Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup
at
Brands Hatch

Words by Keith Bluemel

The Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup paid its annual visit to the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit over the weekend of 05-06 May. The event featured the series regular two 60 minute races, with a pair of similar length support races for each of the GT4 European Series, plus pairs of Porsche Club Championship series and 7 Race Series, providing an eight race programme, together with Hyper/Supercar demonstration runs.

Unusually for a British Bank Holiday weekend there were glorious sunshine and cloudless skies throughout, with record ambient temperatures for early May. The series is very popular with race fans, and the numbers were no doubt swelled by the chance to enjoy some fine weather, after what has seemed a prolonged winter.

The qualifying sessions, one for each race, with each driver doing one of the sessions, saw the pole position for race 1 taken by Dries Vanthoor in the # 2 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT Audi R8 LMS GT3, with his closest challenger being the similar # 66 Attempto Racing entry driven by Steijn Schothorst, which was only 0.139sec adrift. Qualifying for race 2 was another Belgian Audi Club Team WRT triumph, this time it was their # 17 car driven by Frederic Vervisch, who topped the times ahead of Raffaele Marciello’s # 88 AKKA ASP Team Mercedes-AMG GT3.

In race 1 Vanthoor immediately turned his pole position into the race lead, which he extended through his stint from the # 66 Attempto Racing example of Steijn Schothorst, before handing over to his co-driver Will Stevens. During the second half of the race the # 66 Audi, now in the hands of Kelvin van der Linde, homed in on the # 2 car, but Stevens soaked up the pressure with some impressive defensive driving and took the chequered flag first, whilst the # 66 Audi came under intense pressure from the sister WRT # 1 Audi of Riberas/Mies and the # 88 AKKA-Mercedes of Marciello/Meadows. The pressure on the # 66 Audi from the # 1 and # 88 cars worked as they both slipped past to claim the final podium places in that order, whilst the # 66 car sustained damage, slipping to a 5^th place finish.

Silver Cup honours appeared to be going to the # 90 AKKA-Mercedes of Bastian/Manchester until the latter beached the car in a gravel trap late in the race. This handed the class win to the # 31 Team Parker Racing Bentley Continental GT3 of Caygill/Taylor Smith after the # 37 BMW was excluded from the results. The Pro-AM Cup win was taken by the # 39 TP 12-Kessel Racing Ferrari 488 GT3 in the hands Piti Bhirombhakdi and Carlo van Dam.

Race 2 followed a similar pattern to the first one, with Belgian Audi Club Team WRT once again posting a one-two finish, but this time it was their # 17 pole sitting car that took the win, with their # 1 car once again claiming the second step on the podium. The # 2 race 1 winner was out of luck, as it sustained contact damage and was forced to retire in the second half of the race. The # 66 Attempto Racing Audi R8 LMS was repaired after its first race incident, and Steijn Schothorst/Kelvin van der Linde brought it home in a fighting 3^rd place, to give Audi a clean sweep of the podium.

In the Silver Cup class the # 90 Mercedes-AMG was first across the line,  but was later given a penalty for Jack Manchester’s involvement in a first-lap crash with both the Team Parker Bentleys and the # 35 SMP Racing Mercedes-AMG. Thus the class win went to the # 37 3Y Technology BMW M6 GT3 of Watson/Moraes, providing some joy after its race 1 exclusion.  In the Pro-Am Cup Markus Winkelhock and Nyls Stievenart took their # 26 Sainteloc Racing Audi to the class win, despite strong pressure from the race 1 winning Ferrari of Bhirombhakdi/Van Dam in the closing stages.

GT4 European Series

The main support races were rounds of the GT4 European Series, which attracted a massive 46 car entry, making for plenty of close action on the crowded track. Milan Dontje and Nicolaj Moller Madsen in their # 5 Phoenix Racing entered Audi R8 LMS GT4, won the first race, after the lead car on the road, the # 55 HHC Motorsport entered Ginetta G55 GT4 of Will Tregurtha and Stuart Middleton was given a time penalty for too short a pit stop, which dropped them to 15^th overall. The one hour race was actually red flagged with less than 15 minutes left to run, after the # 10 Equipe Verschuur McLaren 570S GT4 had a big impact with the barriers out on the back of the circuit, which couldn’t be safely repaired whilst the track was live.

The second race went the full distance, and the HHC team didn’t repeat the pit stop mistake made in the first race. Their # 55 Ginetta took the race win after a battle, first with the # 31 Selleslagh Racing Team Mercedes-AMG GT4, and then the # 1 MDM Motorsport BMW M4 GT4, the latter achieving 2^nd place in both races.

