Fia GT Series 2013 and the triumphs in the Porsche Carrera Cup Germany and in the Porsche Michelin Supercup 2003.

Clemens Schmid, class 1990, is at his first season with I.S.R. racing and with Audi, but he already took part in the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup of 2015 and 2016. He displayed his great potential in the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East taking two victories in 2013 and 2015, coming also second in 2014 and 2012. Schmid has a second place at the 24 Hours of Dubai 2015 under his belt too.

The race of Monza announces to be spectacular with more than fifty cars at the start. The weekend will kick off on Friday April 21st with Bronze Tests from 16:25 (GMT +2). A double free practice session will follow on Saturday April 22nd at 10:45 and pre-qualifying at 16:05. Qualifying will take place on April 23rd at local 9:50, while the three hours long race will get green lights at 14:45.

Motorsport TV will follow the event live in Europe, while Eurosport will air highlights on Tuesday April 25th. The live streaming of the race with British or French commentary will be available at www.blancpain-gt-series.com.

Igor Salaquarda (I.S.R. racing, Team Principal):
“The opener of the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup is always a very exciting event and I am very happy of taking on this new challenge with three drivers that showed their value and determination in the past. Frank, Filip and Clemens will share driving duties on the same car for the first time, but I am certain that they will quickly find the right feeling to play the role of protagonists. This is going to be our third full year in this championship, we know well all the rounds therefore we will work step by step to run a very strong season”.

Every year, the three-hour race in Monza marks the start to the worldwide highly acclaimed Endurance Cup. The Endurance Cup consists of four races plus the exciting 24-hours of Spa, in which the strong competitors will fight hard for the point finishes. Emil Frey Jaguar Racing has had a string of bad luck in Monza in past years and hopes to secure a good result following the successfully completed tests ahead of the season.

“We suffered a lot of bad luck last year with a tyre puncture right before the end of the race and we could also not be satisfied with the results in previous years”, says Lorenz Frey, Team Principal Emil Frey Jaguar Racing. “Monza is a track that asks for good performance with low downforce, a good engine power, aerodynamic efficiency and good breaks, all attributes the GT3 Jaguar features. The tests went well and therefore we are highly-motivated for the first race of the year and would like to achieve a good result.”
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The number 14 Emil Frey GT3 Jaguar will be driven by the well-known driver pairing Albert Costa Balboa from Spain, Stéphane Ortelli (MCO) and Lorenz Frey (CH). The sister car with the number 114 will see the team´s new entry, Marco Seefried (GER), Jonathan Hirschi (CH) and Austrian Christian Klien behind the wheel.

The Blancpain Endurance Cup will go underway with the first Free Practice session on Saturday, 22 April 2017 from 10:45 am. Qualifying will commence on Sunday at 09:50 am, with the three-hour race starting at 14:45 pm. More information and Live-Streaming at www.blancpain-gt-series.com

Driver Quotes Emil Frey GT3 Jaguar #14

Albert Costa Balboa (ESP)
“I am excited for the start of the season and look forward to racing with Emil Frey Racing again this year. The Blancpain GT Series is becoming more and more competitive each year and it is all the more exciting to race against the best of the best. We are ready!”

Stéphane Ortelli (MCO)
“I very much like to drive in the Blancpain GT Series and I am looking forward to race with the Emil Frey GT3 Jaguar again. I feel good and it will be great to sit in the cockpit again and start the new season. I have special memories of Monza and every time I go there it is something special to drive on this track.”

Lorenz Frey (CH)
“We have prepared ourselves intensively since the last race and are in a good position. We have improved many components in our team and have a strong overall package. I am happy to race in Monza and it will be interesting to see, where we will end up.”
 
Driver Quotes Emil Frey GT3 Jaguar #114

Marco Seefried (GER)
“I am delighted to drive for such an experienced and traditional team as Emil Frey Racing this year. The team made the change very easy for me and I felt a warm welcome right from the first day. I have been impressed with the professional way of working by the whole team and I cannot wait to finally get going in Monza.”
 
Jonathan Hirschi (CH)
“We are all very much motivated. Our aim is, to have some good Top-10 results this year and after the good preparations, this goal should be realistic.”
 
Christian Klien (A)
“We are heading into the season with a positive feeling following the promising tests over the winter and also the results at the official test days in Paul Ricard. We were able to drive plenty of mileage and laps without any major issues. We should be in a good position for Monza and I look forward to the race.”

The team will run two cars in the Endurance Cup in 2017 with Nissan factory aces Katsumasa Chiyo, Alex Buncombe and Lucas Ordóñez leading the charge on board the No.23 Nissan.

The team’s second car will be piloted by Brits Struan Moore and Matt Parry alongside Australian GT Academy winner, Matt Simmons.

After a strong performance at the recent pre-season test at Circuit Paul Ricard, the team enters this weekend’s opening round in a positive mood with its sights set to reclaiming the championship Nissan earned in the Endurance Cup in 2015.

“We need to start off Monza well and I think it is important to kick off the season on a strong note,” Buncombe said.

“If we can have a podium there, that would be great. We qualified second fastest at Monza last year so we’re heading back to a track where the Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 has traditionally been quite strong.

“Having the NISMO TV live stream and the on board camera in our car is great for the fans. I do go back and watch the on board stuff after the race to watch our starts and restarts and look at where we could have made some more positions.

“You get an idea as to whether you got on the throttle in the right place and I find you can learn quite a lot.”

The team’s two cars will hit the track for practice and pre-qualifying on Saturday, April 22, with qualifying and the race scheduled for Sunday, April 23.

Both qualifying and the race will be streamed live on NISMO.TV on YouTube.

Stichting Daniel den Hoed
The Dutch Stichting Daniel den Hoed collects funds to increase scientific research in the Erasmus MC Kanker Instituut in Rotterdam. The goal of the foundation is to provide each patient with a unique personal treatment, based on the most modern and recent scientific results.

https://www.danieldenhoedstichting.nl

The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity
With over 50.000 people cared for each year, the British Royal Marsden Cancer Charity is a world-leading cancer centre that pioneers new treatments that save lives. Its research is used every day to provide the very best in diagnosis, treatment and care for its patients. The revolutionary way people are treated in its hospitals has far-reaching impact, nationally and internationally.

https://www.royalmarsden.org

Womanity
Guided by a vision of a world where all women and men have equal and full social, economic and political participation, the Womanity Foundation undertakes to empower girls and women in developing countries to shape their future and accelerate progress within their communities.

http://womanity.org

C.A.D.R.E.
C.A.D.R.E. , the Belgian Centre d’Aide au Développement et Recherche d’Emancipation, was created in 2004 by parents, friends and professsionals. Its goal was to create an educational farm for 25 adults with disabilities, to increase their activities, social life and personal development.

http://www.cadre-asbl.be

For the 2017 edition, Lamborghini Squadra Corse has selected 23 young drivers, three more than last year. This is due to the fact that the number of Huracán GT3s participating in the various competitions is constantly increasing, thanks to the great success of the car designed and manufactured in Sant’Agata Bolognese: from the two cars fielded in 2015, their number then increased to 40 units in 2016 and in the current season over 50 Lamborghini GT3s will be taking part in 13 international GT championships.

The 2017 GT3 Junior Program includes some new entries who have climbed the pyramid of the youth programs of Lamborghini Squadra Corse: starting from the Young Drivers Program, the format for youngsters under 26 years of age racing in the Super Trofeo one-make series; the most deserving ones have gained access to the upper step, the GT3 Junior Program.

Just to name a few examples, we can mention the Dane Dennis Lind, 2016 European and World champion of the Super Trofeo in the PRO class and Andrea Fontana, the 20-year-old Italian 2016 world champion of the one-make series in the Pro-Am category. We can continue the list with the young Croat Martin Kodric, another protagonist during last season’s championship featuring Huracán Super Trofeos.

