Buhk set the foundation for a good weekend in qualifying, since he set the best record time in the third session. The Hamburg-based racer started from P1 into the Qualification Race and drove a superb Start-Finish-Win together with teammate Abril. Buhk/Abril had one point advantage in the leader’s ranking after their win in the Qualification Race.

Abril started from Pole Position into the final one-hour race of the season. Following a flawless drive by the young racer from Monaco, Buhk was able to stay in the lead after the driver change. A great battle developed towards the end of the race, when Robin Frijns (Audi), the main title contender, wanted to fight for victory and title. The Bentley and the Audi were nose-to-tail lap-by-lap, but Buhk remained calm, took the race win and gained the title.

 
Szymkowiak/van Splunteren impressed with a great home race. Following an off during qualifying, both Dutch drivers were forced to start the Qualification Race from the back of the grid and fought their way up into an incredible seventh place. The two youngsters had great chances to drive onto the podium in the main race, but a full course yellow spoilt their run. Szymkowiak/van Splunteren finished in sixth position.
 
„The title belongs to the entire team, each and every one can be very proud“, said Norbert Brückner, Bentley Team HTP-principal. “We worked extremely hard this year and this is the well-deserved pay-off for the entire crew. Maxi and Abril drove majestically and Jules and Max shown with a great performance in the last race of their first GT-season. This title makes our inaugural season with Bentley perfect. We have won the driver’s title in the Sprint Series, one race victory in the ADAC GT Masters and so far we secured the best-ever results for Bentley in both the 24-hours at Nürburgring and Spa. We can be really proud about this record and it will be a great incentive for the coming season.”
 
Driver Quotes:
 
Maximilian Buhk: „It is just crazy, what happened today. A big thank you to the HTP Motorsport, who started with a new car this year and did a superb job all year round. Thank you to Bentley for the excellent support. The last few laps were really hard today and I am so incredibly happy that we made it. Robin (Frijns) was very strong today, especially in the second sector and under braking. I tried to run the same strategy as in Saturday’s race and luckily it worked. We prepared really well for the final weekend of the season and the car had the perfect Set-up. We saw our chances and we followed them through consequently during the weekend. I am very proud to have won the title in my first year as a Bentley Works-driver.”

Vincent Abril: „I cannot really understand what happened today. My emotions went wild when Maxi crossed the finishing line. The last laps were so nerve-racking and Maxi did a fabulous job. It is all so crazy and we are just over the moon. I am proud, to be able to share this title with Maxi and to win it for a brand like Bentley makes it even more special. Thank you to HTP and Maxi, this was an incredible season.”
 
Jules Szymkowiak: „The weekend was a real rollercoaster ride. After the free practise, we had a car we could have won with, but after the off in qualifying, we had to start right from the back and fight our way back up. It was down to a yellow flag during the main race, otherwise we could have ended up on the podium. It was still a good end to my very first season in GT-Sport. Thank you to the whole HTP Team, I learned so much and I look forward to 2016.”
 

Since the Blancpain Sprint Series event is only a couple of weeks away, it has been impossible for the promoter to get all the authorisations necessary for another location in the city centre.

Therefore, the only alternative remaining to maintain the event on the calendar is to move the 2015 event to Moscow Raceway. The program of the race will be compressed into a two-day event (Friday and Saturday), with a Gala dinner and after-party event to be organised in the city centre afterwards. Korsa Media, who has been the promoter of several high level events at Moscow Raceway, is confident they can attract large crowds thanks to a massive promotion.

More information on the change of venue will be given during the Moscow press conference next Tuesday.

Bentley Team HTP travels to the „Coupes de Pâques», the traditional Easter cup, with good memories. Twelve month ago, HTP Motorsport scored the first of three wins at Nogaro, which built the foundation of HTP´s driver championship winning performance. This Easter, the team aims to continue this success and competes with the youngest driver line up of the series. Buhk, who is for the fourth consecutive season with HTP Motorsport, will share one Continental GT3 with Abril. The young French talent is new to the Team, but knows the Sprint Series from the 2014 season, when he won the „Silver Cup“, which is reserved for young talents.

The „Silver Cup“ is a clear goal for Lombard and Szymkowiak in the sister car. Lombard brings experience from Le Mans prototype racing to the team and owns a class win at the 24 hours of Le Mans. Szymkowiak moves from Formula racing to GT3 cars. In 2014 he was teammate to now Formula 1 driver Max Verstappen.

„Nogaro will be the first sprint race for us with the Bentley Continental GT3 and we are very excited about this“, Bentley Team HTP team principal Norbert Brückner says. „We look forward to meet our competition, which appears to be strong this season. Nogaro is a tight und twisty track and will be very challenging for us. We have a young and very quick driver line up and certainly a chance to fight for the podium. The French round of the Blancpain Sprint Series marks the home race of two of our drivers and many members of the team, therefore the entire team is motivated to score a top result.“

Easter marks the start of a busy week for the team. After Easter Mondays race, the team will travel to Monza/Italy for the first round of the Blancpain Endurance Series. Harold Primat (39, Switzerland), Vincent Abril and Mike Parisy (30, France) will share one Bentley in the three-hour race in Italy. Between the two Blancpain weekends, Bentley Team HTP will also take part in the official ADAC GT Masters pre season test in Oschersleben/Germany.

The main race from Nogaro on Easter Monday (13:10 hours CET) will be broadcasted live by Eurosport. An online livestream of the Main Race and the Qualifying Race (Sunday, 14:15 hours CET) will be available on www.blancpain-gt-series.com.

Driver quotes
Maximilian Buhk: “Nogaro is my first race with the Bentley Continental GT3 in Europe. I have some good memories to Nogaro, as I won the opening round there last year. It’s the first race with Vincent Abril, who is my new teammate for the Sprint Series. We already met at tests and worked well together. I’m looking forward to race with him this season.“
 
Olivier Lombard: “I was able to discover the team at recent testdays and could see the potential. It is great to start with a car of such a renowned brand like Bentley. I’m confident that Jules and myself have the potential for strong results. The first race is my home race, so I’m very excited about this. The track has some tight corners, I expect intensive fights. I would like to thank HTP Motorsport for giving me the opportunity to race with them this season and would to thank everybody involved for the very warm welcome to the team.”

The BMW Sports Trophy Team Brasil starts this Easter weekend in Nogaro (Fra), his third season in Europe. This year the Brazilian team, led by Antonio Hermann and Washington Bezerra, is expanding its involvement in the Blancpain GT Series, with the participation in the races of Sprint Series and also the Endurance Series with the driver line-up Cacá Bueno/Sérgio Jimenez/Felipe Fraga and Valdeno Brito/Átila Abreu. In the opening round of the Sprint Series the green and yellow team will feature four guests’ drivers.

In the BMW Z4 #0 will be Ricardo and Rodrigo Sperafico, who have raced for the team in 2014, in the round of Azerbaijan, when got two top-10. The twins believe that the technical improvements introduced in this year in the BMW Z4 can contribute to a good performance of the whole team.

In the BMW Z4 #77, two names that already are very familiar with the BMW models. The German GT expert Dirk Müller and the Belgian DTM driver Maxime Martin, both official drivers of BMW Motorsport.”

The series is familiar territory for Martin: the Belgian driver spent several years racing in the Blancpain Endurance Series before becoming taking up a regular seat in the DTM with BMW Motorsport in 2014. Müller is one of the most experienced drivers on the international GT racing scene, and has been successful in this field with BMW for many years.

The race weekend kicks off on Saturday (4th April) with the free practice sessions. Qualifying and the Qualifying Race will take place on Easter Sunday (5th April), with the Main Race scheduled for Easter Monday (6th April).

Quotes
Rodrigo Sperafico, BMW Z4 #0
“We are delighted to return to represent the team. We had a great experience and good results in Baku, last year, and we adapt well to the car. We never ever raced there, but we have studied various racing videos in Nogaro. I believe that will not be most difficult, and we will have more time for the free practice”.

Ricardo Sperafico, BMW Z4 #0
“It will be a hard fought round. There are several new cars in the championship. And our car will have a little better performance than last year. I believe this will help us to perform well”.

Note: Ricardo Sperafico will also be in the Endurance Series grid. He will be the teammate of Átila Abreu and Valdeno Brito in the BMW Z4 #77, in the race of Monza (Ita).

Maxime Martin, BMW Z4 #77
“I am looking forward to spending a weekend with the BMW Z4 in the Sprint Series. I know the Nogaro circuit well. It is a real challenge. However, I think we are well placed to do well with BMW Sports Trophy Team Brazil”.

Dirk Müller, BMW Z4 #77
“The Blancpain Sprint Series features a strong field, and it will be an exciting weekend. We are well prepared: I know the BMW Z4 is very well and BMW Sports Trophy Team Brasil has a lot of experience in this series. I am looking forward to lining up with Maxime and the team”.

Twenty cars will be competing in Nogaro, a number that should increase during the course of the season with a number of race-by-race entries. A whole armada of Audi R8 LMS ultra will form a third of the field, with reigning Teams champion Belgian Audi Club Team WRT aligning four of them. Laurens Vanthoor, the 2013 FIA GT Series champion and last year’s Blancpain Endurance and overall champion, is looking for a third consecutive successful season. The Belgian has a new team-mate to share the #1 Audi and although he is a complete GT novice, Robin Frijns could well become one of the stars of this season. Between 2010 and 2012, the 23-year old Dutchman won every single full championship he competed in. Frijns is determined to continue that winning streak in 2015.

Competition for the Belgo-Dutch pairing might well come from within, since the other WRT-pairings (Nash-Stippler, Ortelli-Richelmi and Ide-Mies) all have at least one driver who has tasted sweet victory in a SRO Motorsports Group organised Series race before. However, the same goes for Winkelhock – Mayr-Melnhof and Salaquarda-Bonanomi, the crews of the #6 Phoenix Racing and #75 ISR Racing Audi respectively, so do not expect a walk-over for the reigning champions.

