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Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup, Barcelona


7 - BMS Scuderia Italia SRL - Luigi Lucchini - Ferrari 458 GT3

7 - BMS Scuderia Italia SRL - Luigi Lucchini - Ferrari 458 GT3

 

Barcelona, 28-30, September, 2018

The final round of the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup was held at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya over the weekend of 28 – 30 September, and enjoyed perfect weather conditions, with high ambient temperatures and plentiful sunshine, despite a forecast of thunderstorms on race day, which didn’t materialise. Apart from the main 3 hour endurance race on the Sunday afternoon, there was a large support race programme comprising of a pair each of Blancpain GT Sports Club races, FFSA French GT Championship – GT4 France races, Porsche Carrera Cup France races and Peugeot 308 Racing Cup races.

For off-track entertainment there was a MOD.A.S (Modified Audio & Styling) car show adjacent to the main paddock, with a varied array of modified vehicles on display, which ranged from a “distressed” VW Golf, through a variety of low-riders to a “customised” bright yellow Lamborghini Espada. Nissan had a PlayStation Gran Turismo feature along with a heritage display, including the company’s previous incarnation of Datsun with a 240Z, a 260 Z, a 280 ZX, a 120 Y race car and a Bluebird rally car.

 

Main Race

There were a total of 52 starters for the main Blancpain Endurance Cup race, with cars representing no less than 12 different manufacturers. In order of numbers representing each marque there was 1 Jaguar, 2 each of Lexus, McLaren, Nissan and Porsche, 3 each of Aston Martin, Bentley and BMW, 7 each of Audi and Ferrari, 9 Lamborghinis and 11 Mercedes. The total entry and diversity of manufacturers represented demonstrating the popularity and strength of the series. There was a one hour qualifying session on the Sunday morning, where each of a car’s drivers have to set a time, with the grid position being determined by the average of the times set. When it came to an end it was the # 4 Mercedes-AMG Team Black Falcon Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Buurman/Engel/Stolz that claimed pole position. This was only 0.172sec quicker than the # 1 Belgian Audi Team WRT Audi R8 LMS driven by Vanthoor/Mies/Riberas, whilst the top twenty cars were covered by a fraction over a second, making for the promise of an exciting race. 

When the lights went out, the thundering multi-hued pack barrelled towards the first turn headed by the pole sitting # 4 Mercedes, and amazingly they all found, or made, enough space to get through unscathed, apart from some intimate exchanges of paintwork. At the head of the field the # 4 Mercedes with the benefit of a clear track and a good turn of speed managed to pull out a healthy gap over its pursuers, who were squabbling frantically for track position. In fact the only time during the course of the race when it dropped off the lead position was during a safety car period when it dropped to 2nd. As might be expected with a large number of highly competitive cars and drivers on the track, there were a number of full course yellows and safety car periods, due to various incidents (fortunately none serious), as could be seen from the torn and battered bodywork of some of the cars after the race. 

By the time the chequered flag fell three hours after the race had started, amazingly the top twenty cars were all on the lead lap, with the # 4 Team Black Falcon Mercedes of Buurman/Engel/Stolz first across the line. However, they were excluded from the results in post race scrutineering due to a technical infringement. The team have appealed against the stewards decision, so the race results are provisional pending the outcome of the appeal. Their exclusion was to the benefit of the similar # 88 Team AKKA ASP example driven by Vautier/Juncadella/Marciello, which had chased them hard in the closing stages, and inherited the provisional race victory. In 2nd place was the Aleshin/Rigon/Molina driven # 72 SMP Racing entered Ferrari 488 GT3, and a surprising 3rd overall and winner of the Silver Cup division was the # 54 Emil Frey Jaguar of Fontana/Zaugg/Grenier, which had started in 22nd position, and was in its final race for the team, as its homologation expires at the end of the season. 

It wasn’t only the provisional top three overall podium that featured three different makes, as the same was the case in the Silver Cup, Pro-Am Cup and AM Cup classes, indicating that, like it or not, the Balance of Performance formula appears to work.