The presence in the program has also been reconfirmed for many drivers who distinguished themselves in the panorama of international GT competitions during the past season: from Andrea Amici and Edoardo Liberati,  2016 GT Asia Series champions, to Fabrizio Crestani, winner of the International GT Open title; from Michele Beretta, who triumphed in the Silver Cup of the Blancpain GT to Riccardo Agostini and Alberto Di Folco, who arrived third in the Italian GT Championship; not to mention the excellent results of the Dutchman Jeroen Mul or the third place of the American Madison Snow in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

« During the year 2016  – says Giorgio Sanna, – Head of Motorsport of Automobili Lamborghini –  Lamborghini took part in GT3 championships with customer teams for the first time and winning two international championship titles with Amici, Liberati and Crestani, Super Trofeo drivers and members of the GT3 Junior Program, demonstrates that the young driver program works and provides mutual opportunities both for drivers and our company. Besides sporting results, it should be emphasized how these young drivers have rapidly become valid ambassadors of our brand and part of the Lamborghini Accademia, thanks to the training program organized by the Lamborghini Squadra Corse staff.”

As members of the GT3 Junior Program, the drivers selected by Squadra Corse are entitled to carry out a series of activities involving them directly with the head quarter of Lamborghini. For example, they have the opportunity to be selected to become drivers/instructors of the Lamborghini Accademia, the official driving school open to all super sports car enthusiasts. After a series of training sessions on the product range, teaching techniques on track and behavioral concepts, the most suitable drivers are selected by Lamborghini Squadra Corse to work as instructors during Accademia events all over the world.

The drivers of the GT3 Junior Program, like the members of the Young Drivers Program, are also trained to become well-rounded professionals. Over the year, there are meeting sessions during which drivers are involved in the technical development of Huracán Super Trofeos and GT3s, including tests on track with technicians of Lamborghini Squadra Corse and Pirelli. Drivers are also assisted in terms of athletic and dietary preparation and instructed in the product range, communication and everything concerning the Lamborghini world, which enables them to become outright brand ambassadors.

The training program is implemented and improved year by year and one of the innovations of the year 2017 is the introduction of a new supervisor for the Young Drivers Program and GT3 Junior Program. The young drivers will be assisted on field by Raffaele Giammaria, Italian driver with a long experience both in GT competitions and in education as the Director of the ACI Sport Federal School. The task of Giammaria and his staff is to constantly monitor the drivers’ performance and activity and to provide them with the adequate tools for their professional improvement.

Below is the complete list of the drivers selected for the 2017 GT3 Junior Program of Lamborghini Squadra Corse

Bentley Team M-Sport has once again entered two cars in the full GT Series and has its sights set on all three titles, including the Sprint Series Cup that started in Misano this weekend.

The #7 Continental GT3 started Saturday’s qualifying race from ninth position but great driving from Abril and Kane, combined with solid strategy and pit-stops, meant they finished in third. In Sunday’s main race, the team fought hard in a wheel-to-wheel battle and crossed the line in second place.

Fortune, however, was not on the side of the #8 sister car of Andy Soucek (ES) and Maxime Soulet (BE), which was caught-up in an incident in Saturday’s qualifying race and forced to retire for the weekend.

“It’s great to have some points in the bag following the first race and even better to see that the team straight back in to its stride all weekend,” commented Bentley’s Director of Motorsport, Brian Gush. “It’s a shame for car #8 but we have a long season ahead of us to make up lost ground. It’s three weeks until Monza so we’ll repair the car and head into the second round of the season feeling confident and focused.”

The Monza round of the Blancpain GT Series takes place on 22/23 April and fans can watch at www.youtube.com/gtworld.

DRIVER QUOTES

Vince Abril, Car #7: “I thought I could have taken the lead at the start but I didn’t want to take any risks. The leader was on new tyres and I knew that even if I got past it would have been difficult to keep him behind. It feels like a win because we achieved in every aspect. The team was fantastic, the pit crew was on it and Steven was great all weekend. His second stint was the best stint I’ve ever watched.”
 
Steven Kane, Car #7: “I’m really happy that we are going home with two trophies. The team did a fantastic job with the car the whole weekend. The pitstops were fantastic and Vince did a cracking job. We need to continue this performance into the next round at Monza in three weeks time.”

19.683 seconds down, AKKA ASP’s Michael Meadows (GBR) and Raffaele Marciello (ITA) secured second place with the #90 AKKA ASP Mercedes-AMG GT3. Driving the sister car with starting number #88, Felix Serralles (PUR) and Daniel Juncadella (ESP) also made it into the top five by finishing fourth. In its first Blancpain GT Series race, Customer Racing Team Kornely Motorsport secured third place in the Pro-Am class with Kenneth Heyer (GER) and Yoshi Mori (JPN) driving the car with the striking ‘Hello Kitty’ livery. HTP Motorsport’s junior drivers, Fabian Schiller (GER, 19 years) and Jules Szymkowiak (NED, 21 years) also made a strong impression. Having started from tenth place, they finished in an impressive second place, but lost this position again following a post-race time penalty of 40 seconds. Still, they secured victory in the Silver Cup class with eleventh place overall.

The classification of the race on Saturday also determined the starting grid positions for the main race on Sunday. Starting driver Franck Perera led the 29 competitors strong field from the start at the 4.226 kilometres long circuit on the Adriatic coast behind the wheel of the #84 Mercedes-AMG GT3. In total, three Mercedes-AMG GT3 were in contention for the top 5. After the mandatory pit stop with driver change, the previous day’s winners Buhk / Perera also led the field going into the second part of the race. Maximilian Buhk again built up a comfortable lead and went on to secure the second race win of the weekend for HTP Motorsport. Thus, the reigning champions had a perfect start of the Blancpain GT Series season and laid the foundation for their mission of defending the title.

Further down, Dominik Baumann (AUT) for HTP Motorsport and Daniel Juncadella for AKKA ASP staged a thrilling battle with a Bentley for the remaining podium slots, second and third place. Earlier on, the HTP Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 had shown impressive progress from 20th place on the grid. Eventually, the #86 Mercedes-AMG GT3 with Dominik Baumann and Jimmy Eriksson (SWE) in third and AKKA ASP’s Daniel Juncadella and Felix Serralles in fourth completed a very successful weekend for Mercedes-AMG Motorsport in Italy.

A pair of wins in the Blancpain GT Sports Club
Supporting the Blancpain GT Series Spring Cup, the Misano World Circuit also hosted two races for the GT Sports Club over the weekend. In the 25 minutes’ qualifiying race, Anthony Pons (FRA) and Daniele Perfetti (SUI) secured first and third place for Customer Racing Team AKKA ASP, driving the Mercedes-AMG GT3 with starting numbers #72 and #87. Oliver Baumann (AUT) finished fourth with the DB Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3. In Sunday’s main race, Pons and Perfetti used the good starting grid positions they had secured on the previous day and scored a dominant 1-2 after 40 minutes.

Maximilian Buhk, HTP Motorsport #84: “The start of the qualifying race wasn’t easy, because we had to wait some 20 minutes before the race resumed. However, I quickly found my rhythm again and I was able to build up an advantage that we managed to keep until the finish. In the second race, Franck drove a perfect first stint. The pit stop was really quick and the Mercedes-AMG GT3 ran greatly throughout the weekend. Two wins from the season opener, a perfect weekend for us.”
 
Franck Perera, HTP Motorsport #84: “This was my first race with the Mercedes-AMG GT3 for HTP Motorsport and together with Maximilian Buhk. Scoring a victory straight away was overwhelming, of course. The start of the main race went very well, too. I pushed in order to achieve a maximum advantage. Then, Maximilian did a great job and drove victory home. I am delighted with this pair of wins, it was an excellent weekend for HTP Motorsport.”

Dominik Baumann, HTP Motorsport #86: “For us, third place in the main race is like victory. Nobody had expected that. We started from 20th place. Jimmy did a perfect job and brought the car in for me to take over while in seventh place. I tried everything to move up to second place, but today’s result with a podium finish is simply great.”

Daniel Juncadella, AKKA ASP #88: “In fact, I am quite happy with our pair of fourth places from the weekend. After qualifying, I didn’t expect that. We weren’t entirely happy with our pace, we still have to analyse that, but all in all, it was a good weekend and we have scored valuable points. After all, the season is still long.”