Especially since there are plenty of high-level new teams and cars on the 2015 Blancpain Sprint Series Grid as well. Bentley Team HTP, the team which last year won three of the seven main races and had drivers’ champion Maxi Götz in its ranks, has switched from Mercedes to Bentley over the winter and gives the impressive Continental GT3 its sprint debut in Nogaro. A lot is expected from the British car that won two endurance rounds in its maiden season, especially from the #84 car, driven by 2013 endurance champion Maxi Buhk and 2014 Silver Cup winner Vincent Abril.

Another car which will be closely followed by fans and teams alike is the new McLaren 650S. German Attempto Racing brings two of those machines to the Blancpain Sprint Series and the one in the hands of McLaren factory drivers Kevin Estre and Rob Bell should be a contender for a podium finish.

Talking of factory drivers: BMW has sent two of their finest to the Coupes de Pâques as well. With Cacà Bueno and Sergio Jimenez competing in the Brazilian Stock Car championship, replacements had to be found to drive the #77 Z4 of the BMW Sports Trophy Team Brasil. With Maxime Martin and Dirk Müller the Brazilian squad’s car should be in safe hands. The other yellow-and-blue Z4 will have twin brothers Ricardo and Rodrigo Sperafico at the wheel, standing in for Valdeno Brito and Atila Abreu, also active in the Stock Car in Brazil.

The Speraficos, like Frijns, are not the only former single-seater aces now having a go at the best GT Series in the world. 21-year-old Sean Walkinshaw, son of former Spa 24 hours-winner Tom, makes his Sprint Series debut as well, together with fellow Brit Craig Dolby. The fact that they are at the wheel of the lone Nissan GT-R Nismo, which is a new car for MRS GT-Racing, will not make their task any easier, but the two youngsters are ready to learn and to learn quickly.

Other teams count on experience to shine. Drivers like Marco Asmer and Bernd Schneider (GT Russian Team Mercedes), Albert von Thurn und Taxis and Nick Catsburg (Reiter Engineering Gallardo), Marco Seefried and Norbert Siedler (Rinaldi Racing Ferrari) all know their way around a race track and should not be forgotten in a list of overall podium candidates.

As was the case last year, the Blancpain Sprint Series has its own race within the race. The Silver Cup, reserved for Silver drivers under 26, will give young talents the opportunity to hone their skills and get on the top teams’ radars. The same goes for the drivers in the Pro-Am Cup, the Cup in which the Porsche of Fach Auto Tech brings the total of different brands to nine.

As you can see, there is a more than impressive roster of cars and drivers to start the 2015 season. Be sure you finish looking for Easter eggs in time, so you can watch the first skirmishes of the new season on your favourite television channel or via the livestream on our website.

Maxime Martin (#77 BMW Sports Trophy Team Brazil Z4): “It is a real pleasure to be able to compete in the Blancpain Sprint Series, especially with a good team and a great team-mate. I have driven in Nogaro before, so I know the track well enough, I think. I am not sure what exactly will be possible for Dirk and I, a lot will depend on the competitiveness of the BMW Z4. The level of the series is very high, and you need to be on the top of your game to race among the frontrunners.”

Vincent Abril (#84 Bentley Team HTP Continental): “In the 2015 Blancpain Sprint Series I want to confirm my performances from last year, when I won the Silver Cup. I have learned a lot in 2014, and together with Maxi I think we form a very homogeneous duo. It’s the first time a Bentley is competing in the Sprint Series, so I can’t wait to take the start at Nogaro. Especially since I have good memories at the track, claiming an overall podium last year.”

Sean Walkinshaw (#73 MRS GT-Racing Nissan): “It’s amazing to be confirmed as part of MRS GT-Racing for the Blancpain GT Series. It’s all very exciting and especially with the brand new Nissan GT-R, I’m really looking forward to getting out in the car. There are some fantastic circuits on the calendar, some I have experience of and others which will be completely new. It’s obviously going to be a huge challenge and there are a lot of very quick factory drivers in the series, with huge experience, but I’ve got a lot of confidence in the guys around me at the team, who I know will deliver a great car and help me improve as a GT driver.”

Robin Frijns (#1 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT R8): “I have not raced much during the last two seasons, so when Vincent Vosse contacted me for a drive in 2015, I saw it as an excellent opportunity. Laurens and I were team-mates in karting for five seasons, so we know each other quite well. Somebody asked me whether I am immediately aiming for the title in my first season, like I did in other championships. Of course I am.”

“I am greatly looking forward to finally returning to this wonderful Championship. It is a true pleasure to be driving with Nick, who, despite being a bloody fast pilot, is a kind and pleasant character and doubtlessly a great asset for our team”, remarked the Prince. The affable Bavarian has been a regular to SRO promoted Championships for the better part of the past 10 years. Despite clinching some respectable results so far, he has yet to prove himself as a Championship contender on an international level – a daring challenge in this years strong PRO field.

For this purpose he will certainly be able to rely on his partner Nick Catsburg, who has made a name for himself by consistently outperforming in a diversity of vehicles and championships and will unquestionably be a benchmark of speed for the 2015 season. Nick: “I am really happy to add the Blancpain Sprint Series to my 2015 season. I have heard nothing but positives about Albert, I can’t wait to start working together. Obviously the Blancpain Sprint Series is going to be a very competitive series this year but I am confident we are able to achieve good results with our brand new R-EX Gallardo.”

Team owner Hans Reiter will personally assume the role of Chief Engineer to keep track of his drivers and his drivers on track: “I’m quite happy that we can do a full season in the Blancpain Sprint Series this year. I’m convinced that Albert and Nick will form a good team. Unfortunately, Albert has forced me to be his Chief Engineer! Despite being honoured I’m not sure if this really represents an advantage to the operation, knowing that we have better engineers at Reiter Engineering…”

The Blancpain Sprint Series stages 7 races this year, including two exciting city circuits in Moscow and Baku. The first race will take place on Easter at the Circuit Paul Armagnac in Nogaro/France.

The 29-year-old driver from Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, will contest the Blancpain Sprint Series which begins in April, concludes in Baku (Azerbaijan), and features a “home” race for James at Brands Hatch, Kent, in May.

Nash, who impressively scored three top-10 placings with WRT in last year’s five-race Blancpain Endurance Series – including an excellent third place on his Spa 24 Hour debut – is relishing the prospect of a second season with one of Audi’s leading customer teams.

“I’m excited to be driving with WRT again and to be making my debut in the Blancpain Sprint Series,” confirmed James.

“In my opinion it’s the most competitive GT series contested by some of the best drivers in the world.”

Nash won the 2006 BRDC Rising Star Award before finishing second in the British Formula Ford Championship the following year along with being short-listed for the McLaren Autosport BRDC Driver of the Year. In 2011, James won the Walter Hayes Trophy having been runner-up in 2006.

James switched to touring cars in 2008, claiming fourth place in the SEAT León Eurocup before contesting the British Touring Car Championship for the next three years culminating in becoming the 2011 Independents’ Champion.

A two-year foray in to the FIA World Touring Car Championship saw Nash finish third overall in the 2013 Driver’s Championship and win the Yokohama Driver’s Trophy.

“It’s going to be another challenging year,” continued James. “Out of the seven venues in this year’s Sprint Series, I’ve only previously raced at Brands Hatch and the Algarve so I’ll be learning many new tracks again.

“I’ve only had five races in the Audi R8 LMS ultra. I was generally pleased with what I achieved last year but still have a lot to learn about the car which has become phenomenally successful around the world.

“I’ve chosen to race in the Sprint series in an attempt to gain more ‘seat’ time as there are Qualifying and Main races each weekend. I’m also aiming to compete in the Spa 24 Hours again having claimed third there last year on my first ever visit to the Belgian track but this is unconfirmed at this stage.”

The WRT outfit was elected Team of the Year by the special jury of the RACB, Belgium’s Royal Automobile Club, last month. It is the third time that the squad is awarded the top national distinction for a team, after conquering the prestigious award in 2011 and 2013.

SRO Motorsports Group already has a tight collaboration with the Sean Edwards Foundation to increase security for amateur and rookie drivers. To further honour Edwards’ talent, at age 19 the first-ever winner of the FIA GT3 European Championship, SRO Motorsports Group has now created the Sean Edwards Trophy, in order to help another talented young driver to make the step to the next level.

The Sean Edwards Trophy will be organised within the Pro-Am category of the Blancpain Sprint Series and is reserved for drivers under 25, categorised Bronze or Bronze*. These drivers will race together with a professional (i.e. Gold or Platinum) driver, to help them to get to grips with the skills needed in high-level GT racing. There will be a separate classification for the drivers who qualify for the Sean Edwards Trophy.

Besides the trophy, the winner will also receive a cheque of 100.000 euros, which he or she will use to progress to the Silver Cup for a second season in the Blancpain Sprint Series. This sum comes on top of the prize money which was already available at each race of the Pro-Am Trophy this season.

Daphne McKinley (Founder and Chairman of Sean Edwards Foundation) : “One of Sean’s passions was mentoring aspiring, talented drivers to help them improve their skills and speed. SEF will continue his passion in developing young drivers into top athletes and on to racing excellence paying particular attention to instilling Sean’s attitude, education of racing skills and safety standards. SEF and SRO Motorsports Group have formed a tight collaboration. At SEF we believe it is important that young drivers have something to aspire to. We are therefore delighted that the SRO Motorsports Group will honour Sean by awarding The Sean Edwards Trophy for a driver that shows the talent, attributes and attitudes of Sean.”

Stephane Ratel (CEO and founder of the SRO Motorsports Group): “Within SRO Motorsports Group we find it important that young talented drivers get the opportunity to advance their careers. In 2014 we have seen a lot of new faces in the Blancpain GT Series, youngsters willing to try to make it to the top of GT racing. By creating the Sean Edwards Trophy, we will give the best of them the necessary support to continue climbing the steps of the racing ladder. It would make us very proud if we could discover a young driver with similar talent as Sean’s and help him to develop his career.”

