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Blancpain Endurance
Series - Race Report
ProSpeed Wins A Thriller
Remaining 3h
00m
Greetings from a cold but sunny Nürburgring. The start of
the race has been delayed by 20 minutes, for reasons unknown, and we expect the
start to now be 14:50 (13:50 UK)
Remaining 3h
00m
The cars have all made it away from the grid, but no sign
of the Preci-Spark SLS at the back.
The grid has cleared and the
engines have fired up.
Remaining 3h 00m
No
obvious gaps visible on the grid from the media centre.
Lead car in...and
we're green here at the Nürburgring!
Lap 1 Remaining 2h
58m
Goossens leads by 8 tenths. Cheng is second, Leinders is
third.
Lap 2 Remaining 2h
55m
Replay shows we already had spinners before the start of
the race. Dennis Andersen (#17 Ferrari) was involved. And the #60 Von Ryan
Racing McLaren was spun at Turn 2.
Davide Rigon has slowed
dramatically in the #71 Ferrari after being hit out of Turn 1 and has returned
to the pit.
Lap 4 Remaining 2h
53m
Daniel Roos and Julian Draper off at Turn 1 - the #98 Audi
backwards into the gravel. Both cars rejoined.
PRO-AM
The #90 is indeed in the race - David Jones already up to 34th in the
Mercedes.
Lap 5 Remaining 2h
51m
Mike Hezemans went straight at the
NGK-Chicane.
PRO-AM Steve Jans leads PRO-AM in the
#19 Black Falcon SLS in seventh.
PRO-AM
Draper pits the embattled Von Ryan McLaren.
Lap 6 Remaining 2h
46m
PRO Ludwig attacks Leinders in the
Mercedes-Arena. Unsuccessful attempt - Leinders still third.
Lap 7 Remaining 2h
45m
PRO-AM Rob Bell sets the fastest lap of
the race so far - 1:59.768 - in the #9 Gulf Racing
McLaren.
PRO Davide Rigon rejoins the race in the
#71 Ferrari after attention to the steering. The car is five laps
down.
Lap 8 Remaining 2h
44m
PRO-AM Draper has rejoined the race in
the #60, but is shown the black/white flag for his collision with
#98.
Lap 9 Remaining 2h
43m
Tankslapper for Rossi - but he saves it. Guess we can call
that MotoGP and WRC experience?
Lap 10 Remaining 2h
41m
PRO-AM Drama for Vita4One Team Italy -
damage to the front of the #57 and Petrobelli spins his car in the Arena. This
was just after the #51 AF Corse Ferrari spun at Turn 1. The #52 AF Corse Ferrari is also
somehow involved and returns to the pits without a rear-wing!
Lap 11 Remaining 2h
37m
PRO-AM Duncan Cameron has the penalised
#21 MTECH Ferrari up to 34th.
Lap 12 Remaining 2h
34m
8.526s covers the top nine
cars.
PRO Pressure from Bas Leinders on Cong Fu
Cheng - the Chinese runs wide and Leinders takes
second.
PRO-AM The #50 AF Corse Ferrari of Jack
Gerber slides sideways to a halt.
Lap 13 Remaining 2h
32m
PRO-AM David Jones drops the #90 SLS into
the gravel after cutting the grass and undoes his good work so far.
Lap 15 Remaining 2h
31m
PRO It appears that it isn't actually
Goossens in the lead car - it is Marc Hennerici. The timing screen is
wrong!
Lap 17 Remaining 2h
27m
PRO-AM Big shunt for Marc Hayek in the
#24 Lamborghini out of T8; the car looks to be out.
SAFETY
CAR
Lap 18 Remaining 2h
21m
PRO-AM The #69 Gulf McLaren of Roald
Goethe suffers a puncture, possibly after hitting
debris.
GENT Despite his earlier spin, Daniel Roos
is leading the GTR class.
PRO-AM Hans Reiter
reports that radio contact with Hayek indicates that he is uninjured. The SC is
for debris on track.
Lap 19 Remaining 2h
19m
PRO Still under caution, Cheng becomes
the first of the lead cars to stop.
Lap 20 Remaining 2h
16m
PRO Hennerici
pits.
PRO-AM Car 34 under investigation for
overtaking car 24 under yellows at turn 7. Is that possible as #24 caused the
yellow flags and Safety Car?
Lap 21 Remaining 2h
15m
PRO-AM The process of extracting Marc
Hayek from the crashed Lambo is not being rushed. Hopefully this is purely
precautionary.
Lap 22 Remaining 2h
10m
As the clear-up continues, so do the pitstops. Matt Bell
currently leads in the #9 McLaren but has yet to
stop.
PRO-AM Hayek is out of the car and on his
way to the medical centre.
Lap 24 Remaining 2h
06m
Safety Car in at the end of this lap.