Already the qualifying race on Saturday turned out to be ever so eventful: Immediately after the start a huge crash occurred at the back of the field, with the Grasser car number 19 driven by Norbert Siedler one of the helpless victims. “The guy did not have the slightest chance of avoiding to get involved in the mess”, team principal Gottfried Grasser had to state. Siedler himself of course was very disappointed, especially as the damage to the Lamborghini Huracán turned out to be too severe to allow a start in the main race on Sunday. “I imagined a slightly different start with Gottfried and the team, but unfortunately this is part of racing”, the Austrian said. “We had a few technical problems over the weekend which meant we never managed to get some proper running in – hence the low grid position. The earlier test at Misano had been really promising, so we came here thinking we could really do something… But now everyone has to look forward to the future and we have to get a better grid position in the next races to be out of the regions where crashes are most likely.”

Things seemed to go much more according to plan for the Grasser Lamborghini number 63: Mirko Bortolotti immediately climbed up to P4 from P6 on the grid, and after the race being red flagged and re-started due to the early crash even managed to improve to P2 behind the leading HTP-Mercedes. An early stop for driver change immediately after the opening of the pitstop window for once did not get rewarded: After everything being sorted again, Christian Engelhart found himself in P4 with a McLaren pushing hard close behind. Nevertheless P4 seemed to be rather safe until during the last lap of the race a backmarker got in the way of the two fighting front runners and involved them both in a crash: “I think it´s really sad that somebody already lapped gets herself involved into a championship fight for top positions”, Grasser was quite annoyed, after Engelhart at least still managed to bring the car home in P8 after the incident.

But bad luck continued during the main race: Christian Engelhart held P7 when he was spun around frim behind:  Mercedes driver Fabian Schiller got it completely wrong when trying to overtake a BMW racing close behind Engelhart and hit the Lamborghini. He later got a drive-through penalty for the offence, but this did not really help the Grasser squad to undo the damage already done:  Engelhart dropped back to P13, “and afterwards we really had to play catch up. Mirko Bortolotti still managed to bring the car back to P9, “but without the incident a Top 5 finish would have been possible”, Engelhart was adamant. “It was not an easy weekend, but with a great team effort we managed to collect a few championship points. A win was out of reach this weekend, but we will go for it again already at Monza.”  Bortolotti was also convinced “that for sure we deserved more than the two points we finally scored. With my personal performance over the weekend I am very happy.  Let´s keep working, I am optimistic for the season.”

Also, Gottfried Grasser tried to take the positive notes from the weekend: “At least in the end we scored some points. That´s something that really counts, as last year at this track we did not even reach the Top 25, now we are in the Top Ten – that´s some progress. Of course all the incedents were quite annoying, especially it´s really a pity for Ezequiel Companc, that he did not even get the chance to race at all at his start of the season. But I have to praise the team, the guys put in all-nighters nearly every day. Their performance is unbelievable. Thanks a lot for this! And now – heads up and just going on! There is a long season ahead of us, we got the first points and I am looking forward to Monza, as track that suits us well!”  

But before the start of the Blancpain-GT-Endurance Series at Monza at 22nd and  23rd of  April there will be another event for the Grasser Racing Team at their Austrian home turf: At the  Red Bull-Ring the team will take part in the 12 hour race, which belongs to the Creventis Endurance Series, with two cars. In car number 964 in the A6-Pro category Christian Engelhart and Swiss brothers  Rolf and Mark Ineichen will share drivers´duties,  while car number 963 in  A6-Am class will see  Milos Pavlovic, Christoph Lenz and Roberto Pampanini behind the wheel.

At the first free practice under bright sunshine, Alexander Mattschull and Daniel Keilwitz could adapt themselves to the track conditions and as well to the brand new Ferrari 488 GT3. The second free practice took place in the evening and went until the night. There the drivers could get an idea of the track in the darkness.

On Saturday afternoon it was time for the qualifying. In the first part of the qualifying, Alexander Mattschull was behind the steering wheel of the Italian race car. He reached a very good second place in the ProAm class, just a few hundredth behind the leader in the class. Daniel Keilwitz disputed the second qualifying. While attempting to drive a fast lap he was blocked by an opponent in his first sector. At the end, it was just enough for the third position in class and the 23rd position overall for the qualifying race.

On time at 20.30 o’clock, the first race started and Daniel Keilwitz was the starting driver. But already in the first lap, an accident occurred where six cars were involved. Due to his fast reaction, Keilwitz could avoid the crash, but he caught the wing from an Audi that stuck in the front. During the safety car, Keilwitz had to come to the pits to remove this car part. Just as he left the pits, the red flag was waived and he stuck in front of the red lights at pit exit. So the #333 had to restart from the pits. That is the reason why the Ferrari lost one lap on the field. After the restart, Daniel Keilwitz moved forward and convinced with good lap times. After the pit stop, Alexander Mattschull was in the Ferrari 488 GT3. At the end, it was just enough for a disappointing fourth place in the ProAm class.

On Sunday morning Alexander Mattschull started in the main race. Already in the first laps, he moved from the fourth to the second position in the ProAm class. With very good lap times he reached the first place in class and handed over the car to Daniel Keilwitz at the pit stop on this position. At the end, Keilwitz crossed the line as winner of the ProAm class.

Michele Rinaldi: „Well, the first race was a complete flop. To restart the race with a gap of one lap, did not give us the chance to catch up. However, the Ferrari convinced with fast lap times and kept up with the speed of the leaders. On Sunday we were rewarded with the win of the ProAm class. Those are important points for the championship.“

This weekend Rinaldi Racing will go to the second run of the VLN at the Nürburgring.

The win in Silver Cup also went to the HTP-camp, courtesy of Jules Szymkowiak and Fabian Schiller, with the Rinaldi Racing Ferrari of Alexander Matschull and Daniel Keilwitz claiming top spot in the Pro-Am Cup.

During the first main race of the 2017 Blancpain GT Series season, Franck Perera and Maxi Buhk continued their impressive run that started during yesterday’s qualifying race. Perera converted the pole position into the lead, increased his advantage to over seven seconds by the time the pit window opened and reigning Blancpain GT Series champion Maxi Buhk increased that lead to 23.353 seconds at the finish line. Never beforewas a Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup main race won by such a margin.

Behind the #84 HTP Motorsport Mercedes-AMG, Michael Meadows held on to second place for the first half of the race, but a problem with one of the wheel nuts at the pitstop dropped the #90 AKKA ASP Mercedes-AMG down the order. That promoted the #7 Bentley Team M-Sport Continental to second, with Steven Kane taking over from Vincent Abril. The Ulsterman was under severe pressure from Dominik Baumann, at the wheel of the #86 HTP Motorsport Mercedes-AMG. Jimmy Eriksson had already made an impressive comeback at the wheel of the black-and-green car – climbing from 20th on the starting grid to 7th at the pitstop – and once at the wheel, Baumann had gained some more places. The #7 Bentley proved to be too wide and too fast for them to pass, however, and the two cars remained in second and third till the end.

Right behind them AKKA ASP youngsters Dani Juncadella and Felix Serralles put a third Mercedes-AMG in the top four, with Romain Monti and Christopher Haase completing the top-5 at the wheel of the #26 Saintéloc Racing Audi. Theirs became the first of the R8 LMS cars to finish, after reigning Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup champion Enzo Ide spun out during the first half of the race.

Ide and co-driver Mies eventually finished in 11th, just in front of the #85 HTP Motorsport Mercedes-AMG of Jules Szymkowiak and Fabian Schiller, winners in Silver Cup. The youngest driver pairing on the grid (21 and 19 years of age respectively) had lost the advantage of their second place in the qualifying race after incurring a time penalty. When Schiller made contact with another car during the opening laps, their hopes of reclaiming a podium finish overall completely vanished. Nevertheless, they still managed to hold on to the win in Silver Cup, with the #42 Strakka Racing McLaren of Nick Leventis and Lewis Williamson taking second, after an impressive debut in the Blancpain GT Series.