All Photos by Keith Bluemel

Race Podiums Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup

Race 1

Overall

1^st – # 2, Dries Vanthoor/Will Stevens, Belgian Audi Club Team WRT, Audi R8 LMS

2^nd – # 1, Alex Riberas/Christopher Mies, Belgian Audi Club Team WRT, Audi R8 LMS

3^rd – # 88, Michael Meadows/Raffaele Marciello, AKKA ASP Team, Mercedes-AMG GT3

Pro-AM Cup

1^st – # 39, Piti Bhirombhakdi/Carlo Van Dam, TP 12 – Kessel Racing, Ferrari 488 GT3

2^nd – # 32, Ian Loggie/Callum Macleod, Team Parker Racing, Bentley Continental GT3

3^rd – # 26, Nyls Stievenart/Markus Winkelhock, Sainteloc Racing, Audi R8 LMS

Silver Cup

1^st – # 31, Joshua Caygill/Aron Taylor Smith, Team Parker Racing, Bentley Continental GT3

2^nd – # 35, Vladimir Atoev/Alexey Korneev, SMP Racing by AKKA ASP, Mercedes-AMG GT3

3^rd – # 90, Nico Bastian/Jack Manchester,AKKA ASP Team, Mercedes-AMG GT3

Race 2

Overall

1^st – # 17, Stuart Leonard/Frederic Vervisch, Belgian Audi Club Team WRT, Audi R8 LMS

2^nd – # 1, Alex Riberas/Christopher Mies, Belgian Audi Club Team WRT, Audi R8 LMS

3^rd – # 66, Steijn Schothorst/Kelvin van der Linde, Attempto Racing, Audi R8 LMS

Pro-AM Cup

1^st – # 26, Nyls Stievenart/Markus Winkelhock, Sainteloc Racing, Audi R8 LMS

2^nd – # 39, Piti Bhirombhakdi/Carlo Van Dam, TP 12 – Kessel Racing, Ferrari 488 GT3

No Other Finishers

Silver Cup

1^st – # 37, Andrew Watson/Lukas Moraes, 3Y Technology, BMW M6 GT3

2^nd – # 90, Nico Bastian/Jack Manchester,AKKA ASP Team, Mercedes-AMG GT3

No Other Finishers

GT4 European Series Race Podiums

Race 1

Overall & Silver

1^st – # 5, Phoenix Racing, M.Dontje/N.Möller-Madsen, Audi R8 LMS GT4

2^nd – # 1, MDM Motorsport, S.Knap/M.Koebolt, BMW M4 GT4

3^rd – # 8, MDM Motorsport, M.Van Der Aa/K.Bogaerts, BMW M4 GT4

PAM Class

1^st – # 13, Schwede Motorsport, P.Bethke/M.Basseng, Porsche Cayman GT4 CS MR

2^nd – # 77, Racing One, P.Zamparini/C.Mor, Audi R8 LMS GT4

3^rd – # 6, Phoenix Racing, J.Viebahn/J.Jasper, Audi R8 LMS GT4

AM Class

1^st – # 76, Autorlando Sport, G.Ghezzi/A.Giovanelli, Porsche 911 (997) GT4

2^nd – # 222, Porsche Zentrum Oberer Zürichsee by TFT Racing, N.Leutwiler AM Porsche Cayman GT4 CS MR

3^rd – # 88, Team GT, C.Danner/F.Von Der Laden, McLaren 570s GT4

Race 2

Overall & Silver

1^st – # 55, HHC Motorsport, S.Middleton/W.Tregurtha, Ginetta G55 GT4

2^nd – # 1, MDM Motorsport, S.Knap/M.Koebolt, BMW M4 GT4

3^rd – # 2, Leipert Motorsport, M.Paverud/I.Pareras, Mercedes AMG GT4

PAM Class

1^st – # 13, Schwede Motorsport, P.Bethke/M.Basseng, Porsche Cayman GT4 CS MR

2^nd – # 4, Phoenix Racing, H.Rödig/C.Zöchling, Audi R8 LMS GT4

3^rd – # 38, 3Y Technology, L.Floss/J.Vandenbalck, BMW M4 GT4

AM Class

1^st – # 76, Autorlando Sport, G.Ghezzi/A.Giovanelli, Porsche 911 (997) GT4

2^nd – # 39, 3Y Technology, G.Delomier/S.Debs, BMW M4 GT4

3^rd – # 26, CMR, E.Mouez/D.Loger, Ginetta G55 GT4