Despite it being his first outing around the tight and twisty street circuit in the capital of Azerbaijan, the Scotsman combined with former F1 test driver Andy Soucek to form a pacy partnership that saw the duo clinch the second step on the podium in both the qualifying and main events at the Baku World Challenge and pick up a prize cheque of 50,000 euros.

Both drivers underlined their ability to compete with GT racing’s elite by running at the sharp end throughout the weekend, and as the sole Aston Martin entry in the field took the revered British manufacturer’s challenge to the might of the other marques competing in the GT3 category.

“To be fastest throughout free practice and pick up two podium positions amongst a grid is really satisfying as it’s a truly world class field, and a race everyone wants to win,” explained Adam.

“I was reserved about the way I went about learning the circuit in practice on Saturday as a lot of others were coming unstuck due the narrow nature of the track and the damp conditions. That meant I maybe didn’t show my hand quite as early, but our race pace was very strong on Sunday.

“Andy is a great driver and had been here before so he was fast straight out of the box and we qualified really well. That was a big help as it put us in contention from the start and kept us out of trouble in the pack.

“Our aim was to show how competitive the Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 could be at this level, and we’ve ticked that box against some extremely tough competition from other manufacturers who have been in this championship all season.”

Prior to his outings in the final two rounds of the Blancpain Sprint Series the Scot enjoyed mixed fortunes in the British GT Championship alongside Beechdean team principal Andrew Howard, with the pair ultimately unable to defend the title crown won the previous season. However, Adam feels the pace they showed and the results they delivered when in a position to challenge demonstrated they had continued to make significant progress year on year.

“The advances we made in terms of setup meant we qualified so much better this year, and if you look at the likes of Snetterton where we took a pole and a race win that really underlined what we were capable of when the conditions were going our way.

“If that was a real high then Spa 24hrs was the opposite. We had an ideal driver line up, a great car and perfect preparations for the event so genuinely felt we could challenge for the win at a race that was a big target for us. Unfortunately a really unlucky sequence of events meant our weekend was over early. That’s just the way it goes sometimes, but it was a hard one to take for everyone involved in the team as we’d all worked so hard.”

Adam believes the Beechdean squad’s upwards trajectory will continue into next season, with a list of areas to improve already identified and targeted for working through in the close season. He is also close to finalising his schedule for 2015 and hopes to combine multiple series to enable him to continue showing his worth to both factory and customer Aston Martin teams.

“It’s been a good season on the whole, but you can always get better. To do that you have to stretch yourself, so I’m always looking for environments that will make me raise my game.

“I’ve picked up some great experience this year racing with different people and taking on new tracks and championships.

“The goal for me in 2015 is to challenge for race wins and titles.”

But Latif unluckily missed out on contesting the final two races when co-driver Marc Basseng crashed their Phoenix Racing Audi R8 LMS ultra in qualifying at Baku in Azerbaijan.

Thankfully the Anglo-German pairing were already assured of the Pro-Am Trophy title after scoring an impressive eight wins from 10 race class starts marking a promising season for the rising British driver.

In addition to contesting the Blancpain Series, Alessandro competed in three prestigious races in North America – making his debut in a 24 hour race – and going on to compete in the Le Mans 24 Hours event for the first time.

The 18-year-old Londoner contested races in France, the Netherlands, Slovakia, Portugal and Belgium as well as Britain – competing in 16-races that included two 24 hour races and one 12 hour race.

“This year has been a huge learning curve and like any season, it has had a fair share of highs and lows,” reflected Latif. “Daytona was a good start to the year for me in January with a solid fifth place finish. The Sebring race in March was frustrating due to a number of punctures. My maiden Blancpain season began in April and it has been a tough year at times. But Marc and I have managed to score some solid points in the overall rankings while we won the Pro-Am category which is a high point for me.

“The low of the year was Le Mans after only being able to complete eight laps during the race week and not being able to get in to the car at all for the race itself when my co-driver damaged the car beyond repair early in the race but sometimes it goes like that like last weekend. Overall it’s been a good learning exercise that I can take forward into 2015.”

Concerning last weekend Latif, who will spend the coming weeks negotiating drives for 2015, commented: “Marc was pushing hard in qualifying and was on course for a top-10 grid start but ‘lost’ the Audi at the exit of the second chicane. Unfortunately the damage could not be repaired overnight so we had to withdraw. It was an unfortunate way to close out the Blancpain season but that’s motor racing sometimes.”

Alessandro Zanardi: “Normally you name something ‘bitter-sweet’, but in this case it was sweet-bitter.  It was very unfortunate that my race day was over after another car had put me into the wall in the qualifying race. I had a great car underneath me and I was very confident that I could improve my position. I was moving forward, so it is a real pity – but after all: that’s racing. I am happier to go home having enjoyed a weekend with some very nice highs. In the first free practice I was fastest and I was P2 in the second practice. In qualifying I had some problems braking with my  prosthetic leg, otherwise I could have comfortably been in the top six. And I was making progress with good speed in the race. All this tells me that our hard work is paying off and that, at the age of 48, I am still able to compete with this group of young and talented drivers. I am very proud of the trust that BMW puts in me. I wish I could have paid everybody at BMW Motorsport back with a better result, but bad luck is part of a sportsman’s career. There are times when it helps you and there are times when it is against you. And today was definitely one of these days.”

 How did you like the street circuit at Baku?

Zanardi: “The circuit is like all street circuits – quite a challenge – but I really enjoyed it from the word ‘go’. Agility is one of our strengths and I had a great car to fly over the kerbs and to cut through the chicanes and have a lot of fun. It is a circuit that reminds me a lot of all the tracks in Indy cars – back in the old days when I was young.”

 How would you sum up your comeback season?

Zanardi: “First of all, I felt very welcome in the Blancpain Sprint Series. We had some really strong race weekends, and with some better luck we would have got some much better results than we had. We often proved that we have a competitive car. At Brands Hatch, we were able to take advantage of it and scored a good fifth-place finish. Unfortunately at the Slovakiaring and here we were not able to convert the strong performance of our BMW Z4 GT3 into the corresponding results, as we were scuppered by other people’s mistakes.”

 Zanardi started the qualifying race from 13th on the grid. His plan was to avoid any trouble, to move up in the order and to secure a good grid position for the main race where he aimed for a strong result. All went according to plan for the first 30 minutes. The opening lap saw several collisions, which caused a long safety car period, but Zanardi came safely through all the turmoil. He improved to 11th and kept moving forward, but after around 30 minutes his race was all of a sudden over. His BMW Z4 GT3 was hit heavily from behind and pushed into the wall. In the impact the car suffered severe damage at the front. When the ROAL Motorsport team, which enters Zanardi’s BMW Z4 GT3, inspected the damage, it had to accept that it could not be repaired in time for the main race.

 “I was driving a very good race, the car felt very good and I knew sitting in a BMW would give me an advantage towards the end of the race,” Zanardi reported. “So I was just trying to take care of my equipment and keep the right distance between myself and the car in front in order to keep my tyres and brakes in good condition. I could see that other people in front where experiencing grip or brake problems, which I was not having. So I was waiting for them to lose a little bit of performance and then would have started to try to attack and move forward.”

 “Then the car in front of me had a problem and I just needed to pass that guy,” he continued. “When I was basically alongside him going into the corner, the driver behind me misjudged his braking point, hit me quite violently, sent me into the wall and that was it. It is a pity. My BMW Z4 GT3 was working perfectly today and it is a pretty sad reward for all my boys from ROAL Motorsport and BMW who worked so hard all weekend. I think we could have gone home much happier had we just finished the race with no misfortunes.”

 Both the qualifying and the main races were won by Cesar Ramos (BR) and Laurens Vanthoor (BE). The best placed BMW car was the BMW Z4 GT3 of BMW Sports Trophy Team Brasil, driven by Ricardo and Rodrigo Sperafico (both BR), who finished tenth and ninth respectively.

Osborne aided Triple Eight’s rapid progression at the event, coming from a sizeable deficit to the Silver Cup competitors in the first two wet practice sessions to being frontrunners in the dry qualifying with the BRDC SuperStar at the wheel.

After Ratcliffe had gone 26th overall in his session, Osborne initially posted a 1:33.743 lap of the Baku Street Circuit to go fifth overall. The Olney-based racer progressed yet again but suffered with traffic on the tight and twisty concrete-lined confines of the middle sector.

Staying out on track proved to be a profitable gamble and a lap of 1:32.437 was duly delivered, which secured Osborne tenth overall and pole-position for the Silver Cup class. The session was brought to an abrupt halt with Osborne on another quick lap when a class rival hit a concrete wall.

It took almost ten minutes to clear the wreckage and the team elected to keep Osborne on the same tyres as the wear of the Pirelli rubber was minimal, despite the number of laps run on them. Unfortunately this meant they were cold and with only six minutes left on the clock and the track now packed, the opportunity to improve was limited. After going eight-tenths slower in sector one than on his previous best, Osborne pitted and finished the session second in class, P20 overall in the thirty car field.

Sunday brought sunshine and the Caspian Sea coastline provided a sparkling backdrop to the day’s events. Osborne started race one and immediately lost out by sticking to the track through the opening sequence of corners, with several rivals straight-lining the chicane and profiting from the illegal move.

This was a short-term win for the drivers as Osborne’s pace was such that he re-passed several on the run to turn three and the British ace passed David Fumanelli’s BMW on the outside in the run to turn four, but quickly found himself braking into an ever-decreasing piece of tarmac; at the same time the Zakspeed Mercedes of Andreas Simonsen was coming across the track from the left and the pair collided, knocking Stef Dusseldorp’s SLS GT3 into the path of the kerb-hopping Dominik Baumann, who was arriving ‘hot’ into the tight chicane.