The polesitter in the Pro-Am Cup, reigning champion Michael Broniszewski, was unable to defend his chances either, when his car quickly developed a problem. Alexander Matschull, at the wheel of the #333 Rinaldi Racing Ferrari, took advantage of a hectic few opening laps to establish a healthy lead, and Daniel Keilwitz completed the job. Kessel Racing TP12-duo and Blancpain GT Series-newcomers Carlo Van Dam and Piti Bhirombhakdi took the runners-up spot.

Maxi Buhk (#84 HTP Motorsport Mercedes-AMG, 1st): “It’s the best possible start to the season, but this is the point where we have to continue to work hard and keep this advantage for the rest of the season. The car was outstanding for the whole of the weekend, which was confirmed by the sister car that finished in third.”

Steven Kane (#7 Bentley Team M-Sport Continental, 2nd): “After a difficult 2016 it’s great to start the season with two podium finishes, especially on a track that has always been difficult for us. We’ve hit the ground running: we were quick in Bathurst, we were quick here. This holds a lot of promise for the rest of the season.”

Dominik Baumann (#86 HTP Motorsport Mercedes-AMG, 3rd): “I was a bit surprised to find myself in P3. Jimmy did a great job in getting to seventh at the pitstop. I tried to put Steven under pressure, but it was difficult to stay close to the Bentley all the time. Still, I am very happy with this result.”

Jules Szymkowiak (#85 HTP Motorsport Mercedes-AMG, 1st Silver Cup): “Our aim is to perform well overall, so we are disappointed with the result. We have the speed, but for the moment we cannot manage to put everything together. The win Silver Cup is a small bonus, but we would have liked to finish higher up.”

Alexander Matschull (#333 Rinaldi Racing Ferrari, 1st Pro-Am Cup): “We had a difficult start to the weekend, but today everything went a lot better. I managed to overtake quite a lot of cars and was very happy to hand over the car in a good position. Daniel did a perfect job in bringing the car home.”

Team Principal Vincent Vosse summarized the season-opener with few words: “It has been a bad weekend, one to forget as quickly as possible. We had a number of incidents that prevented or penalized the results, and some of our rivals had an incredible pace. The only really positive note was that the team won the Pit Stop Challenge, which proves once again how good our boys are. For the rest, let’s focus on the next race!”  

Since the very start of the weekend, with the two free practice sessions, it was clear that competition was going to be very tight. Free practice 2 ended with 22 cars within one second, with four of the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT in that group, Ide-Mies being the best-placed of the Audis, in fourth position. The only car of the Belgian squad in trouble, and in serious ones, was the #3 of Jake Dennis-Pieter Schothorst, whose engine compartment caught fire in the very first lap of the first practice session. The car was severely damaged, missed free practice 2 but was finally repaired in the course of the night for qualifying. Still the same issue arose from the very beginning of the session, leaving more work for the mechanics and the British-Dutch duo with zero laps completed ahead of the races.

Qualifying also saw very close gaps (with again 22 cars within one second in Q2) but only two of the Belgian Audis were able to reach Q3, with Stevens in P11 and Vanthoor in P12. Ide-Mies (18^th) and Leonard-Green (21^st) missed the cut by a whisper…

The night Qualifying Race was full of drama, like in past editions, and it stroke in the very first lap, in turn 6, as some cars made contact in the middle of the group. Will Stevens was one of the innocent victims of the turmoil. “I was touched from behind”, explained the Brit, “and went sideways. From there, it was just ‘bang’ on all sides.” Seven cars were force to retire, with the Audi #2 very seriously damaged and out for the rest of the weekend. The race was red-flagged and resumed after about twenty minutes. For the surviving four Belgian Audi Club Team WRT contenders, things went well, including the pit stops, but there was nothing to do against the Mercedes cars, quicker than anyone else. Mies-Ide took 5^th, inheriting in the last lap the best result of the Audi field. Vanthoor-Fässler were on course to a podium result, thanks to a strong final stint by the Swiss, who unfortunately spun on debris in the penultimate lap, eventually crossing the line in P8. Leonard-Green finished 12^th and Dennis-Schothorst, finally spared by problems, 14^th.

The Main Race on Sunday noon, sadly, did not bring any improvement for the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT. Marcel Fässler on car #5 was involved in an incident in lap 1. Missing a breaking point, he lightly hit a BMW in front of him, which unfortunately resulted in a broken connection rod and retirement. Few meters behind, caught by surprise by that accident, Stuart Leonard went off-track, puncturing a tire few turns later when a Ferrari hit him from behind and breaking also a connecting rod, which prompted a long repair time. Car #17 eventually finished in P24.

The best-placed of the Belgian Audis was #3 of Jake Dennis-Pieter Schothorst, who finished 10^th, an unforeseen result given their start of the weekend with a strong field of 34 cars. Right behind, in P11, crossed the line car #1, which suffered a spin in the first stint, with Enzo Ide at the wheel, when running 6^th.

The Blancpain GT Series will continue its campaign in Italy, with the traditional first round of the Endurance Series at Monza taking place on 22-23 April.

The Misano Qualifying Race, run in the dark, has always had its fair share of incidents, but this time the opening lap proved to be very tumultuous. When the #2 Audi of Will Stevens was spun round, it caused a multi-car pile-up. The race was stopped and six cars were not able to restart.

Once the race got going again, polesitter Marco Mapelli immediately entered the pitlane, after a fuel pressure problem slowed down his #66 Attempto Racing Lamborghini. That left reigning Blancpain GT Series champion Maxi Buhk in front, being chased by his team-mate and fellow champion Dominik Baumann. When the Austrian made contact with the #90 Akka ASP Mercedes-AMG of Blancpain GT Series newcomer Raffaele Marciello, Baumann dropped to 20th position, leaving the #63 Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini of Mirko Bortolotti in second position.

The mandatory pitstops were to change that order thoroughly, with Fabian Schiller claiming second in the #85 HTP Motorsport Mercedes-AMG. His co-driver Jules Szymkowiak had started from tenth, but managed to climb up to fifth before the pitstop. The #90 AKKA ASP machine, now in the hands of Michael Meadows, was still in third.

Those positions remained unchanged for the second half of the race, producing a Mercedes-AMG 1-2-3. Schiller and Szymkowiak, aged 19 and 21 respectively, added the Silver Cup win to their tally.

The battle for the remaining points positions produced a hectic finish to the race. Eventually Vincent Abril (#7 Bentley Team M-Sport Continental) took advantage of a mistake from Christian Engelhart (#63 Lamborghini) and Andrew Watson (#59 McLaren) to claim fourth, with Felix Serralles (#88 Mercedes-AMG) scoring points in his first-ever Blancpain GT Series race. Reigning champion Enzo Ide crossed the line in sixth, after his co-driver Chris Mies had started the race from 18th position on the grid.

The fight for Pro-Am honours went in favour of reigning champion Michael Broniszewski and Giacomo Piccini, who drove the #11 Kessel Racing Ferrari to 13th overall. Their Kessel Racing team-mates Carlo Van Dam and Piti Bhirombhakdi concluded their first Blancpain GT Series race in second in Pro-Am.

Franck Perera (#84 HTP Motorsport Mercedes-AMG): “Maxi did a great first stint and gave me a comfortable advantage for the second half. After a good pitstop I could control the race, even though I had some scary moments when lapping backmarkers. This is a fantastic start for my collaboration with Mercedes-AMG, we will try to repeat this tomorrow.”

Fabian Schiller (#85 HTP Motorsport Mercedes-AMG): “I must admit that I was a bit nervous when I left the pitlane, this being my very first race in the Blancpain GT Series. But thanks to great driving by Jules and a fantastic pitstop, I had a bit of a lead and was able to quickly settle into a competitive rhythm. This podium finish makes me very happy.”

Raffaele Marciello (#90 Akka ASP Mercedes-AMG): “A GT3 car is still a car with four wheels, so not that different from a single-seater. It’s heavier and has less downforce, but you can still race hard with it. Regarding the contact with the other Mercedes-AMG: I do not think I made a mistake. I was on the inside line and the door was closed. Contact was unavoidable.”

Giacomo Piccini (#11 Kessel Racing Ferrari): “The weekend started badly when I wrecked the car during free practice, but the boys at Kessel did a perfect job in repairing the car. I really have to thank them for that. In the race I was fortunate to be able to avoid the big crash at the beginning, for I was just behind the car that spun. Michael completed the job perfectly and I hope we can repeat this in the main race.”

