Blancpain Endurance Series, Silverstone - Race Report

Greg Franchi became the first Blancpain Endurance Series champion this afternoon in a race that was dominated by Marc VDS Racing Team. Franchi and his Belgian Audi Club Team WRT teammates finished fifth, enough for the Belgian to clinch the GT3 Pro Cup.

The #41 Marc VDS Racing Team BMW Alpina B6 GT3 of Nikolaus Mayr-Melnhof started from pole position and was still in the lead as the field went into Copse Corner. The #50 AF Corse Ferrari 458 GT3 of Piergiuseppe Perazzini took second place as the #32 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT was pushed wide. Perazzini was unable to keep up with Mayr-Melnhof and became a buffer between the BMW Alpina and the rest of the field for the first couple of corners. After just one lap Mayr-Melnhof was almost 3 seconds clear of the #40 BMW Z4 GT3 of Bas Leinders and the #60 McLaren of Phil Quife.

As the top three pulled away from the rest of the field other cars hit trouble. GT4 championship leaders RJN Motorsport came into the pit after just 4 laps with electrical problems, whilst the #19 Level Racing Porsche suffered a left rear puncture just after passing the pit straight, Christoff Corten returned the car to the pit with bodywork damage.

Thirty minutes into the race the two Marc VDS Racing Team cars were first and second, with the #41 leading the #40 by 4.7 seconds. Behind them Quaife came under attack from Frank Kechele in the #1 Vita4One Ferrari and on lap 19 Kechele passed Quaife for third place at Club - despite having a loose undertray on his Ferrari. GT3 Pro-Am points leader Beaubelique spun on lap 20 and as a result he dropped down to seventh in class, rival Hommerson was in the class lead.

Having passed Quaife Kechele immediately went after the second placed BMW Z4 GT3 of Bas Leinders and on lap 23 the German tried to pass Leinders into Stowe. Leinders had none of it however and retained his position as the top three closed in on each other. Several cars did hit trouble just before the end of the first hour. Westbrook pitted the Nissan GT-R GT3, which had come from sixteenth on the grid to seventh, and smoke was seen coming from the car. Soon after Alvaro Parente’s #59 McLaren also slowed down on the track. Kechele came into the pit on lap 26 for a scheduled stop - but Matteo Bobbi was unable to restart the Ferrari and lost several minutes in the pit.

Just after the hour mark Leinders and Mayr-Melnhof were right behind each other again when they came across the #60 McLaren now driven by Klaas Hummel. Both Marc VDS Racing Team drivers opted for a different side and it was Leinders who made the right decision as he passed both the McLaren as the BMW Alpina to take the lead. Mayr-Melnhof pitted on the same lap, Leinders followed one lap later.

When all teams had completed their stop Palttala in the BMW Z4 GT3 was leading, ahead of the #29 Vita4One Ferrari and the #60 McLaren. Hummel would soon be passed by Dylan Derdaele and the #60 dropped down the order and out of contention.

By lap 34 Andrea Piccini had moved the #33 Audi R8 LMS up into eighth place, which would be enough to secure the Drivers Title for Greg Franchi, but there was still over half a race distance left to complete.

Peter Dumbreck parked the JR Motorsports Nissan GT-R GT3 with a suspension failure on lap 37 and Oliver Turvey returned the #59 McLaren to the pitlane with electrical issues.

As Markus Palttala pulled away from the #29 and the rest of the field the battle for third heated up with several cars fighting for position. Filipe Albuquerque was on a strong run and after passing Giammaria for fourth place on lap 45 he was all over the back of the Alpina two laps later, as Hummel spun his McLaren into the gravel trap at Luffield.

On lap 51 Albuquerque passed Derdaele to take third overall. Derdaele immediately pulled into the pitlane and handed over the #41 to Dino Lunardi. A wheelnut issue caused some delay on the #41 pitstop but when Lunardi was back out on the track he instantly posted some fastest sector times. On the following laps all teams made their last scheduled stop and on lap 56 Palttala pulled in to hand over the leading car to Maxime Martin. In the GT3 Pro-Am Cup the Blancpain-Reiter Lamborghini of Peter Kox was leading, ahead of the Team Preci Spark Mercedes-Benz of the Jones twins and the #2 Vita4One Ferrari.

After all the GT3 Pro cars had made their pit stop it was still the Marc VDS Racing Team BMW Z4 GT43 in the lead followed by the #29 Vita4One Ferrari. In between them was the Blancpain-Reiter Lamborghini of Peter Kox that had not yet made its final stop.

The #41 BMW Alpina had had returned from the pit in sixth place, but Lunardi was soon back in a fight for fourth place, before a left front puncture forced the French driver to limp back to the pit and out of the fight for a top result. With 30 minutes remaining the #40 BMW was over half a minute ahead of the #29 of Petrobelli and another 15 seconds over Stephane Ortelli’s #32 Audi, Ortelli was however closing in on the Ferrari.

On lap 74 Michael Bartels took the lead in the Pro-Am category from Marc Hayek, the Swiss driver unable to hold his position any longer. With the #2 now back in the class lead its drivers Hommerson and Machiels looked set to take the Pro-Am Drivers title.

With just 12 minutes left it suddenly started to rain and the race was declared a wet race. Fortunately for the drivers it turned out to be just a brief shower and nobody had to change to wets. Ortelli meanwhile continued to close the gap to Petrobelli and with 5 laps to go he was 6.7 seconds behind the Ferrari.

Onto the last lap Ortelli tried to pass the Petrobelli. The Audi R8 LMS went sideways but Ortelli managed to save it and continued his attack. Heading towards the new part of the circuit Ortelli made another move and when the #29 Ferrari ran just a bit wide Ortelli took second place.

At the front Martin took the chequered flag to win the race and secure second place for Palttala in the drivers’ championship and for the team in the teams’ championship. The #90 Team Preci Spark Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 of the Jones brothers managed to pass Marc Hayek on the last lap - resulting in the second podium finish in as many Blancpain Endurance Series.

The #33 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT Audi R8 LMS eventually finished in fifth place - which meant Greg Franchi scored enough points to become the first Blancpain Endurance Series Pro Cup Champion.

Michael Bartels, Niek Hommerson and Louis Machiels won the Pro-Am class, which resulted in the team and Hommerson and Machiels taking the Pro-Am Cup titles.

Georges Cabannes clinched the Gentlemen Trophy after finishing second in his Ruffier Racing Lamborghini. The race win went to the #22 Sport Garage Ferrari of Lionel Comole, Chris Dymond and Robert Hissom.

In GT4 it was the Lotus Sport Italia Lotus Evora that won the race, but a second place finish meant RJN Motorsport and its drivers Chris Ward, Jordan Tresson and Alex Buncombe winning the GT4 titles.

The Blancpain Endurance Series will return in 2012 - with the first race again scheduled to take place at Monza in April.