A lengthy safety car period was required to clean up the mess, but Osborne continued despite missing a left wheel fairing and the battered BMW soldiered on to the pit stops where Welsh racer Ratcliffe took over and took seventeenth at the flag, second in class.

The Main Race took place just after lunchtime in Baku, and the 60-minute sprint didn’t lack energy, once again seeing Triple Eight’s rivals gaining from cutting the first chicane. Ratcliffe, starting 16th following a retirement ahead between the races, was understandably cautious and dropped down the order to 21st place.

Triple Eight’s BMW was once again driven into by a Mercedes, this time the GT Russia SLS of Alexey Vasilyev, and after causing initial concern due to broken bodywork rubbing on the Pirelli rubber, Ratcliffe continued to the handover with Osborne, in 20th place overall, second in class.

Straight out of the box Osborne delivered a 1:32.9 and kept apace with the overall race leaders who exited the pits ahead of him. A spin for the Corvette of Daniel Keilwitz and a retirement for Miguel Paludo’s BMW gave Osborne ample opportunity to progress, that he did, moving up to seventeenth on track after six laps in the Z4.

A game of cat and mouse evolved during Osborne’s stint, with the British ace fighting to first catch, and then pass ex-British Formula 3 champion and F1 test driver Marko Asmer’s Mercedes, ironically, the team-mate of Vasilyev.

With a damaged car there was little Osborne could do to overcome the GT Russian Mercedes and he settled into his stint, picking up places as those around him made errors and took unnecessary risks. Osborne secured thirteenth at the flag and ensured a second successive runners-up place finish in the Silver Cup was secure, just a handful of seconds off the class winning Mercedes.

“I really enjoyed my first ever street circuit race. Rubbing against the wall in pursuit of a fast lap is good fun. Qualifying should’ve seen us get into the ‘Super Pole’ shoot out, but we are a new team to the championship and didn’t understand the tyre well enough to judge what it could do when the session went green again.
 
“The first race was so very nearly perfect. In all honesty, the move on the first lap was going to work well, but the Mercedes took my track and left me with no room. Race two was not straightforward either; we had a really damaged car and then had to manage the tyre that was rubbing against the chassis. I had some good battles though and really enjoyed racing in such a high quality field of drivers. It would be good to come back in the future.”
 
The double podium marks an impressive year that has seen Osborne become an established face in International GT racing, competing for the Blancpain Endurance Series Pro-Am title until the last round in the Aston Martin Vantage GT3, and aiding Triple Eight’s development and understanding of the BMW Z4 GT3 as its lead driver in British GT.

Apart from its beautiful décor the Baku street race retains an important feature: the walls are very close to the edge and the slightest mistake can be fatal. “I was also here last year at the start and this circuit offers up an enormous challenge”, Ide commented during the parade organised on Friday in Azerbaijan’s capital. “But then a strong result is even more satisfying.”

 On Saturday Enzo Ide and René Rast opted for a different strategy. The German driver took the first part of the qualifying session, following which Ide then took over the wheel.

 Enzo Ide: “The session did not turn out as was expected, because just as René (Rast) was in the throws of completing his fast lap another competitor crashed and the session was definitively halted. Due to heavy traffic I was unable to make full use of the car’s potential and we had to content ourselves with a twentieth place on the starting grid.”

 Following a sensible start, during which Ide decided to brake early and so take advantage of the chaos in the first bend, he brought the Audi R8 LMS ultra in to the pits in sixteenth position. On fresh rubber René Rast was able to take advantage of a free track to make up the difference.

 Enzo Ide: “All of a sudden our car appeared to be holding fifth place. So our strategy had worked and we can be proud of that. My teammate moved up into third place, but then an engine problem brought us back down. We still managed fourth place, however the engine needed to be swapped and as such we were obliged to take the start of the main race from the back of the grid.”

 Rast gave it his all, but his catch-up race was brought to an end following an accident with another competitor.

 Enzo Ide: “I truly felt that this weekend we would be able to fight it out for victory, but luck always plays a major role. All in all it was a great season with the victory in Zandvoort as the highlight, and I wish to take this opportunity to truly thank René (Rast) and WRT Audi. Thanks to them this has been an unforgettable season!”

Team Principal Vincent Vosse was almost dizzy as partying broke out in the team’s pit in the Azeri capital’s street track: “It’s an incredible result! To go back with five titles is beyond any expectation, I don’t know what to say… What is most rewarding is that finally we could win on Sunday, and both races, as they were exceptionally scheduled both on Sunday. The team did a fantastic work to get the kind of result we needed, I have no words to congratulate and thank everybody, the drivers, the engineers, the mechanics, everybody. And it wasn’t easy, as we had to rebuild the car of Abril-Lisowski in the night, working until 5 am, and change the engine on Rast-Ide’s machine in-between races, which was done in a record 1h35! What a season, it is going to be hard to repeat this!”

The Audis R8 LMS ultra of the Belgian squad already made a great impression in qualifying, with Stéphane Ortelli clinching a superb pole on the half-damp track, right ahead of Laurens Vanthoor completing the first row after having been the fastest in free practice under the rain. “I was disappointed to hear on the radio I was in P2”, admitted the Belgian, “but when I heard the pole was for my good friend and former team mate Stéphane, my disappointment was almost gone!”.  The Monegasque, on his side, could not hide his satisfaction: : “The track is very intense, with little room for error. I have raced on a fair share of street circuits in my career and I have to say that this one is very exciting.”

Enzo Ide on car #2 took P20 while Vincent Abril lived almost a nightmare after doing a mistake on the treacherous track and hitting the wall half-way in Q1, with the car reporting heavy damage.

 The Qualifying Race, early on Sunday morning, started with dry buy chilly conditions, with Ortelli keeping the advantage over Vanthoor, while an accident at the back prompts the safety-car out. It is the pit stops changing the positions in the lead, with the Lambo exiting first but Ramos passing him soon after at the hairpin, as Rast completes the fabulous catch-up initiated by Ide taking car #2 from P19 in lap 1 to P3 under the flag after passing team mate Richelmi, who regains P3 when the engine of car #2 weakens in the final lap. No luck again for the Team WRT youngsters, as a gearbox problem stops the car shortly after the driver change in a race spent at the back of the field.

 Vanthoor and Ramos were clearly in the ideal position for the Main Race, but the Belgian was not thinking about the overall Blancpain GT Series Drivers’ title: “With a 23-point gap, it is going to be very difficult, things are not entirely in our hands!”.

 The team, for sure, kept busy in-between races, as they decided to change the engine on the car of Rast-Ide, which gave signs of fatigue at the end of Race A1. The operation was done in a record 1 hour and 35 minutes! The intervention, though, caused car #2 to start from the back of the grid, as per the championship rules.

 Ramos kept the lead at the start, with Richelmi third, while Abril started from the pitlane because of a late technical adjustment to be made. The hero of the initial laps was without no doubts René Rast, who after 6 laps was already in P8! Unfortunately, the German got tangled with Götz when fighting for 7^th with both cars touching the walls and having to retire.

 Pit stop went without any trouble for the leading R8, while car #9 lost some valuable time, with Ortelli having to concede one position to Winkelhock ten minutes from the end. With Vanthoor keeping his cool on a track quite greasy, the Belgian takes a brilliant win and the title, with also Lisowski securing the Silver Cup by bringing to the finishing line a car #4 far from being in good shape.

 For Vanthoor, the unexpected had just happened! “I’m very happy!  We finally managed to win a Main Race!  The 100.000€ prize money is the icing on the cake and of course I’m very happy to have clinched the overall GT-title. I hope to continue with the team next year as they proved to be the best by winning so much this season!”

 This year’s success leaves the ladder quite high for next season for the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT, but 2015 will be taken care in due course. It is now time for some-well deserved celebrations!

In the #107 Beechdean AMR V12 Vantage GT3, Aston Martin Racing works driver Jonny Adam (GB) and experienced Blancpain GT Series racer Andy Soucek (ES) started Saturday’s qualifying on the streets of the Azerbaijani city strongly. When the Q1 and Q2 times were combined, the pair were the fastest overall, putting them straight through to Q3 where Soucek qualified in fifth place.

It was the 29-year old Spaniard who started the qualifying race on Saturday and, having driven in the Baku World Challenge in 2013, took no time in working his way up into fourth place. After the pit stop, Adam emerged in third and, taking advantage of another car’s mistake, crossed the line in second place.

With the starting order for the main race decided, it was Adam’s turn to start, this time from the front row. Keeping on the heels of the leader, the team planned to pit late, take advantage of the clean air and emerge in a position of attack.

However, when the V12 Vantage GT3 exited the pits it was seven seconds behind the leader and Soucek began his impressive charge to close the gap.

“I thought I could catch him at first but it turned out his pace was as fast as ours,” he commented. “There was oil on the track and he was very cautious… I was less so, so closed the gap to less than three seconds. However, we ran out of time and crossed the line in second place. It’s been a fantastic weekend. To have the fastest combined qualifying time in Q1 and Q2 is great and to take two podiums even better.”

Not only was this the first Baku World Challenge race for the team, it was also only its second Blancpain Sprint Series event and, given the strength of the highly competitive grid, the second place finish exceeded expectations.

“It think we always knew we’d be a strong pairing,” commented Adam. “And, we knew the car would be quick and reliable, but I don’t’ think anyone thought it would go quite this well because the competition is famously tough.

“We’ve been consistently strong across the two events, just getting better and better in each session. It’s great for Aston Martin Racing and Beechdean AMR to turn up and, in our first Baku World Challenge and second Blancpain Sprint Series race, finish in second place.”

The Aston Martin Racing works entry was in conjunction with partner team Beechdean AMR, which has been extremely successful in recent years winning the British GT Championship in 2013 and establishing an impressive reputation along the way.