The team structure is almost the same as SUPER GT, but in joining the 24-hour race, we will also join Kobayashi Kamuhei, a Good Smile Supported Driver who has been active in F1 and still continues to participate in the top category. Participating machines are Mercedes-AMG GT 3 with special specifications that apply spa-specific coloring.

Japan’s private team will challenge the world’s best 24-hour endurance race. Thank you for your continued support.

■ Participation race: Total 24 Hours of SPA
■ Date and time of opening: July 27 – 30, 2017
Qualifying: 27 – 28 days
Final: 29 – 30 days
■ Venue: Spa · Francorchamps (Belgium)
(Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps)

■ GOODSMILE RACING & TeamUKYO Team System
Entent representative: Takinori Aki
Team Director: Kamiyama Ukyo
Driver: Nobuyoshi Taniguchi Ryuya Kataoka Kamui Kamii

ROWE RACING will once again field two BMW M6 GT3s in the Blancpain races, and travels to the 4.2-kilometre Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, not far from Rimini on Italy’s Adriatic Coast, with fond memories. The team from St. Ingbert made its debut at the track last year and enjoyed immediate success: second place in the qualifying race, followed by third in the main race and a first podium of the year in the opening race of the season.

BMW works driver Philipp Eng would love to repeat the success in the #99 BMW M6 GT3. The Austrian will no longer be supported by Britain’s Alexander Sims, but will initially race alongside Sims’ fellow Englishman Tom Blomqvist in Misano. The current BMW DTM driver will stand in for BMW works driver António Félix da Costa in Italy. The Portuguese driver is in Formula E action in Mexico this weekend, but will team up with Eng in the remaining Sprint Cup races.

The #98 car will be driven by two “flying Finns” in all of the sprint races in this year’s Blancpain GT Series. Markus Palttala, whose outings for ROWE RACING last year included the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring, and who was in action last weekend at the opening round of the VLN Endurance Championship, is joined by compatriot Jesse Krohn. The 26-year-old, a former BMW Motorsport Junior of the Year, has gained extensive experience in the BMW M6 GT3 at the Nürburgring and in the ADAC GT Masters and North America since the start of 2016.

The opening round of the 2017 Blancpain GT Series begins at 12:30 CEST on Sunday and is a sprint race, lasting one hour. The spectacular qualifying race is scheduled to take place under the floodlights from 20:40 to 21:40 CEST on Saturday (1st April).

Hans-Peter Naundorf, team principal ROWE RACING: “We travel to Misano with fond memories. Last year we started the season with our first podium in the main race, following an eventful qualifying race. The circuit is very quick and demanding. We are looking forward to the new season in the Blancpain GT Series very much. The field is even more competitive than before. There are even more good teams and drivers on the grid this year. With so many strong cars and drivers, it is hard to define any specific goals for this year. Our main focus is obviously defending our title at the 24 Hours of Spa. However, we are also keen to continually show what we are capable of in the second year of the BMW M6 GT3, having made a number of improvements to the car.”

Just like last year the entry list for the opening round of the Blancpain GT Series is very impressive, both in quality and in quantity. 34 cars on the grid means that space on the 4.064 km Italian track near the Adriatic coast will be at a premium. In 2016 we saw that an issue during the Qualifying Race – this Saturday evening joust will again be held in the dark – might endanger a good result. It will not be easy to get a good result if you have to start the Main Race (Sunday at 12.30 local time) from the 16th or 17th row on the grid.

Two brands provide the largest contingent of cars and both have reigning champions among their drivers. In the Mercedes-AMG camp Maxi Buhk and Dominik Baumann, the 2016 Blancpain GT Series driver champions, are split up, with Buhk driving the #84 car of Mercedes-AMG Team HTP Motorsport and Baumann the #86 car. The names of their team-mates will be announced shortly, together with the drivers of the #87. French squad Team AKKA-ASP even brings four Mercedes-AMG to the championship, with single-seater aces Daniel Juncadella and Raffaele Marciello in their line-up. Two of the AKKA-ASP cars will be entered in the Pro-Am Cup, just like the #34 Kornely Motorsport Mercedes-AMG.

The Audi clan is eight cars strong as well, with Belgian Audi Club Team WRT and Team WRT entering five cars together. Reigning Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup champion Enzo Ide again teams up with Christopher Mies, in an effort to repeat last year’s title-winning performance. Among their team-mates plenty of top-notch drivers, with former F1 drivers Will Stevens and Markus Winkelhock teaming up on the #2 car. Triple Le Mans 24-winner Marcel Fässler makes a comeback to GT racing, sharing the #5 Audi with Dries Vanthoor. Frank Stippler is spear-heading the two-car entry of ISR, with Christopher Haase and Romain Monti in the sole Saintéloc Racing Audi.

Lamborghini has six cars on the starting grid, with GRT Grasser Racing Team and Attempto Racing each bringing two Huracans GT3. Adrian Zaugg and Max Van Splunteren, competing for the latter, are among the title candidates in the Silver Cup, in which they will be competing against the Lamborghini Reiter Gallardo R-EX of Marko Helistekangas and Caitlin Wood. The final Lamborghini, again a Huracan, is the hands of a new team to the Blancpain GT Series, Orange 1 Team Lazarus. With Fabrizio Crestani and Gustavo Yacaman at the wheel, the Italian squad is certainly looking for a great performance in front of the home crowd.

More Italian cheers will certainly be heard for the four Ferrari 488 GT3 that will compete in Misano. Three of them are entered in the Pro-Am Cup, in which Michael Broniszewski is defending his title. The Polish driver again teams up with Giacomo Piccini in the Kessel Racing machine, but the Swiss squad runs a stunningly decorated second car as well, for Piti Bhirombakhdi and Carlo Van Dam. Alexander Matschull and Daniel Keilwitz defend Rinaldi Racing’s colours in Pro-Am, with Lorenzo Case and Phil Quaife at the wheel of the sole Ferrari in the Silver Cup, the #55 Spirit of Race 488.

More Silver Cup entrants in the McLaren garages, with Nick Leventis and Lewis Williamson at the wheel of the #42 Strakka Motorsport machine. Three more 650S are entered by Strakka Racing, with Jonny Kane, Alvaro Parente and reigning Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup champion Rob Bell sharing their cars with some young and upcoming talents.

Both Bentley and BMW have two cars on the grid, entered by Bentley Team M-Sport and ROWE Racing respectively. While the driver pairings of the former are known for while now – last year’s Misano Qualifying Race winners Andy Soucek- Maxime Soulet on the #8 and Steven Kane with Vincent Abril on the #7 – the BMW team has yet to announce its drivers.

Action in Misano starts on Friday afternoon with the first free practice, followed by the second free practice session on Friday evening. Saturday sees Qualifying in the early afternoon, with the start of the Qualifying Race just before 9 pm. The Main Race will get underway at 12.30 pm on Sunday afternoon.

A special year with special challenges: While BMW talent promotion celebrates its 40^th anniversary in 2017, the BMW Motorsport Juniors can look forward to a season with plenty of highlights. In his second year as a member of the Junior Programme, Nico Menzel will compete in the Blancpain Endurance Series behind the wheel of the Walkenhorst Motorsport BMW M6 GT3. This also includes the 24-hour race in Spa-Francorchamps (BEL), where he will celebrate his debut. Menzel will also take part in the Nürburgring (GER) 24-hour race for Walkenhorst Motorsport. In preparation for this, he will compete in the first two races of the VLN Endurance Championship season in the BMW M6 GT3.

“What a great race schedule,” says Menzel. “I was able to get some initial experience with the BMW M6 GT3 at the end of last season and the start of this one, and now I can hardly wait to compete in both of the classic 24-hour races and complete a season in the top-level Blancpain Endurance Series. Many thanks to BMW Motorsport and Walkenhorst Motorsport for placing their trust in me. I’m really excited about this challenge.”

