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