“It just shows the strength of Beechdean AMR that we can join the Blancpain Sprint Series and perform so well from the offset,” commented Beechdean AMR Team Owner Andrew Howard. “It was a great job by Jonny, Andy and the team all weekend. I couldn’t be happier.”

The entry into the final two rounds of the Blancpain Sprint Series comes as part of Aston Martin Racing’s move into more works-supported GT3 racing.

“We’ve been very vocal about how keen we are to do more GT3 racing as a works team and these last two rounds of the Blancpain Sprint Series have shown why,” commented Aston Martin Racing Team Principal John Gaw. “Our V12 Vantage GT3 is very competitive and, as well as success in the Nürburgring 24 Hours, it has been victorious in the Blancpain GT Series, where we won our debut race in 2013 at Silverstone.

“Our focus for next year is to do more GT3 racing as a works team, as well as alongside and in support of our top customer teams, such as Beechdean AMR, that has been outstanding this weekend.”

The fight for third proved to be almost as exciting, with Stephane Ortelli (#9 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT Audi) and Markus Winkelhock (#6 Phoenix Racing Audi) racing nose-to-tail around the Baku street circuit. Winkelhock eventually found his way past the Monegasque driver and together with teammate Niki Mayr-Melnhof scored their first podium finish of the season.

In Silver Cup Benjamin Hetherington and Miguel Toril confirmed their Qualifying Race win in the Main Race, with Marko Asmer and Alexey Vasiliev doing the same in Pro-Am Trophy, which brought them up to third overall in the Pro Am Blancpain Sprint Series standings..

Maximilian Götz is crowned 2014 Blancpain Sprint Series champion

Before the start of the Baku weekend it was clear that the Blancpain Sprint Series title would be decided between Maximilian Götz (#84 HTP Motorsport Mercedes) and the #28 Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini pairing of Jeroen Bleekemolen and Hari Proczyk. During the Qualifying Race the Dutch-Austrian duo looked set to keep their chances alive until the Main Race, running in second, while the Mercedes of Götz and Buhk was gradually losing positions due to a damaged rear wing.

However, with ten minutes to go, the front of the Lamborghini of Proczyk started to fall apart. The aluminium frame holding the front bumper had collapsed, and several body parts became detached. After being shown the black and orange flag, Proczyk had no choice but to come in for repairs, losing any hope of the 2014 title in the process. Maxi Götz managed to bring his damaged HTP Mercedes home in 9th, which was enough to claim the 2014 Blancpain Sprint Series drivers title, having claimed three Main Race wins this season.

Laurens Vanthoor and Belgian Audi Club Team WRT take Blancpain GT Series titles

The Baku World Challenge was also the final round of the inaugural Blancpain GT Series, combining the results of the Endurance and Sprint Series. In both the driver and team rankings the outcome was to be decided during the Main Race, with Maximilian Buhk and the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT going into the final race of the season as the respective Series leaders.
Both title fights would be as good as decided in the early stages of the race, when René Rast in the #2 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT Audi made contact with the #84 HTP Motorsport Mercedes of Maximilian Götz. Both cars hit the wall and had to retire. When the sole remaining HTP Motorsport car had to retire as well, the team title went to the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT, but Vanthoor still had to finish in the top two to claim the drivers’ crown as well. Despite pressure from Soucek, the Belgian had no problems in doing so and after winning the Total 24 Hours of Spa and the Blancpain Endurance Series, Vanthoor put another important feather on his cap.

Vincent Abril and Mateusz Lisowski first Silver Cup champions

In Baku the fight for the first Silver Cup title added some more spice to an already exciting event. Series leaders Vincent Abril and Mateusz Lisowski had a terrible start to the weekend, when the Frenchman crashed hard during qualifying. The Belgian Audi Club Team WRT crew did an excellent job in repairing the car overnight, but the French-Polish duo still had to finish in the Main Race to hold on to first place in the standings. With the #4 Audi R8 LMS ultra developing gearbox problems, Abril and Lisowski had to nurse their car home, finishing six laps down. It still was enough to claim the Silver Cup, after a season in which the duo took four Main Race wins.

Marc Basseng and Alessandro Latif win the Pro-Am Trophy

With the Pro-Am Trophy freshly in their pockets – their win in Zolder gave them an unassailable lead – Marc Basseng and Alessandro Latif came to Baku with the determination to add one more choice performance to their tally. Sadly, it was not to be. Basseng hit the wall during qualifying and the #5 Phoenix Racing Audi was damaged beyond repair. However, with four main race wins to their names, Latif and Basseng were still the best Pro-Am duo of the season.

Belgian Audi Club Team WRT most successful team of the season

In the Blancpain Sprint Series, titles and race wins are not only rewarded by cups and trophies, but also by important prize money. Add to that the cheques of the Pitstop Challenge and it is clear that the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT proved to be the most successful outfit this season. Here is the total amount of prize money won by the teams this season:

Belgian Audi Club Team WRT: 386.000€
HTP Motorsport: 150.000€
Grasser Racing Team: 80.000€
Phoenix Racing: 71.000€
ROAL Motorsport, BMW Sports Trophy Team Schubert and Beechdean AMR: 50.000€
BMW Sports Trophy Team Brasil: 32.000€

Driver quotes

Laurens Vanthoor (#1 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT Audi): ‘There was some pressure on my shoulders, especially after the unfortunate accident between Rast and Götz. I still had to get a good result and we wanted to win to claim the cheque, so it was not easy to find a way to go fast and not take any risks at the same time. This year we had five victories – unfortunately four of them came in Qualifying Races – and three pole positions. So we worked well, had a good team, but we also made some mistakes and were unlucky sometimes. I am happy we have ended the season in style and with the experience we have now I am sure that Cesar and I could go for the title next year. But with a win in Spa, the Blancpain Endurance Series title and the Blancpain GT Series title I cannot complain about this season.’

Andy Soucek (#107 Beechdean AMR Aston Martin): ‘There was a bit of a mix-up at the pit stop, when Jonny came in earlier than expected. We were not really ready and we lost some six, seven seconds. I could get closer to Laurens, but there was not much more I could do. Still, I am very happy with the way our Aston Martin performed, both in Zolder and Baku.’

Markus Winkelhock (#6 Phoenix Racing Audi): “I noticed that Stéphane was struggling with the brakes, just like I was. I tried to push him into making a mistake and when he missed the apex of the corner, I was able to get my car alongside. There was some oil on his side of the track, so I had the grip advantage and could pass him. I am very happy that we can end the season with a podium finish.”

Maximilian Götz (#84 HTP Motorsport Mercedes): “First of all I would like to thank my team, Maxi Buhk, my teammate for most of the season and Nico Verdonck, with whom I drove during one race weekend this year. This title is also theirs and without them I could not have won it. It was a pretty hectic qualifying race. When I saw the damage at the rear wing, I knew it would be difficult. Especially with the strong winds here, you need all the aero you can get. I lost a lot of time in the fast corners, but I managed to bring the car home in 9th and take the title.”

Benjamin Hetherington (#63 Fortec Mercedes): “I had a relatively easy race this afternoon, because Miguel did a perfect stint and the boys performed a great pitstop as well. I had a comfortable gap towards the guys behind us, so I only had to bring it home. It is quite rewarding to take this win, especially after the accident in qualifying. The boys did a fantastic job in repairing the car.”

Vincent Abril (#4 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT Audi): “It was not an easy weekend for us, after the crash during the qualifying session. Luckily we have an amazing team and our guys worked all night to repair the car. Since we did not have too many spare parts here the car was still difficult to drive, especially when the gearbox broke and we had to do most of the laps in third gear. We had a really great season and this title is a fitting reward.”

Alexey Vasiliev (#177 GT Russian Team Mercedes): “Our aim was to be at the finish and we succeeded in doing so. Next year we would love to drive in both Endurance and Sprint Series, because the GT Russian Team wants to drive on as many different tracks as possible.”

Alessandro Latif (#5 Phoenix Racing Audi): “I have made a lot of progress this year, gained a lot of experience. I would like to put that to good use next year, but what exactly I will do remains a question mark for now.”

The street circuit for the Baku World Challenge has a reputation for being hard on the cars and that was confirmed during the Qualifying Race. The first lap saw several incidents, the collision between the #888 Triple Eight Racing BMW, the #85 HTP Motorsport Mercedes and the #76 BMW Sports Trophy Team Schubert BMW being the most important. This caused a 15 minute safety car intervention, after which polesitter Stéphane Ortelli tried to increase his lead. At the same time Maxi Buhk hit the concrete wall at the exit of turn 7, severely damaging the rear wing of his HTP Mercedes.

After the pitstops, the #28 Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini of Hari Proczyk was briefly leading the race, but Cesar Ramos in the #1 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT Audi was soon able to overtake the Lamborghini and create a four-second gap. Stephane Richelmi, Ortelli’s teammate, had dropped to 4th at that stage of the race, after a messy pitstop.

It looked like the order would remain unchanged until the chequered flag, but ten minutes from the end, the front of the Lamborghini of Proczyk started to fall apart. The aluminium frame holding the front bumper had collapsed, and several body parts became detached. After being shown the black and orange flag, Proczyk had no choice but to come in for repairs, losing any chance on the 2014 title in the process.

Cesar Ramos and Laurens Vanthoor took their fourth Qualifying Race win of the season, with the #107 Beechdean AMR Aston Martin of Andy Soucek and Jonny Adam finishing in second. A strong stint from Stéphane Richelmi saw the #9 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT Audi cross the line in third. Maxi Götz managed to bring his damaged HTP Mercedes home in 9th, enough to claim the 2014 Blancpain Sprint Series Drivers’ title.

The Silver Cup win went to the #63 Fortec Mercedes of Miguel Toril and Benjamin Hetherington after the #86 HTP Motorsport Mercedes of Wolf and Stolz hit brake problems in the final stages of the race. In Pro-Am Trophy the #5 Phoenix Racing Audi of Basseng and Latif was unable to make it to the start of the race – the car was damaged beyond repairs in yesterday’s qualifying session – so Alexey Vasilyev and Marko Asmer took the win.