Ricky Collard already competed in the Bathurst 12 Hour in February with Menzel and Jörg Müller (GER), the mentor for the BMW Juniors in GT racing, and the Nürburgring Nordschleife is also set to become his second home in 2017. He is using the VLN season-opener to gain his licence for the “Green Hell”. He is also scheduled to compete in the BMW M4 GT4 at the 24-hour race in May. “I am really looking forward to gaining more experience on the legendary Nordschleife right at the start of the season,” says Collard. “I have always dreamed of starting the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring.”

The group of BMW Juniors is also growing: At the shootout for potential new Juniors in Miramas, Mikkel Jensen convinced those in charge of BMW Motorsport so effectively that they are confident enough to allow him to compete in the BMW M6 GT3 in his first year as a BMW Motorsport Junior. In the Blancpain Endurance Series, the 22-year-old Danish driver will co-drive with Menzel and the third driver, Christian Krognes (NOR), at Walkenhorst Motorsport. Jensen won the ADAC Formel Masters title in 2014 and has competed in the Formula 3 European Championship for the last two years. “I am proud of having made the leap to the BMW Motorsport Junior Programme,” says Jensen. “I managed very well with the new BMW M4 GT4 in the shootout. It is unbelievable to get the chance to gather experience in the BMW M6 GT3 right from the start.” In addition to Jensen, other candidates are currently also in the selection process for a place in the BMW Motorsport Junior Programme.

The BMW Motorsport Juniors will not only be competing in numerous races in 2017, but will also be actively involved in development of the new BMW M4 GT4. For example, Menzel tested the car in Miramas with Jörg Müller and Dirk Adorf (GER). Collard shared driving duties with Müller and Jens Klingmann (GER) when the BMW M4 GT4 celebrated its race debut in January at the Dubai 24 Hours (UAE).

“The BMW M4 GT4 is the perfect car for the BMW Motorsport Juniors, as it allows them to not only prove their talent but also develop it further,” says Adorf, mentor for the new Junior year groups. “Every year, we are impressed with just how quickly the young drivers get used to our race cars. Seeing how they make the step up to the BMW M6 GT3 just confirms the good work that we do in talent promotion.”

The BMW Motorsport Junior Programme was restructured in 2014 and BMW talent promotion went back to its roots in GT and touring car sport. The multi-level concept now ensures that the BMW Motorsport Juniors learn all they need for the top categories in GT racing. The BMW Motorsport Junior Programme runs for several years and has the long-term goal of training drivers for competition in GT and touring car sport, so that BMW Motorsport can call on international drivers with the benefit of in-house youth development training. Jesse Krohn proves that this concept is bearing fruit: In 2014, the first year of the new structure, the Finnish driver was named “BMW Motorsport Junior of the Year” and is now a fixture in the group of BMW drivers at international GT events.

The Blancpain GT Series is the leading international championship exclusively for GT cars, which includes representation from supercar manufacturers Audi, Ferrari, Lamborghini and McLaren. The series runs to GT3 regulations, which promotes fair and equal competition between the marques, placing emphasis on the skills of the drivers, who range from rising stars to seasoned Le Mans competitors and ex-Formula 1 racers.

The Blancpain GT Series consists of both Sprint and longer distance Endurance Cup events. Brands Hatch has held a round of the Sprint Cup since 2014.

The first three Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup events at Brands Hatch have seen grid sizes almost double, with vast supercar displays and demonstrations also attracting a growing audience to the event. The return of top-line international GT racing to the venue has also brought racing heroes such as Alex Zanardi and Bernd Schneider to the historic circuit.

MSV Chief Executive Jonathan Palmer said: “We are delighted to extend this partnership with SRO for a further three years. Stéphane Ratel has worked tirelessly to support and promote GT racing across the world, and this year’s Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup grid is absolutely stunning and a tribute to the efforts of Stéphane and his outstanding team, with whom we enjoy a very strong working relationship.”

Founder and CEO of SRO, Stéphane Ratel, said: “When Brands Hatch was included on the Blancpain GT Series calendar in 2014, the meeting proved to be an immediate success. The following years only confirmed the fact that the biggest GT series in the world belongs on the legendary Kent racetrack and that is why everybody at the SRO Motorsports Group is pleased and honoured to extend our partnership with MSV and Brands Hatch.”

For the 2017 racing season, the Motorsport department of Automobili Lamborghini has decided to enhance its driver line-up by introducing new names and increasing to five the number of professional drivers. Four of these are Italian and this underlines the importance that Lamborghini gives to the “made in Italy”, which is part of its DNA.

Besides Mirko Bortolotti and Giovanni Venturini, who have been Lamborghini Squadra Corse Factory Drivers since 2015, Andrea Caldarelli, Marco Mapelli and Christian Engelhart have now become part of the team. During the 2017 season, the five drivers, under contract with the Motorsport department of Automobili Lamborghini, will compete in the major GT championships around the world for the customers teams racing with Huracán GT3s.

“We’re glad to welcome to our team – commented Giorgio Sanna, Head of Motorsport of Automobili Lamborghini – two new renowned drivers, like Christian and Andrea, who obtained excellent results racing with our customer teams behind the wheel of the Huracán GT3 in 2016. Talking about Marco Mapelli, his recent record on the Nürburgring Nordschleife with the new Huracán Performante consolidates his great reputation both as a test and racing driver.

We have high expectations of them – continues Sanna – as well as of Mirko and Giovanni, who have been part of the family since the creation of Lamborghini Squadra Corse. I would also like to mention Jeroen Mul, Andrea Amici and Fabrizio Crestani,  thanks to their performance and attitude they will receive greater support and attention from Lamborghini Squadra Corse, despite remaining drivers of the GT3 Junior Program.”

Here are the detailed profiles of the 2017 Factory Drivers of Lamborghini Squadra Corse.

Mirko Bortolotti – (Trento, Italy, age 27) – He is one of the biggest Italian talents in Motorsport: he was born and raised on karts, then he became a Formula 2 and Formula 3 champion and was a Formula One test driver. Mirko Bortolotti joined the Lamborghini family in 2014, when he started racing in the Super Trofeo one-make series and took part in the Young Drivers Program of Lamborghini Squadra Corse. The following year, 2015, Bortolotti participated as Lamborghini factory driver in the Blancpain GT Series Endurance and Sprint Cup, in the Italian GT Championship and in the ADAC GT Masters, besides racing in two editions of the 24 Hours of Daytona of the IMSA WeatherTech Championship.

Andrea Caldarelli – (Pescara, Italy, age 27) – He is another pride among young Italian drivers, with his extensive experience both in single-seaters and GT racecars. During his career, Andrea Caldarelli has alternated single-seaters (F3, GP3, GP2, SuperFormula, Toyota Racing F1 test driver) and GT competitions. Since 2012, Caldarelli has been participating in the prestigious Super GT 500 Japanese championship (2014 and 2016 vice-champion) and this year he will take part in several European GT championships as a Lamborghini Factory Driver.

Christian Engelhart – (Ingolstadt, Germany, age 30) -  Vehicle and engine technology engineer, Christian Engelhart showed his talent in the 2016 Blancpain GT Series and ADAC GT Masters championship, where he shared the cockpit of the Lamborghini Huracán GT3 with Mirko Bortolotti. Before joining the Lamborghini family, Engelhart has distinguished himself in karting, single-seaters series, several German GT categories and in various endurance races.

Marco Mapelli – (Lecco, Italy, age 29) – Besides karting, single-seaters racing and a solid career in GT competitions, Marco Mapelli has also an extensive experience as a tester, both for tire development and production cars. Author of the most recent records obtained on the Nürburgring Nordschleife, first with the Lamborghini Aventador SV and then with the brand-new Huracán Performante, Mapelli has also participated in several editions of the most famous endurance races: 24 Hours of Daytona, Nürburgring, Spa-Francorchamps and the 12 Hours of Bathurst.

Giovanni Venturini – (Vicenza, Italy, age 26) – He has been a Lamborghini Factory Driver since the debut of the Huracán GT3 in 2015. Venturini began his career in single-seaters: Formula Renault 2.0, Formula 3, AutoGP, World Series, GP3 and GP2. Then, in 2014 he moved to GT racing and participated in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo one-make series. The following year, he took part in the Blancpain GT Series and the Italian GT Championship with a Huracán GT3.