GREEN
Lap 25 Remaining 2h
04m
PRO-AM Bell holds onto his lead at the
restart and pulls a long way clear of the second-placed Mike Stursberg in the #8
Haribo Porsche.
Lap 26 Remaining 2h
02m
PRO-AM Bell's lead is five seconds, while
Henry Hassid is given a drive-through in the #34 Porsche for passing under
yellows.
Lap 27 Remaining 2h
0m
PRO Olivier Pla takes tenth in the #83
Porsche from the #40 Audi of Guilvert.
Lap 28 Remaining 1h
58m
PRO Spin for the #5 Boutsen Ginion Racing
McLaren MP4-12C GT3 of Marino Franchitti. Fortunately for the Scot he's not
collected by any of the other drivers.
PRO
Incident between #4 and #8: No Further Action.
Lap 29 Remaining 1h
55m
PRO-AM Rob Bell pits from the
lead.
Lap 30 Remaining 1h
53m
PRO-AM Stursberg now leads from the #88
McLaren of Rob Barff. Both cars have yet to stop. Nope - both pit as this is
typed.
The
first three cars that have stopped are the Vita4One and DB Motorsport BMWs.
Interesting...
Lap 31 Remaining 1h
53m
PRO Mike Parisy grabs the lead from Greg
Franchi at T1 in the #18 Black Falcon Mercedes.
Lap 32 Remaining 1h
51m
PRO-AM Hans-Guido Riegel gets it all
wrong on his outlap - and spins the Haribo Racing Team Porsche into the gravel.
Mike Stursberg must not be a happy chappy
now.
GENT Saintéloc Racing team manager is
summoned to the race director.
Lap 33 Remaining 1h
48m
PRO-AM The #36 DB Motorsport BMW of Den
Boer hits the #9 McLaren of Mike Wainwright at the final turn. The Z4 retires
from third along the straight.
Lap 35 Remaining 1h
45m
PRO-AM Wainwright gets going after a
lengthy delay. No action is to be taken by the officials in regard to the
incident.
PRO-AM Spin
for the #88 Von Ryan Racing McLaren - Leon Price has continued.
Lap 37 Remaining 1h
40m
PRO-AM Matt Griffin (although the screen
still says Cameron) has the #21 Ferrari up to 16th after starting from the
back.
Lap 37 Remaining 1h
39m
PRO Markus Palttala gets a tap from behind by Dino
Lunardi - and crashes into the barrier. That is game over for the #3 Marc VDS
Racing Team BMW - steam coming from the radiator.
Lap 39 Remaining 1h
36m
Replay shows Palttala moves to the right - with the Audi
already there. Not sure if Lunardi is to blame there.
Lap 42 Remaining 1h
30m
PRO-AM Craig Wilkins is in the #30 GT3
Racing Audi and is running 22nd at the moment.
Lap 43 Remaining 1h
28m
PRO Parisy has extended his lead past ten
seconds now, while a lengthy queue is forming up behind Franchi in
second.
Lap 44 Remaining 1h
27m
PRO-AM Griffin has got past Hassid to
move up to 15th in the #21 458 and is just over a minute off the
lead.
PRO No further action on the incident
involving Palttala and Lunardi. So it has been declared either a race incident
or driver error then.
Lap 45 Remaining 1h
25m
PRO Edward Sandström catches Olivier Pla
napping to take seventh in the #2 Audi.
Lap 46 Remaining 1h
21m
PRO-AM Pro-Am Championship leading #52
pushed back into the box.
PRO Xavier Maassen finds
his way past Franchi to take the #75 Porsche into second and begin the process
of reducing the 12s gap to the lead.
Lap 47 Remaining 1h
20m
PRO-AM Onto lap 47 Soulet takes the lead
from Knap - but the BMW driver responds coming out of turn 1, retaking the class
lead.
Lap 48 Remaining 1h
17m
PRO Franchi and Lunardi are fighting for
position and trying to clear slower traffic. Stefano Gattuso passes them,
unlapping himself....and Lunardi follows to pass Franchi!
Lap 50 Remaining 1h
14m
PRO-AM Leon Price has a second spin in
the #88 McLaren and ends up in the gravel.
Lap 51 Remaining 1h
12m
PRO Despite having clear road, Maassen
can do nothing about Parisy at the moment and is losing ground to the
Mercedes.
Lap 51 Remaining 1h
09m
Harold Primat (#13 Audi) suddenly slowed down on track.
Car did continue, albeit very slow. Then suddenly a puff of smoke and back on
the pace again.
PRO-AM Price is out of the car and
walking away.
Lap 52 Remaining 1h
10m
The second round of stops appears to be underway. Parisy
pits from the lead after an excellent stint. Jeroen Bleekemolen takes
over.