Maximilian Götz (#84 HTP Motorsport Mercedes): “I still can’t grasp what happened during the last hour. First of all I would like to thank my team, Maxi Buhk, my teammate for most of the season and Nico Verdonck, with whom I drove during one race weekend this year. This title is also theirs and without them I could not have won it. It was a pretty hectic race. When I saw the damage to the car, I knew it would be difficult. Especially with the strong winds here, you need all the aero you can get. I lost a lot of time in the fast corners, but I managed to bring the car home in 9th. The pressure is gone for the main race, but I will try to get as much to the front as possible, because Maxi Buhk can still become the overall GT Series champion.”

Jeroen Bleekemolen (#28 Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini): “I would like to congratulate Maxi on winning the title, he really deserves it. He and his team have had a strong season and were always there when it mattered. It’s a pity that we lost our last shot at the title in this manner, but our Lambo is one of the lighter cars of the field and we had to pay the price for the constant taking of kerbstones. Driving around them was no option though, that would have made it impossible to attack during the race.”

Laurens Vanthoor (#1 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT Audi): “I was not really thinking about the overall title at the start of the race. I try to be realistic and I knew a 23-point gap would be difficult to close. We are in a good position now to win the Main Race as well, but it is out of our hands. If they manage to get to the front, we will be unable to make up the 15 points that separate us from the overall title.”

Despite overcast conditions for the final qualifying session of the 2014 Blancpain Sprint Series season, the track remained dry throughout. Nevertheless, a couple of drivers were caught out by the slippery conditions around the Baku street circuit. Vincent Abril (#4 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT Audi), Marc Basseng (#5 Phoenix Racing Audi) and Benjamin Hetherington (#63 Fortec Mercedes) all hit the concrete walls very hard, fortunately without any bodily harm. For Marc Basseng, who set the quickest time in the Pro-Am Trophy before making contact with the wall, the event might well be over, as the damage to his car could well be terminal.

With the fastest 15 drivers qualifying for the decisive third part of the qualifying session, the final ten minutes of the session were always going to be exciting. Alvaro Parente, in the #61 Bhaitech McLaren, was the first to set a reference time, but Laurens Vanthoor was quick to push the Portuguese driver off the top of the rankings. The Belgian could not enjoy his top spot for long, as his countryman Frederic Vervisch in the #16 Boutsen Ginion McLaren created quite a surprise when putting his car on provisional pole position.

With Vanthoor improving his time and reclaiming first top spot, it looked like the die was cast, but like a jack-in-a-box Stephane Ortelli managed to put his #9 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT Audi just in front of the #1 Audi, claiming his first pole position of the season. Jeroen Bleekemolen in the #28 Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini had to settle for third on the grid for the Qualifying Race, after being caught in traffic. Series leader Maximilian Götz (#84 HTP Motorsport Mercedes) will start from 7th, with the first eleven cars on the grid qualifying within one second.

The Qualifying Race starts at 9:15 on Sunday.

Stéphane Ortelli (#9 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT Audi): “It is a good feeling to be at the front of the grid, especially with Laurens next to me on the front row. It brings back nice memories of last year, when together we won the race and the title. The field here in Baku is again very competitive and the track is very intense, with little room for error. I have raced on a fair share of street circuits in my career and I have to say that this one is very exciting. Formula 1 should change their plans and come and race here. The layout of this year is better than last year’s, but as we have seen during qualifying this is a difficult circuit to master as well. Tomorrow we should set a good example and drive a good race in the Qualifying Race.”

Laurens Vanthoor (#1 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT Audi): “I must admit that at first I was a bit disappointed when I heard I was in P2, but when I heard it was Stephane who beat me, I did not feel too bad about it. After winning the title together last year we became good friends, and if there is one guy by whom I think it is okay to be beaten, it’s him. It will be a hard fight tomorrow, especially in the Main Race. Combining a street circuit like this one with a lot of prize money should always bring some exciting racing.”

Jeroen Bleekemolen (#28 Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini): “Although third is our worst qualifying session of the season, we shouldn’t be too unhappy. The car felt really good, even though I had a big issue in Q2 with the front brakes locking up. To be quick around the streets of Baku you should be able to rely on the ABS, so that was a bit of an issue. Luckily, it functioned properly in Q3 and I could really go for it. On the final lap I risked a little more and I was doing well, but unfortunately I hit some traffic and was blocked into turn 8. I don’t know if I could have beaten Stephane’s time, but it probably would have been really close.”

Stefano Colombo (#34 ROAL Motorsport BMW, 1st Silver Cup): “This is the first time I race on a street circuit and even though I am ‘last of the first’ with my 15th time in Q3 I am pretty happy with my performance. We are on pole in the Silver Cup and with the #4 Audi crashing in Q1 there might be a small chance to fight for the championship. It could happen.”

 Calculating machines will be an useful tool this weekend on the shores of the Caspian Sea, as the Blancpain GT Series provides for many opportunities to use them. To summarize the situation, the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT has already secured the titles in the Blancpain Endurance Series, both Teams’ and Drivers’ (with Laurens Vanthoor). In the Blancpain Sprint Series, it is still running for the Teams’ one, although the 10-point gap will require excellent results to make it.

 In the overall Blancpain GT Series, which takes into account all 12 events under the Blancpain banner, the Belgian squad enjoys a 17-point lead in the Teams’ classification, while Laurens Vanthoor, currently second in the Drivers’ standings 23 points behind the leader, still has a theoretical chance to clinch the title.

 Team Principal Vincent Vosse is at the same time realistic and ambitious ahead of the grand-finale: “It’s the last round of a long season, which has been similar to the previous ones. We have had successes, certainly in the Endurance Series and at the Spa 24 Hours, but also some lows. I can’t avoid some frustration when looking at our season in the Sprint Series. We have been fast and competitive, mostly in qualifying and in the Qualifying races, but not very successful in the Main races, winning only at Zandvoort with Ide-Rast. For whatever reason, there have always been some circumstances that have cost us many points. We cannot put all the blame on bad luck and race incidents, it is clear that we have done some little mistakes and lacked consistency, and we’ll have to draw conclusions from that. Now comes the final round and we are still in a position to fight for five titles. I understand it will be difficult to get them all five, but we go to Baku to fight until the end and bring home as many crowns as possible. Last year, we had an excellent weekend there, winning both Race 1 with Rast-Mayr Melnhof and Race 2 with Vanthoor-Ortelli. We aim at having that kind of success again…”

 Laurens Vanthoor, who is still in contention for the Blancpain GT Series Drivers’ title, is no less realistic and ambitious: “Theoretically, I still have a chance, but it’s going to be difficult. If I can clinch another title, I would be happy, but I don’t regard that overall crown as important as the Endurance or Sprint ones, because it is a combination of two separate things and not all drivers competed in both series. This said, together with César Ramos, we are extremely motivated to deliver the maximum, and to contribute to the team’s success in the two Teams’ championships still open. We were quite successful in Baku last year, and I believe the Audi will be competitive again. Of course, Baku is a street circuit and we know anything can happen on that kind of track. On top, there is an entry much bigger than usual, with a lot of cars just coming for the prestige and the prize money. The track has been slightly redesigned, in the narrow section in-between buildings, and we need to see how this will play. What is sure is that there won’t be any space for mistakes, as the two races are on Sunday…”

 The two of the five titles that are at closest reach for the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT are certainly the ones of the Silver Cup, the special class in the Sprint Series for under-25 drivers, as Mateusz Lisowski and Vincent Abril, after an impressive maiden campaign in the Sprint Series, are very close to reach their goal. “While we couldn’t achieve mathematical certainty at Zolder”, explains the Pole, “the situation is such that we just need to finish the races in Baku to get the points necessary for the title. Still, Vincent and I aim at doing well in Azerbaijan, although the track is new for both of us. But we won’t do anything stupid!”

 For the two other cars of the team, #2 of Enzo Ide-René Rast and #9 of Stéphane Ortelli-Stéphane Richelmi, the goal will be to bring home as many points as possible for the team, a mission that should be facilitated by the fact that Rast and Ortelli won one of the races each last year in Baku and thus know the track perfectly.

 The Baku round will adopt the format used last year, with free practice on Saturday and both the Qualifying and the Main races on Sunday, respectively at 9:15 and 13:55 local time, which is 3 hours ahead of Central European time.

In the works team’s series debut, Aston Martin Racing works driver Adam and team-mate ex-F1 test driver Soucek quickly made their mark in the highly-competitive 30-strong grid by finishing both one-hour races in fifth place.

Despite being one of the most experienced Vantage GT3 drivers in the world, it was Adam’s series debut, but he knew that they had to push hard from the start in order to be competitive.

“We knew we had to hit the ground running,” commented Adam. “This series is so competitive, you don’t have time to settle in. Andy had never driven the car before but he took to it straight away and went second fastest in the first free practice. That’s the beauty of the Vantage GT3, it’s fast and competitive but also easy to adapt to.”

The V12 Vantage GT3 was introduced at the start of the 2012 season and has been incredibly successful. Adam and Beechdean AMR team-mate Andrew Howard (GB) took the car’s first ever race win in April 2012 and, since then, the car has raced in most of major races and championships around the world, now including the new-for-2014 Blancpain Sprint Series.

“I’m really looking forward to getting back in the Vantage GT3,” commented Soucek. “We had a great race in Zolder but I think we can do even better in Baku this weekend now that we have gelled as a team and I have spent a bit more time in the car. I raced here last year and I’m confident that my experience will benefit the team.”

Baku World Challenge in Azerbajan is the only street circuit race in the Blancpain Sprint Series calendar. The 4.4km long circuit runs through the old town of Baku, centering around the country’s largest national flag and running along the Caspian Sea coastline.