 

Support Races

The main support races were the pair for the Blancpain GT Sports Club, and there was a different winner in each race. In race 1 the # 17 HP Racing International entered Lamborghini Huracan GT3 of Coach McKansy took a narrow win from the # 2 Boutsen Ginion entered BMW M6 GT3 of Karim Ojjeh, with the # 488 Spirit of Race entered Ferrari of Patrick Van Glabeke claiming the final podium spot. In the second race Van Glabeke did even better by finishing on top step of the podium, with McKansy 2nd and the # 7 BMS Scuderia Italia entered Ferrari 458 GT3 of Luigi Lucchini rounding out the podium. 

In the FFSA French Championship GT4 races, it was a double win for # 43 Sainteloc Racing Audi R8 LMS GT4 of Michal/Guilvert, followed home by the # 64 Porsche Cayman GT4 CS MR of Jouffret/Tremolet in the first race, and by the # 87 Mercedes-AMG GT4 of Beaubelique/Pla in race 2. In the first Porsche Carrera Cup France race there was a tremendous race long battle between the # 555 911 GT3 Cup of Andlaeur and the similar # 112 car of Rovera, with the latter getting past in the closing stages to take the win by less than a second. The second race once again saw Andlauer in the battle for overall honours, this time taking the win, also by less than a second from the # 53 example of Guven. The race 1 honours in the Peugeot 308 Racing Cup race went to the # 20 example of T. Clairet from the # 15 car of D. Pouget and the # 4 car of J. Briche, whilst in the second race it was Briche who stood on the top step of the podium, with Clairet 2nd and Pouget 3rd.

 

Race Podiums

 

Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup

Overall & PRO Class*

1st - # 88, Tristan Vautier/Daniel Juncadella/Raffaele Marciello, Mercedes-AMG Team Akka ASP, Mercedes-AMG GT3
2nd - # 72, Davide Rigon/Mikhail Aleshin/Miguel Molina, SMP Racing, Ferrari 488 GT3
3rd – # 54, Alex Fontana/Adrian Zaugg/Mikael Grenier, Emil Frey Jaguar Racing, Emil Frey G3 Jaguar

*Overall & PRO class results provisional pending outcome of appeal by car # 4 against disqualification after race win on the road.

Silver Cup

1st - #54, Alex Fontana/Adrian Zaugg/Mikael , Emil Frey Jaguar Racing,Emil Frey G3 Jaguar
2nd - # 12, Andrea Rizzoli/Romain Monti/Alex Frassineti, Ombra Racing, Lamborghini Huracan GT3
3rd - # 90, Jules Szymkowiak/Jack Manchester/Nico Bastian, AKKA ASP Team, Mercedes-AMG GT3

Pro-Am Cup

1st - # 27, Giuseppe Cipriani/Miguel Ramos/Fabrizio Crestani, Daiko Lazarus Racing, Lamborghini Huracan GT3
2nd - # 26, Nyls Stievenart/Marc Rostan/Markus Winkelhock, Sainteloc Racing, Audi R8 LMS
3rd - # 51, Lorenzo Bontempelli/Duncan Cameron/Matt Griffin, AF Corse, Ferrari 488 GT3

AM Cup

1st - # 77, Richard Abra/Adrian Amstutz/Leo Machitski, Barwell Motorsport, Lamborghini Huracan GT3
2nd - # 991, Jürgen Häring/Edward Lewis Brauner/Wolfgang Triller, Herberth Motorsport, Porsche 911 GT3 R
3rd - # 89, Fabien Barthez/Eric Debard, AKKA ASP Team, Mercedes-AMG GT3


Blancpain GT Sports Club

Qualifying Race

1st - # 17, C. McKansy, HP Racing International, Lamborghini Huracan GT3
2nd - # 2, K. Ojjeh, Boutsen Ginion Racing, BMW M6 GT3
3rd - # 488, P. Van Glabeke, Spirit of Race, Ferrari 488 GT3

Main Race

1st - # 488, P. Van Glabeke, Spirit of Race, Ferrari 488 GT3
2nd - # 17, C. McKansy, HP Racing International, Lamborghini Huracan GT3
3rd - # 7, L. Lucchini, BMS Scuderia Italia, Ferrari 458 GT3


FFSA French GT Championship – GT4 France

Race 1.