Factory Drivers represent the top of the pyramid around which Lamborghini Squadra Corse builds its strategy to train and support new motorsport talents. The names of the new members of the Young Driver Program (for youngers under the age of 26 competing in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo one-make series) and of the GT3 Junior Program (for drivers taking part in GT championships with Huracán GT3s) will soon be announced.

Team founder Nick Leventis and 2016 Strakka WEC driver Lewis Williamson share a 650SGT3 in the Sprint Cup and will be joined by Craig Fleming as the sole Strakka Pro-Am entry in the Endurance Cup.  In his seventh year in a Strakka car, McLaren factory driver Jonny Kane shares the second Sprint category entry with Academy driver Loris Hezemans. In the Endurance Series, Kane’s team mates are Academy driver David Fumanelli and GT convert Sam Tordoff. For Tordoff, the Blancpain drive fulfils a dream to compete outside of the UK and race at the iconic European tracks such as Spa and Paul Ricard. “For some time I’ve longed to expand my racing outside of the UK,” says Tordoff. “I haven’t ever been to Monza so 2017 is going to be an amazing adventure for me. Being able to do that in a McLaren with Strakka, a team I know very well, is a fantastic way to fulfil those aspirations.”

2016 Bathurst winner and McLaren factory driver Alvaro Parente will partner newly-recruited GT Academy driver and F3 convert Ben Barnicoat in the third Sprint Cup entry. As part of his Academy development programme Barnicoat will also undertake a full season in the Endurance Cup, drawing on the extensive McLaren experience of his factory team mates Rob Bell and French race winner Côme Ledogar with whom he will share driving duties in the three hour races.

Reigning Endurance champion Bell, will be aiming to go one better than his second place in the 2016 overall Blancpain standings as he shares the fourth Sprint entry alongside Academy driver Andrew Watson. In the fourth Endurance Cup entry, Watson is joined by the exciting prospect of new McLaren factory driver and former F2 champion Dean Stoneman. Stoneman whose only GT experience was a single season in Carrera Cup in 2013, returns to European racing after a year competing in Indy Lights. “I’m looking forward to this fresh challenge with McLaren,” says Stoneman. “The 650S is a great car to drive; it’s agile and gives good feedback which I like. Learning about the car has been really enjoyable but now it’s about doing the best possible job I can for the team.” The duo will be joined by 2016 Silverstone Blancpain winner and Endurance Cup runner-up Jazeman Jaafar, the Malaysian driver switching from an AMG Mercedes for 2017.

“We are delighted to have secured such a formidable and impressive line-up of successful and talented drivers for Strakka’s debut in what is arguably the most competitive GT series in the world,” says team founder Nick Leventis. “Running four cars is a significant step up but the entire team together with McLaren GT have worked superbly to get all the cars prepared and racking up testing miles ahead of the season start. We’ve enjoyed getting to grips with our move to GTs but now’s the time to get racing and deliver on our aim to continue McLaren’s success in the category.”   

The Sprint Cup kicks off on the 1st-2nd April at Misano,  with the Endurance Series starting at Monza three weeks later (23-24th April)

After an intensive preparation phase over the past few winter months, the team based in Safenwil will compete with two Emil Frey GT3 Jaguar in the highly competitive PRO-Class in the five Endurance Cup races, taking place in the highly regarded Blancpain GT Series. The 24 Hours of Spa will mark one of the highlights this year. Last year, the team brought both Emil Frey GT3 Jaguar across the finishing line after 24 hours.

The driver constellation remains almost unchanged apart from two new entries. As per last year, the car number 14 is driven by Lorenz Frey, the Spaniard Albert Costa Balboa and the experienced Frenchman Stéphane Ortelli. In the sister car with the number 114, the Austrian Christian Klien and the Swiss Jonathan Hirschi will take to the wheel together with the first new entry, former AMG-pilot Marco Seefried from Germany. Lorenz Frey might sit out one or two races, in which the quick Swiss and also new team entry, racing driver Philipp Frommenwiler, will pilot the car.

Emil Frey Jaguar Racing has set high goals for this year. The race results in the 2016 season were mixed. A seventh place at the season final at the Nürburgring brought a cheerful finish to the year. „Last year, we did not have luck on our site very often“, says Lorenz Frey, Team Principal and driver at Emil Frey Jaguar Racing. „Monza was very frustrating, because we suffered a tyre puncture only two corners before the finishing line, missing out on the points.

„We have worked immensely hard over the winter, we have optimised our equipment, practised numerous amounts of pit stops and attended a training camp with all our drivers. The test program with the Emil Frey GT3 Jaguar started on the race track this February. The tests went mainly positive and we are emerging strongly into the new season. We have set our goal to continuously drive into the Top-10. As the only, private GT3 car manufacturer, in probably the most competitive championship in the world – that is some ambitious goal.“

The first race of the Endurance Cup will take place from 22 until 23 April 2017 in Monza (Italy). The Endurance Cup race calendar stays as per last year with only the location for the season final changing, which is taking place in Barcelona rather than Nürburgring as last year. Emil Frey Jaguar Racing keeps the option open to potentially drive the last two Sprint Cup races as part of the Blancpain GT Series.

* Extended live coverage on Eurosport, of both the Sprint and Endurance Cups
* Total 24 Hours of Spa covered from start to finish, including qualifying and Superpole
* Livestreaming of all events on the official website and on YouTube, with French commentary now available for all ten rounds
* Live and highlights broadcasts of the whole Blancpain GT Series on all continents

Building on a highly successful 2016 season, the Blancpain GT Series continues to deliver in 2017. To serve the ever-increasing fanbase, organiser SRO Motorsports Group has confirmed the existing broadcast agreements, and secured some important additions to the coverage.

One of the more eye-catching new agreements concerns Pan-European network Eurosport. All races of the Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup will again be broadcast live or as live across Eurosport 1 and Eurosport 2, together with the Total 24 Hours of Spa. New for 2017 is that the live coverage will be extended to three additional Endurance events, with the races in Silverstone, Circuit Paul Ricard and the season finale in Barcelona enjoying extensive live broadcasts. That brings us to a total of 15 hours of live broadcast supplemented by a further 15 hours of extended highlights shows broadcast in a regular Tuesday evening slot.

Other broadcasters have extended their coverage as well. In Europe, Motorsport TV (formerly known as Motors TV) will cover all rounds of the Blancpain GT Series live, with BT Sport in the UK showing the Sprint events live and highlights of the endurance races, as will Sport TV in Portugal. Several other national networks will have extensive highlight programs, Belgian broadcaster RTBF will obviously have extensive live coverage of the Total 24 Hours of Spa.

SRO Motorsports Group is also happy to welcome back Fox Australia, who join Fox Latin America and Fox Asia in showing extended highlights of every round.

To serve the American fans, CBS Sports USA continues its combination of live coverage and highlights in the United States and Canada, while Turkish network NTV will bring highlights as well.

Some global motorsports programs also carry the Blancpain GT Series, such as Mobil 1 The Grid, Sports Unlimited, Pure Outdoor, Only Live Once and Action Sport World.

Apart from this extensive television coverage, the races will continue to be streamed live on the official website of the series, www.Blancpain-GT-Series.com. New for this year is that French commentary will now be available for all ten rounds of the Blancpain GT Series. Commentary in both French and English (Sprint and Endurance) will be available, with multiple Grand Prix-winner John Watson giving his expert insights on the Blancpain GT Series. Watson will be joined by either David Addison or Bruce Jones. French commentary for all ten Blancpain GT Series races will be provided by motorsports expert Laurent Mercier joined by experienced journalists Thomas Bastin, Fabien Gérard, Julien Billiotte and Vincent Franssen. The races of the Blancpain GT Series can also be seen on the Nismo TV YouTube-channel.

