The Belgian Audi Club Team WRT has achieved one of its two objectives: bringing home the Teams’ title of the Blancpain Endurance Series, clinching its first international crown in what is only its second year of activity. The third position conquered by Grégory Franchi, Andrea Piccini and Marcel Fässler at the fourth round in Magny-Cours was enough to secure the Teams’ title and the trio of the #33 Audi R8 LMS fell a few points short from conquering also the Drivers’ title. Greg Franchi, though, is now much closer to taking the laurels, with only one race left. The #32 car of Stéphane Ortelli, Bert Longin and Filipe Albuquerque had a brilliant performance and was fighting for the win until a “flying” bonnet slowed it, eventually finishing in 14th position.
Since the very beginning of the week-end, the two Audis R8 LMS of the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT were among the front-runners, proving they had the right pace. They qualified well, with Ortelli second and Piccini eighth. The 3-hour race, unusually scheduled at 6:15 pm on Saturday, saw a very lively initial phase, conducted at sprint race pace, with Stéphane Ortelli fighting for the lead with the #29 Ferrari Vita4One and the BMW Marc VDS which eventually won. When the BMW passed the Ferrari, Ortelli tried to do the same but the 458 closed the door and touched the Audi of the Monegasque, causing the front bonnet to open, obscuring the view of Ortelli. A pit stop was inevitable, but few laps later, another slight contact with another car provoked the bonnet to literally fly away. The pit stop, this time, was longer (3 laps) because the hooks of the bonnet had to be repaired and the car resumed the race in 30th position. Bert Longin and Filipe Albuquerque did their best to climb up through the field, finishing 14th overall and 8th in their class. “It was a tough and very fast race”, admitted the Portuguese driver, “and it looks like we are always hit by some kind of small trouble, but we definitely had the pace, had fun and did again a good race. I am happy we reached one of the team’s two objectives, to win the Teams’ title, and I really hope that we can have a trouble-free race in England for the #32 car!”
The race of the #33 Audi was quieter, with Andrea Piccini taking the start and maintaining his position in the top group. The 7th position in the initial phase became a 4th during the second stint, performed by Greg Franchi, and Marcel Fässler brought the car up to 2nd in the last half-hour, which meant provisionally the Drivers’ title for Franchi, but a safety car period in the final laps cancelled the gaps and at the re-start, Fässler was passed by the faster Porsche Autorlando, finishing third. This leaves Greg Franchi 3.5 points from mathematical certainty with regard to the title, a quite safe position, but celebrations are postponed to the last round in Silverstone mid- October. Still, there was some frustration among the drivers, as explained by Andrea Piccini. “The balance of performance is really penalizing us”, said the Italian. “It’s not very noticeable during qualifying, when you can race alone and smoothly, but it really shows in race conditions, when you are in the mid of a group. The other cars really pull away in the straights and in the corners, where we can make up part of the gap, we are slowed by the car in front, which often leads to the guy behind you to pass you! It’s frustrating and you have to drive switching constantly from aggressive to defensive mode, which is stressful for the tires and the gearbox.”
‘To complain when you conquer your first title and make a step forward towards the second one would be pretentious!”, concludes philosophically WRT Team Manager Vincent Vosse, “but when you compete in such a high-level championship, you always strive for more… We’ll finish the job in Silverstone!”
Source : Belgian Audi Club Team WRT