1st - # 42, F. Michal/G. Guilvert, Sainteloc Racing, Audi R8 LMS GT4
2nd - # 64, O. Jouffret/E. Tremoulet, VIC Team, Porsche Cayman GT4 CS MR
3rd - # 88, B. Ricci/T. Drouet, AKKA ASP Team, Mercedes AMG GT4

Race 2.

1st - # 42, F. Michal/G. Guilvert, Sainteloc Racing, Audi R8 LMS GT4
2nd - # 87, J. Beaubelique/J. Pla, AKKA ASP Team, Mercedes AMG GT4
3rd - # # 64, O. Jouffret/E. Tremoulet, VIC Team, Porsche Cayman GT4 CS MR


Porsche Carrera Cup France

Race 1.

1st - # 112, A. Rovera, Tsunami RT
2nd - # 555, J. Andlauer, Martinet By Almeras
3rd - # 53, A. Guven, Attempto Racing

Race 2.

1st - # 555, J. Andlauer, Martinet By Almeras
2nd - # 53, A. Guven, Attempto Racing
3rd - # 112, A. Rovera, Tsunami RT


Peugeot 308 Racing Cup

Race 1.

1st - # 20, T. Clairet, Pussier Automobiles by Clairet Sport
2nd - # 15, D. Pouget, GPA Racing
3rd - # 4, J. Briche, JSB Competition

Race 2.

1st - # 4, J. Briche, JSB Competition
2nd - # 20, T. Clairet, Pussier Automobiles by Clairet Sport
3rd - # 15, D. Pouget, GPA Racing

 

Ferrari Entry

 

Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup

Race#

Model

Chassis #

Team

Colour

Drivers

Position

 

O/A

Cl.

Class Pro

 

 

72

488 GT3

4446

SMP Racing

Red-White-Blue

M. Aleshin /
M. Molina /
D. Rigon

2nd

2nd

Class Pro-AM

 

51

488 GT3

4226

AF Corse

Green Met’-White

D. Cameron /
M. Griffin /
L. Bontempelli

24th

3rd

333

488 GT3

4400

Rinaldi Racing

Green-White- Yellow

R. Salikhov /
A. Mattschull /
D. Keilwitz

26th

4th

777

488 GT3

4434

HB Racing

Red

J. Liebhauser /
F. Scholze /
L. Ludwig

29th

5th

53

488 GT3

4298

AF Corse

Black-RWG St’s

N. Hommerson /
L. Machiels /
A. Bertolini

DNF

 

11

488 GT3

4406

Kessel Racing

Red-Black-Grey

M. Broniszewski /
A. Pier Guidi

DNF

 

Class AM

 

 

488

488 GT3

4432

Rinaldi Racing

Green-Black

R. Yoon /
P. Ehret /
R. Penttinen

37th

6th

 

Overall & PRO Class results provisional pending appeal for disqualification by race winning Car # 4

 

 

Blancpain GT Sports Club

Race#

Model

Chassis #

Team

Colour

Driver

Position

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

QR

MR

488

488 GT3

4234

Spirit of Race

Red-Black

P. Van Glabeke

3rd

1st

7

458 GT3

3602

BMS Scuderia  Italia

Red-White

L. Lucchini

5th

3rd

55

488 GT3

4230

Spirit of Race

Red-White

A. Detavernier

6th

9th

111

488 GT3

4408

Kessel Racing

Red-Black-Silver

S. Earle

8th

4th

3

488 GT3

4210

Artega Rennsport

Red-WB St’s

K. Frers

10th

5th

50

488 GT3

4286

Spirit of Race

White-Green

L. Soenen

11th

11th

53

458 GT3

3422

Spirit of Race

Grey-WRG

F. Fangio

13th

13th

70

488 GT3

4224

Spirit of Race

Red-Black

M. Cordini

DNS

DNS

 

Keith Bluemel          10/2018.