“It’s a great circuit and we are all looking forward to seeing the Vantage GT3 compete there,” commented Team Principal John Gaw. “The team, of course, would like to finish even higher than they did in Zolder but the competition is tough. There are teams there that have experience in the Baku World Challenge and many of them have contested the whole of the Blancpain Sprint Series season. This is just our second race in the Series so we must remain realistic but the car is good, the drivers are great and the team is strong. We’ll see what happens at the weekend.”

The final two races are staged at Baku in Azerbaijan and while the 18-year-old Londoner has already claimed the Pro-Am Trophy title, Latif and co-driver Marc Basseng, of Germany, are aiming to post a brace of top-10 placings overall.

Both one-hour races are unusually staged on the same day (Sunday) around a temporary 18-corner, 2.721-mile “street” circuit running beside the Caspian Sea that was used for the first time in 2012.

“Baku is definitely heading into the unknown although for some [drivers] it will be familiar as the track layout has not changed much,” commented Latif. “The layout looks very interesting and tricky from studying previous onboard camera footage.

“The grip level apparently changes over the course of the weekend due to it being a ‘public’ road and the extremely cool morning temperatures. I am very excited as it will be the first street circuit I have raced on so again a whole new challenge to tackle.”

Latif gets his first taste of the Baku track on Saturday, taking part in two practice sessions prior to qualifying time trials to determine grid positions for the capacity 30-car field. The opening Qualifying Race is scheduled to begin at 4.15am* on Sunday with the Main Race at 8.55am*.

Alessandro continued: “Marc and I have been working to see why we were off the pace at Zolder and I believe we’ve found some good solutions for Baku. The track is so different to anything that we normally race on, everyone will be starting pretty much from zero in terms of set-up.

“The two races on the same day format will be a challenge for both drivers and teams. For us physically it should be fine but it will be mentally draining. It will also be a huge challenge for the mechanics needing to re-prepare the car in a relatively short space of time between the two races but I’m certain the Phoenix Racing boys will rise to the challenge.”

The race forms the final round of the Blancpain GT Series, and has attracted a large field that should provide a stiff challenge for the team, who won several races in the British GT Championship in 2014. Trackspeed are part of a stunning 30 car GT3 entry.

The biggest test, however, will be the Baku circuit. This is the second year of the Baku World Challenge, and the third year in succession to see top-level GT3 racing on the streets of Azerbaijan’s capital city. The circuit is tight, uncompromising and narrow, with concrete walls providing the track limits. Any mistake is likely to be thoroughly punished.

Last season, Trackspeed’s entry ran at the front of the pack until unfortunate contact forced retirement from the main race. This year, the ingredients for good results are all in place. The nimble Porsche, excellent on circuits with a stop-go nature, thanks to its good traction, will make the perfect weapon.

Neither driver is a stranger to Porsches. Westbrook and Trackspeed combined for several years in the British GT Championship, while Siedler is a Porsche Supercup and Carrera Cup ace –  ending as runner up in the ultra-competitive Supercup in 2011.

David Ashburn, team boss:
“This is a great opportunity for the whole team to measure themselves against some of the best GT teams in Europe, if not the world. We showed pretty well last year but fell victim to bad luck and the tight, close action here, so I hope we can avoid that this year! Richard and Norbert are a good pair, and I think they give us a good chance of showing what Trackspeed Racing are capable of.”

Richard Westbrook:
“I haven’t raced for Trackspeed since Donington Park last year, but I know all the guys there and it seems like a pretty good entry. My recollection of the Porsche on street circuits is that it’s pretty good and should go well at that kind of place.”
 
Norbert Siedler:
“I am really happy to be racing in Baku for the first time! I did some races with Richard in the VLN this season, and I think we can be competitive together. It’s always nice to race on a street track – if you make one mistake you are in the wall, and that’s really challenging. I hope the Porsche is more competitive than in the last races, but I guess on a street course you need a lot of traction and that’s good for our car! We definitely want to fight for a top five position. I’m excited to race with Trackspeed, and with Richard – I have to thank him for putting us in touch. I think we’re a really good team. I’m looking forward to it!”

Three wins, one second place and every Qualifying or Main Race a points finish: Maximilian Götz has had an excellent run in the 2014 Blancpain Sprint Series. With 34 points up for grabs on the streets of Baku (1 for pole position, 8 in the Qualifying Race and 25 in the Main Race) the 28-year-old German – who shared the #84 HTP Motorsport Mercedes with Maximilian Buhk at every round but one – is now very close to the title. However, one stroke of bad luck on the 3,864 km Baku street circuit could see his 27-point lead melt like snow in the sun. On the other hand, if Götz manages to finish in front of the Lamborghini of Proczyk and Bleekemolen in the Qualifying Race, he could clinch the title before the start of the Baku Main Race.

In the overall Teams Classification, it is already certain that the title fight will only be decided in the Main Race. HTP Motorsport has a 10-point lead over the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT – the various cars from the Belgian squad scored points in every race – but the Grasser Racing Team is still in the running as well. With a 21-point deficit, the Austrian team will need at least one podium finish to claim the teams’ title.

In the Silver Cup, victory in Zolder has given Belgian Audi Club Team WRT-drivers Vincent Abril and Mateusz Lisowski a comfortable lead on the eve of the final round of the 2014 season. Only ROAL Motorsport-pairing Fumanelli-Colombo could deny them the title (in both Drivers and Teams Classifications), but if Abril and Lisowski finish in front of the BMW-duo in the Qualifying Race, the die is cast.
With the Pro-Am title being decided at the Belgian round, Alessandro Latif and Marc Basseng can now fully focus on claiming a fifth Main Race win of the season.

Extra teams make for a full grid

Focussing on the win is something that plenty of teams participating in the Baku World Challenge will be doing. The attractive prize money (100.000 euro for the overall winning team, 50.000 for the second placed team, and 25.000 for the team third) has drawn the attention of plenty of top-notch GT-teams and drivers. Beechdean AMR and GT Russian Team were already present in Zolder to prepare for the Azeri season finale, but they will be joined by no fewer than seven teams that are new to the Blancpain Sprint Series. Two of them were present in some or all of the Blancpain Endurance Series races this year. Boutsen Ginion Racing will bring two McLaren MP4-12C to Baku, while Triple 888 Racing will enter a BMW Z4 in the Silver cup, for talented youngsters Ryan Ratcliffe and Joe Osborne.

Trackspeed from Great Britain enters a quick Porsche 997 GT3-R, just like German squad Schütz Motorsport. More German teams will be present, with Prosperia ABT racing (Audi R8 LMS ultra), Zakspeed (Mercedes SLS AMG GT3) and Callaway-RWT, who will bring two Corvette Z06 cars. That brings the total of prestigious car brands represented at the Baku World Challenge to eight.

Some Series’ regulars have also slightly altered their line-up – BMW Sports Trophy Teams Brazil and Schubert, together with Fortec Motorsports – bringing the total of Platinum drivers at the start of the Baku World Challenge to an astonishing 17. Add to that the 18 drivers with Gold status, and it is clear that the quality of racing at the Baku World Challenge will be of an unprecedented high level.

Buhk vs. Vanthoor for GT Series title

The Baku World Challenge also forms the final chapter of the inaugural Blancpain GT Series, the series that combines both Endurance and Sprint. Two drivers are still in the running for the title: Maximilian Buhk and the Blancpain Endurance Series Pro champion Laurens Vanthoor. The Belgian has scored 23 fewer points than the German, so if Buhk can extend that lead by two more points by the end of the Qualifying Race, the title will be his even before the start of the Main Race. In the team classification the situation is reversed, with the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT leading HTP Motorsport by 17 points. Unless the Audi squad takes pole and wins the Qualifying Race – with the Mercedes team scoring nul points in that first race of the weekend – this duel for the cheque of 100.000 euro will go to the wire.

Pitstop Challenge won by Phoenix Racing

One competition that has already been decided is the Pitstop Challenge. With the crew of each car earning points by the speed by which they execute their pitstop, the crew of the #5 Phoenix Racing Audi now has an unassailable lead over the crew of the #0 BMW Sports Trophy Team Brazil BMW, which is in second the standings. For their performance the Phoenix Racing crew will be handed the Pitstop Challenge Cup at the Prize Giving Ceremony on November 28th in London.

With only the final Baku round left, the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT is still in the race for the Blancpain Sprint Series Teams’ title, although the gap from the top is now 10 points, while the squad’s driver pairs are now mathematically out of contention in the Drivers’ standings.

 Team Principal Vincent Vosse’s mood at the end of the race summarized well everybody’s feelings: “We would have hoped a better outcome in the Main Race, that’s for sure”, he admits, “especially here at Zolder for our home race, but for whatever reason, the Sunday race is proving difficult for us. We have won Race 1 four times and Race 2 only once this season… Here, Ramos-Vanthoor haven’t done any mistake, although the start could have been better, but at the end the Mercedes and one Lambo are in front… For the rest, Ide-Rast were quite unlucky throughout the weekend, while our young guns Abril-Lisowski are getting very close to the class title, and Ortelli-Richelmi concluded well a difficult weekend.”

Qualifying went pretty well for the Team WRT boys, as Laurens Vanthoor did not miss the opportunity to take the pole at home (for the third time this season), stopping the watch in 1.28.580, with Rast taking an excellent 3^rd, Lisowski 10^th and Ortelli 17^th.