Primat returned to the pit -
Rast is ready to take over from Primat - full service, quick check and he's out
on the road again.
Lap 53 Remaining 1h
07m
PRO-AM Preci-Spark's day isn't getting
any better - the latest drama is a small pitlane fire that is quickly
extinguished.
Lap 53 Remaining 1h
05m
PRO Pit stop time again! The leaders have
been in. Bleekemolen has taken over from Parisy in #18 Mercedes, Goossens now
onboard the #75 Porsche.
PRO The #90 dramas impact
on the #2 WRT Audi which has to be manhandled into position and loses a lot of
time as a result.
Lap 55 Remaining 1h
02m
PRO-AM Matt Griffin now leads the race -
last to first for the #21 - but has yet to stop for a second time.
Lap 56 Remaining 1h
0m
PRO-AM Griffin pits, which leaves Marc
Goossens in the lead in the #75 Porsche.
PRO-AM
Leon Price appears to have changed his mind and returned to the #88 McLaren as
it is reported to have rejoined.
Lap 57 Remaining 0h
58m
PRO Kechele passed Van Splunteren...and
one lap later he's all over Ortelli. Onto lap 57 Kechele places his BMW
alongside the Audi and takes the position.
Lap 60 Remaining 0h
58m
PRO-AM Adam Christodoulou is making
progress in the #30 Audi; up to 25th.
Lap 62 Remaining 0h
49m
PRO The previously troubled #13 Audi now
seems to be running well. Rene Rast has recently set the fastest race lap -
1:58.659 - in the car, which is in 22nd place.
Lap 64 Remaining 0h
43m
PRO Bleekemolen is reeling Goossens in -
the Belgian's lead is now down to 5.991s.
PRO-AM The
PRO-AM class is led by Paul van Splunteren in the #74 ProSpeed Porsche, but has
just lost sixth on the road to the #83 Porsche of Nicolas Armindo.
PRO-AM Marc
Hayek has been released from the medical centre and has been seen in the
paddock; limping, but otherwise okay.
Lap 66 Remaining 0h
40m
Bleekemolen trims another second from Goossens's lead. Now
4.100.
PRO Is the
lead Porsche beginning to struggle, or is this traffic?
Lap 67 Remaining 0h
38m
PRO It appears to be the former as the
gap comes down to 2.844 on the next lap. A challenge for the lead appears
imminent.
PRO-AM And
there's another Mercedes on the move - Sean Edwards closing quickly on van
Splunteren in the #19 Black Falcon car. The two PRO-AM leaders are less than
three seconds
apart.
Lap 68 Remaining 0h
35m
PRO-AM Edwards powers by the Porsche and gets the
PRO-AM lead.
PRO-AM
Edouard Mondron with a left rear puncture - nursing the #15 Boutsen Ginion
Racing McLaren home.
Lap 70 Remaining 0h
32m
PRO Goossens has managed to stabilise the
lead at just over two seconds; but for how much longer?
Lap 73 Remaining 0h
25m
PRO The leaders are nose to tail.
Can Belgium prevail over Holland?
Lap 74 Remaining 0h
24m
PRO Bleekemolen is now looking for the
gap. He almost made a move stick at T1, but was a couple of lengths
short.
Lap 75 Remaining 0h
22m
PRO-AM Christodoulou has the #30 Audi
into the top 20 for the first time.
Lap 76 Remaining 0h
21m
PRO The #9 McLaren of Mike Wainwright
gets in between the leaders while being lapped, which gives Goossens a quick
breather.
Lap 77 Remaining 0h
17m
The gap between Goossens and Bleekemolen stays under a
second. When will the Dutchman make his move on the Belgian driver?
Lap 79 Remaining 0h
13m
PRO Bleekemolen is now once again within striking
distance of Goossens and the Mercedes now looks threatening.
Lap 80 Remaining 0h
12m
Drive-through penalty for car #15 for causing a collision
with car #10. That explains the smoking Ferrari and the puncture on the
McLaren.
Lap 81 Remaining 0h
10m
PRO Into the last ten minutes and the cat
and mouse chase continues. Great to see two such pros going head to
head.
Lap 82 Remaining 0h
8m
PRO-AM Anthony Beltoise in the #34 PRO GT
Porsche has taken second in PRO-AM from van Splunteren
Nicolas
Armindo runs wide through the gravel - at turn 7. Moser closed the gap to
Armindo by some 12 seconds.
Lap 83 Remaining 0h
6m
Armindo off at Turn 1. Yellow flags - Bleekemolen loses two
tenths there, but gains more time in other sectors.
Lap 84 Remaining 0h
4m
PRO The leaders are coming up on more traffic -
will this be Bleekemolen's final chance?
Lap 85 Remaining 0h
1m
PRO Bleekemolen tries into the chicane but isn't
close enough. One more lap to go!