Will, aged 25, also contested the 2016 FIA World Endurance Championship, scoring two LMP2 victories plus second in class – sixth overall – on his Le Mans 24 Hour race début in his three races with G-Drive Racing. Despite receiving multiple offers to complete a full WEC season this year, Stevens has opted to concentrate on the 10-event Blancpain programme due to clashing dates – a pro-active decision taken by Will to benefit his long-term career prospects in GT racing. Stevens has been pre-season testing the WRT Audi R8 LMS at Misano this week, the Italian track that hosts the season-opener on 1-2 April. Meanwhile Will gets the opportunity to race on “home” soil twice – at Brands Hatch (6-7 May) and Silverstone (13-14 May).

Stevens’ career began in karts (2003) and led to several National and International Championship titles including winning the European, Asia-Pacific and International Open Championships in 2007. Formerly a member of the Honda F1 Racing Team’s Driver Development Programme, Will then scored numerous victories in Formula Renault 2.0 in both the British and EuroCup Series and in Formula Renault 3.5 as part of his top level junior single-seater career. In 2013 and 2014, Stevens was part of the Caterham F1 Team Driver Academy and undertook a substantial amount of development work in the simulator before briefly leaving to take up a role as Reserve Driver at Marussia and then returning to Caterham to make his F1 race debut at Abu Dhabi in 2014. Stevens duly completed a full F1 season in 2015 with the Manor F1 Racing Team taking his GP starts to 18.

2017 Blancpain GT Series
Rd1 01-02 Apr: Misano (I) – Sprint Cup
Rd2 22-23 Apr: Monza (I) – Endurance Cup
Rd3 06-07 May: Brands Hatch (GB) – Sprint Cup
Rd4 13-14 May: Silverstone (GB) – Endurance Cup
Rd5 02-04 Jun: Zolder (B) – Sprint Cup
Rd6 23-24 Jun: Paul Ricard (F) – Endurance Cup
Rd7 27-30 Jul: 24 Hours of Spa (B) – Endurance Cup
Rd8 25-27 Aug: Hungaroring (HUN) – Sprint Cup
Rd9 15-17 Sep: Nürburgring (D) – Sprint Cup
Rd10 30 Sep-1 Oct: Barcelona (SP) – Endurance Cup

Will Stevens racing with Audi WRT
Will Stevens (GB): Lives: Surrey, England. Aged 25.
“I’m very pleased to be continuing my relationship with Belgian Audi Club Team WRT and to be racing the Audi R8 LMS again. I’ve made the decision to prioritise GT racing and specifically the two Blancpain Series this year. Both will be incredibly competitive again in 2017 but I’m really looking forward to the challenge. The racing will be extremely close and it requires full focus to be successful. I had several very good opportunities to also continue my career in the WEC but there are a couple of date clashes. For my career in the long term, I believe it’s best I concentrate on the Blancpain campaigns although I’d love to return to Le Mans which would fit in with this year’s Blancpain calendar. The experience I gained in my first GT3/LMP season and driving alongside René [Rast], will also serve me well this season. I’m delighted to have Markus, Marcel and Dries as co-drivers in order that we can challenge for race victories and be in contention for championship title success.”
 
Vincent Vosse, Team Principal WRT:
“Having shown good potential with us last year in his first GT3 season, I’m certain Will is going to do a very good job in 2017 with WRT. Last year’s results didn’t really show his true pace, his performances deserved better results. I’m confident he will shine this season. He’s totally focussed on Blancpain and ‘his’ car will be a strong performer in both the Sprint and Endurance Cup events.”

Most notable ones were the two titles of the Blancpain Sprint Cup, Teams’ and Drivers’, with Enzo Ide, the FIA GT World Cup at Macau, a perfect farewell for Laurens Vanthoor, and the maiden success at the Dubai 24 Hours with A.Ferté-Leonard-Meadows-L.Vanthoor.

As GT racing becomes more and more competitive, keeping the trend will be tough, but the entire squad is ready to take up the challenge in what will be the eighth year of racing activity for Team WRT.

Blancpain GT Series

Once again, the bone of the GT program will be the twin series of the prestigious Blancpain GT Series ran by SRO.

In the Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup, five Audi R8 LMS will continue to be entered, with following line-ups:

#1 Enzo Ide (B) – Christopher Mies (D)
#3 Jake Dennis (GB) – Pieter Schothorst (NL)
#5 Marcel Fässler (CH) – Dries Vanthoor (B)
#6 Will Stevens (GB) – Markus Winkelhock (D)
#17 Robin Frijns (NL) – Stuart Leonard (GB)

In the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup, there will be again four cars entered, with the following line-ups:

#3 Josh Caygill (GB) – Niki Mayr-Melnhof (A) – Jonathan Venter (AUS)
#5 Marcel Fässler (CH) – Will Stevens (GB) – Dries Vanthoor (B)
#6 Nathanaël Berthon (F) – Stéphane Richelmi (MC)  – Bénoît Tréluyer (F)
#17 Jake Dennis (GB) – Robin Frijns (NL) – Stuart Leonard (GB)

Along a number of confirmed drivers, the 2017 line-up sees the full-season commitment of some iconic Audi drivers already sporadically associated in the past with the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT, like Bénoît Tréluyer, Marcel Fässler and Markus Winkelhock, the return of Niki Mayr-Melnhof, Pieter Schothorst and Stéphane Richelmi, who were with the team in previous years, the GT debut of Nathanaël Berthon (who has driven for the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT in the Trophée Andros this winter and won it), as well as a significant injection of young blood.

Always attentive to promoting new talents, the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT is delighted to welcome in its ranks three promising young guns: UK’s Jake Dennis (21) joins from a successful career in single-seaters that saw him in GP3 last year; also 21, Jonathan Venter has been mostly active in GT racing in Asia and his native Australia, while Briton Josh Caygill (27) has climbed the ladders mostly through Volkswagen and Audi trophies.

In addition, DTM star Jamie Green will make his debut in GT racing, replacing Robin Frijns at Misano, Silverstone and Spa, when the Dutchman will be taken by his F.E commitments.

Additional Long-distance races, of course, will continue to play a crucial role in the GT programme. The line-ups for the Paul Ricard 1000 kms and the Total 24 Hours of Spa, both part of the Blancpain Endurance Cup calendar, will be unveiled in due course.

The Belgian Audi Club Team WRT has started its programme of pre-season testing this week at Misano, the track that will hold the season-opener on 1-2 April.

• QUOTES

Vincent Vosse, Team Principal: “It’s hard to believe that the winter break is over and that we are about to start the new season, which is our eighth in the business! We have been extremely busy preparing for 2017, and we are delighted to announce, one more year, a very strong programme, with the same number of cars than last year, and a terrific line-up. The Blancpain GT Series has reached an incredible level of competitiveness and it is going to be more closely-fought than ever. I am confident that our Audis R8 LMS, continuously developed with the support of Audi Sport, can take up any challenge, and I am particularly happy of the driver line-up we have been able to cast this year. It’s a perfect mix between talent and professionalism, experience and youth. I am particularly happy to see than a number of drivers we have worked with in the past are coming back, which proves that they believe in our competence and professionalism, but also appreciate the spirit and atmosphere that we strive to build daily within the group of people that constitute WRT. This is one of our greatest strengths and a key asset for this year too.”

Effective from March, the designation of the Mercedes-AMG customer sports department will change as well. The team next to Stefan Wendl will remain in place and, under the Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing banner, will again be doing everything with unbridled commitment this season to continue the sporting success of the performance brand from Affalterbach.

Jochen Bitzer: “For me, the past three years at the helm of the customer sports department were an incredibly valuable and intense time – much more than just a job in every aspect. Both on and off the race track, we have been able to achieve many things together and we got to experience many eventful moments. Our GT programme has prospered in a successful way and has become a fixed element in Mercedes-AMG’s involvement in motorsport. I am convinced that the success story of our customer sports programme will seamlessly continue. I would like to thank the teams, drivers and, of course, my colleagues at Mercedes-AMG in the most heartfelt way.”

Tobias Moers, Chairman of the Board of Management of Mercedes-AMG GmbH: “I want to thank Jochen for his commitment, with which he established and expanded our customer sports programme in the past three years. He and his team have played a major role in the achievements we were able to score with our new Mercedes-AMG GT3 all over the world. With Stefan Wendl, a competent contact person with a vast experience remains available within our company.”