The Qualifying Race, under a glorious sunshine, kept some surprises, as Vanthoor did not take the best of kick-off, contrarily to Rast, who took the lead in the canal curves. The two Audis were in control of the race when in lap 9, they had a slight contact in the Jacky Ickx chicane, as Vanthoor attempted to pass his team mate who had exited a little bit wider from the previous corner. Vanthoor succeeded, while Rast’s car went off-track, avoiding the gravel trap but losing three positions. First and fourth were their final positions, after César Ramos increased the lead of car #1 and Enzo Ide brought his safely home. The stewards that investigated the incident after the race concluded in split responsibility and the expected internal discussion within the team was cut short, by Vanthoor recognizing he had misjudged the situation: “I must apologize to the team”, said the young Belgian, “that wasn’t the way it should have been.  René had made a small mistake in the previous corner and I got really close to him in the run up to the Jacky Ickx chicane. I showed myself pretty early and I thought he had seen me. It was not planning to do something crazy under braking, I braked just a little bit later. When I was alongside, he turned in on me. It was probably my mistake, for I was the car behind.” René Rast, on his side, admitted: “That’s racing” and Sporting Director Pierre Dieudonné had the obvious conclusion: “En-famille fighting happens often in motorsports and that proves that a racing driver is always a racing driver when it puts the helmet on! But you don’t want to see this very often, of course. Here we were lucky not to have our cars out of the race”.

The other two Audis R8 of the Belgian squad had a relatively frustrating race. Mateusz Lisowski-Vincent Abril could not repeat the pace had in qualifying and suffered some engine cut-offs, finishing in P17 but still taking a very useful P2 in the Silver Cup. Stéphane Richelmi and Stéphane Ortelli finished further aback after losing time when Richelmi spun and went into the gravel shortly before the pit stop, because of a brake issue. The young Monegasque, in addition, was sick and raced with fever.

On Sunday, for the Main Race, hopes were in the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT camp  were as high as the sunshine, but the start saw the two Lambos out-powering the R8 of Ramos, which got also touched. Things went even worse for Ide as he was pushed out of the track into the barriers in turn 2. The race went on nervously, with two safety-car periods before drivers’ change. Despite an excellent pit stop, Vanthoor remained in P3, with the HTP Mercedes replacing one of the Lambos in P1. Nothing much happened in this second stint: “I was quite fast at the beginning of my stint and did the fastest lap but I could not find an opportunity to pass Bleekemolen. Later, my rear tires started to deteriorate.”

Ortelli-Richelmi took an excellent tenth position, despite Richelmi not feeling much better than the day before. The older of the two Monegasques summed up: “Finishing in the points, after having started from P23, is really good. We pitted very late, five seconds before the window closed, and tactically that was the right thing to do. Richelmi has done an excellent job, despite his physical problems, and showed a very strong pace. He took him one weekend to be competitive on a GT car!”

Vincent Abril and Mateusz Lisowski finished right behind car #9, but most importantly took a precious win in the Silver Cup: “The title is now close, we just need to finish the race in Baku, a track new to both Vincent and me”, explained the Pole, “Here at Zolder, we signed the best qualifying of the season but in the races we struggled a bit and had some issues. Still, we are satisfied with what achieved.”

The Blancpain Sprint Series’ final round will take place, as last year, in the streets of Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, on 1^st-2^nd November.

Having raced and won in the Blancpain Endurance Series, this weekend’s event in Zolder was the first Blancpain Sprint Series event for the Aston Martin Racing works team.

Aston Martin Racing works driver Adam and his new team-mate ex-F1 test driver Soucek didn’t take any time getting to grips with the new-for-2014 series and went second fastest in free practice one and third fastest in free practice two.

Soucek was first out in qualifying and, despite it being his first event in an Aston Martin, drove the V12 Vantage GT3 like he had been driving it for years, going fastest in Q1 before handing over to team-mate Adam.

A difficult Q2 left the team to start race one from 14th but, with some incredible overtaking and a slick pitstop and driver change, the pair crossed the line in fifth place.

For race two, the team started from fifth but on the green flag the #107 car dropped to sixth to avoid an incident. Then the two safety cars in the first half of the race hampered Soucek’s chances of moving up the grid.

With some smart strategy and a perfect pitstop, Adam exited in fourth and continued his charge to the front of the pack. After the pitstops were completed they were just pipped to the post and crossed the line in fifth.

“For our first weekend in the Blancpain Sprint Series, to score two fifth places was a great achievement and underlines the strength of the Aston Martin Vantage GT3,” commented Adam. “The team and car performed very well over the weekend and it was a pleasure to drive with Andy Soucek. This weekend has definitely helped with our preparation towards our race in Baku.”

Another brace of Pro-Am class race victories in the latest rounds of the Blancpain Sprint Series in Belgium this weekend (18-19 Oct) earned the young Briton the silverware.

The 18-year-old Londoner and co-driver Marc Basseng, of Germany, also recorded 15th and 16th overall placings in their Phoenix Racing Audi R8 LMS ultra – despite Alessandro making his debut on the historic 10-corner, 2.5-mile Zolder track.

The duo began the weekend with a healthy 27-point lead in the Pro-Am category but now enjoy an unassailable 61pt advantage with just two races remaining in Azerbaijan.

Latif and Basseng, who are racing together for the first time this year, have now won the Pro-Am class on eight occasions this season.

“Both races were very tough for Marc and I but it’s good to have clinched the Pro-Am title,” commented Latif.

“The balance of the Audi was never particularly to our liking throughout the weekend which effected our ultimate pace and prevented us from challenging for top overall placings.

“The Phoenix team will examine the data next week back at its base close to the Nürburgring.”

Latif started the Qualifying race on Saturday afternoon 16th on the 25-car grid while his German co-driver brought the Audi home 15th – first in class.

Basseng began the one-hour Main Race on Sunday from 14th on the grid and was amongst a six-car battle for 10th place with Latif ultimately finishing 16th and again first in the Pro-Am class to wrap up the title.

Alessandro continued: “I found myself stuck behind a BMW in the opening race but because of our lack of pace, was unable to get passed.

“We tried a different set-up for Sunday’s race but the outright speed was still lacking. These things happen time to time but we’ll be looking for an improvement so we can sign off in style in the final races.”

The final two Blancpain Sprint races are staged at Baku in Azerbaijan over 1-2 November.

“After Saturday’s qualifying race we clinched the best possible result again – says Raimondo Amadio, Team Principal -. We have further improved our performances on a very difficult circuit to our technical package. We still managed to fiercely fight with our opponents being very aggressive, especially in this main race.”

Glorious sunshine greeted the drivers for the Qualifying Race in Zolder. With 25 cars on the largest grid of the year, the opening few corners of the race were hectic, but almost everybody got through unscathed. Polesitter Laurens Vanthoor had managed to hold on the lead, but before the end of the first lap the Belgian was passed by René Rast in the #2 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT Audi. At the end of the ninth lap Vanthoor tried to retake the lead going into the Jacky Ickx-corner, but his Audi made contact with Rast’s and the German lost control of his car. However, he managed to keep it out of the gravel trap, and rejoined in fourth, behind the two Lamborghinis of Bleekemolen and Catsburg.

Just before the pit window opened, Stephane Richelmi spun off the track at the chicane, causing an intervention of the safety car. Once the pit window opened, almost all cars entered the pitlane simultaneously. Peter Kox in the NSC Motorsports/Syntix Lamborghini could rejoin in second, behind Cesar Ramos. But when the lights went green again, there was no stopping the Brazilian. Ramos gained almost half a second a lap over his nearest competitors, eventually finishing with an advantage of just under 16 seconds over Peter Kox.

The fight for the third podium position turned out to be very entertaining, as Enzo Ide in the #2 Audi was all over the Lamborghini of Proczyk. Cacá Bueno in the #0 BMW Sports Trophy Team Brasil and Andy Soucek in the #107 Beechdean AMR Aston Martin joined the fight in the final stages of the race, but Proczyk managed to hold on to third. Series leader Maximilian Götz had a difficult start to the race, driving on the edge of the top-10. When Maxi Buhk took over the HTP Mercedes steadily gained some places, eventually crossing the line in 6th.

In Silver Cup David Fumanelli had taken the best start, but the driver of #34 ROAL Motorsport BMW lost his advantage completely when his team made him wait for the second lap under safety car to make its mandatory pitstop. Stefano Colombo rejoined in last position, but after an inspired comeback by the young Italian, the BMW crossed the line in 13th place overall, winning the Silver Cup as well.

Alessandro Latif did his best to keep his nose clean during the opening laps, so Marc Basseng could try and get through the pack in the second half of the race. Even though the German did not get higher than 16th overall, it was still enough to take the win in the Pro-Am Trophy.

The Main Race of the penultimate round of the 2014 Blancpain Sprint Series will be held on Sunday October 19th, with the start of the race at 13.45 CET.

Laurens Vanthoor (#1 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT Audi): ‘I would like to apologise to the team and to Audi, for this is not the way it should work. René had made a small mistake in the previous corner and I got really close to him in the run up to the Jacky Ickx corner. I showed myself pretty early and I thought he had seen me. It was not planning to do something crazy under braking, I braked just a little bit later. When I was alongside, he turned in on me. It was probably my mistake, for I was the car behind.”

Peter Kox (#95 NSC Motorsports/Syntix Lamborghini): “I lost some ground on Ramos at the restart, but I managed to get closer to him again by setting my best lap. But then he disappeared so quickly, that there was no point in trying to keep. So I drove my own race, looked after the car and controlled the gap to the guys behind me.”

Hari Proczyk (#28 Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini): “This was probably one of the hardest races of my life. The car had a lot of oversteer and in the end the brakes started to suffer as well. Enzo was really quick in the second sector, but I had a better exit of the corners. That is why I could keep him behind me.”

David Fumanelli (#34 ROAL Motorsport BMW): “I don’t know what happened with the pit stop, but it was the wrong decision to stay out. Fortunately Stefano did a really good stint and managed to retake a lot of positions and the lead in Silver Cup.’

Marc Basseng (#5 Phoenix Racing Audi): ‘For one reason or another, the car lacked some speed today. The lap times at the beginning of my stint were identical with the ones at the end, which makes me think that we do not manage to get everything out of the tyres. We will have to improve for tomorrow if we want to gain some more places in the overall standings.”