Lap
86
PRO Time is up, but the race continues. Bleekemolen
is still looking....
Lap
86
Goossens holds on to take the win! What a fantastic
race!
Lap 86
PRO-AM No double for Black Falcon, but a great PRO-AM
win for the #19.
GENT The #58 Exagon Porsche of Daniel Desbrueres and
Christian Kelders takes the GTR win.
That concludes our coverage
as the DSC away team has to dash for the tunnel. Thanks for watching!
QUOTES
Marc Goossens,
#75 ProSpeed Porsche: “It was teamwork. Some 10 years ago I was
competing with Rudi (Penders) in Belcar, and now winning with his team is a big
honour. When Jeroen
Bleekemolen was closing in, I knew that I couldn’t make any mistake. When he was
just behind me, I saw where he could make a difference and I focused on
this.”
Marc Hennerici,
#75 ProSpeed Porsche: “I am so pleased. In the previous sessions
yesterday it was going badly and I was thinking last night that it was going to
go badly today but we’ve
done really well. The team set up the car nicely and it was a pleasure to
drive.”
Xavier Maassen,
#75 ProSpeed Porsche: “The race was tough but our start was
incredible, Marc put the car from seventh to first, unbelievable. So he put the
pressure on and when the
Safety Car was out we lost a bit of time but it was OK.
“We’ve been pushing so hard
all year in the championship but at some tracks we’ve been unlucky but today
it’s great to see our hard work pay off. We’re going to celebrate for sure.”
Congfu Cheng, #
18 Black Falcon SLS: "I'm very happy with today's race result. The
Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 was very well prepared by the Black Falcon team and
already in training we
were able to lay the foundations for this success. At the start I saw a
good opportunity to go inside the opponents and chose a very late braking point. So I found
myself in second place overall. My teammates did a good job then, so that
we could celebrate this position even after three hours - for me an almost perfect race. "
Vincent Vosse,
Team Principal WRT: “It is a little bit paradoxical. We are much
better off in the championship than when we arrived here, although we haven’t
done particularly well.
We lacked a little bit of performance, which on the contrary we had in the GT1
races. Without the accident to the Marc VDS team, the championship would be over. But that’s racing, and
you have to accept things as they come, the bad and the good ones. The
conclusion is that we’ll work full steam ahead in the forthcoming days to go to Spain perfectly
geared and determined to fight for both titles!”
Markus Palttala,
#3 Marc VDS BMW: "I did nothing wrong because I was ahead and
I had the right to choose the line. Lunardi put his nose next to my rear bumper
(in these cases the car ahead will always lose if there is contact) while I was
moving diagonally to the right to claim the corner with optimal entry line. He
was still behind and not on my side and I didn't swerve left and right to block
him, just one smooth change of line along the straight so there was no quick
change of direction to cause the collision. Of course, what makes it trickier to
control is that we were under full braking when it happened. So, even if Lunardi
tried to back off when he saw that he was running out of space, he could not
have if he braked later than me.
"However, to avoid the
accident, I should not have moved on his trajectory. I should have left him more
space there, because I would've stayed ahead in any case. I simply didn't know
he went on the outside (most likely to avoid hitting me straight on the rear)
and I carry my responsibility for that and for the fact that this incident ended
our race."
Oliver Morley, #
19 Black Falcon SLS: "For me, today was one of my biggest motor
sport successes ever. It's great having such a crew behind us and great
team-mates in an
incredibly hard-fought race, not only to win the category, but also to take
sixth place overall."
Steve Jans, # 19
Black Falcon SLS: "The Nürburgring is the home track of the Black
Falcon team and it is here that I have most racing experience. While we have
seen from the start our
chances were good, this result is for me still overwhelming. In my young racing
career, today's victory is certainly the biggest success -. I have to credit to the great team
performance by Black Falcon "
Rob Bell, #9
Gulf Racing McLaren: “Our final finish position was disappointing,
but overall there are plenty of positives from our trip to Nürburgring. The Gulf
Racing UK crew had
meticulously prepared the car and worked well all weekend to put us in the best
possible position; this hard work paid off as we proved to be the quickest
McLaren of the field. In
race trim we were a match for all the other marques and when we were running out
front we showed the pace we have in the car. Each outing we’re making strides, so it will be great to
get back out on track at Navarra for the final round of the Series.”
Marino
Franchitti, #5 Botsen Ginion McLaren: "It's always a challenge to
come into a new championship at this time of the year. Even more so when it's
with a new team and
driving a new car so we are pretty happy with a top 10 finish from 38th on the
grid. Seiji, Nico and I felt we got the most out of the car, and a great
strategy by the Boutsen
Ginion team helped us move forward. It was a lot of fun racing in the Blancpain
Series and I hope to get the opportunity to do it again
soon".
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