A fine 4th spot in the opening round of the Blancpain Endurance Series in Monza was the perfect confirmation of Laurens Vanthoor’s start of the -2014 season. The Belgian driver shares his WRT Audi R8 LMS Ultra with Cesar Ramos and Marc Basseng. Despite a problem In Monza during the first pitstop, Laurens Vanthoor and his team mates finished a mere 8 seconds behind the winning car. Next week Laurens Vanthoor starts the Blancpain Sprint Series in Nogaro, France.

Laurens Vanthoor was really quick throughout the entire weekend, with strong performances in the free practices and a top 5 in qualifying, despite a last strong run being ruined by a red flag. Under a bright sun, the 3-hour race was intensive and open to the end. Vanthoor left the pitlane for the last stint, after Cesar Ramos and Marc Basseng had both produced great jobs. He was fourth at… over 30 seconds from the leading car and yet managed to cross the finish line with a gap of only 7.6 seconds. Throughout his stint, Vanthoor was the only driver to lap under 1.50 for a long time.

Laurens Vanthoor: “At the end, while catching the cars ahead of me, I started struggling with my tyres, making it difficult to overtake the car in front of me. We finished 4th, good, but not good enough. I want to do better in the upcoming races, as this championship is really one I want to win. Today a little mistake during the first pitstop cost us some seconds, enough to lose second and even third place. The BoP is better than last year, so I’m confident that we will enjoy a strong season with the Belgian Audi Club WRT Team.”

Next weekend, Laurens Vanthoor and the Brazilian Cesar Ramos will be in Nogaro for the first the race of the Blancpain Sprint Series.