in the Blancpain Sprint Cup
Holidays are over for the Blancpain GT Series community but the next event will still have a summer taste, with the Sprint Cup heading to one of the most beautiful European capitals, Budapest, and the forecasts pointing to very high temperatures. It is the first time that the Hungaroring, the track in the hilly outskirts of Budapest, is visited by the Blancpain GT Series and there is high expectation ahead of this penultimate event of the Sprint Cup, which could be crucial for the title fight. Among those taking this round with a sense of maximum importance is the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT, which is very well-placed in the Drivers’ standings, thanks to Enzo Ide-Christopher Mies, currently lying second only 3 points behind the leaders. Laurens Vanthoor-Fred Vervisch are also still in contention, but 18 points behind, while in the Teams’ standings, games are quite open too. The Belgian squad is heading to Hungary with its usual entry of six Audis R8 LMS with their standard line-ups.
Team Principal Vincent Vosse is confident ahead this first time in Hungary: “We have never raced at the Hungaroring, but went there for a private test in early summer and had very positive feedback. I think the Audi R8 LMS should do well there, on a track which is more technical than it looks. We will have to see how the heat wave that is foreseen to hit Central Europe this week will play; we can expect very high temperatures… It will also be key to qualify well. This has become very important in any Blancpain event, given the level of competitiveness, but it will be even more so at the Hungaroring, a track where overtaking is very difficult, as we all know. Still, I am confident: in the last Sprint event at the Nürburgring, we had a very good team
performance and I expect to have all of our six cars fight for top positions. The objective is to collect as many podium finishes as possible, which is what we need to keep the title fights alive until the last round.”
Enzo Ide and Christopher Mies are the best card of the Belgian squad in the Drivers’ competition. The Belgian-German duo has had a terrific season so far, inviting itself to the title fight. With a gap of only 3 points, every dream is possible. Christopher Mies will be certainly boosted by his recent successes in the German ADAC GT Masters, which he is now leading, while Enzo Ide is more determined than ever. “Being the one before last, this is going to be a very important round”, admits the unconventional young Belgian, “but the form we showed at Brands Hatch and the Nürburgring allows us every hope. With only two events left, none of the contenders can afford a mistake; it’s going to be a terrific fight, against very qualified competitors, and I am looking forward to it. Being the only non-professional driver among the title contenders doesn’t stress me much, on the contrary. I like the Hungaroring and I think we will have a good car there, so the objective is the podium.”
The other Belgian Audi Club Team WRT duo who can reasonably still aspire to the title is the one composed by Laurens Vanthoor and Fred Vervisch, currently fourth in the standings, 18 points from the top. “It’s clear that we don’t have an easy task”, reckons Vervisch, “but we won’t give up. Budapest will actually be for us the last chance to rejoin the top title contenders, and we’ll go for it. We are very motivated and think the game is still quite open.”
On the other cars, Will Stevens-René Rast will certainly look for another big result, after their 2nd in Nürburgring’s main race, and so will also do Dries Vanthoor-Robin Frijns, so far eluded by Lady Luck. On their side, Stuart Leonard-Michael Meadows and Rodrigo Baptista-Sérgio Jimenez will try to materialize the excellent progress made, as done in the Endurance Cup.
They will all strive to contribute to improve the squad’s position in the Teams’ standings, where the ‘Belgian’ Audis enjoy an unusual position, lying both in 3rd and 4th position, according to the official entrants’ licence name, which allows a maximum of three cars per entry.
The Hungaroring event will start on Friday with free practice, with qualifying and the Qualifying Race (17:15 hrs) scheduled on Saturday while the Main Race will kick-off on Sunday at 12:30.
Blancpain Sprint Series - Round 4
Hungaroring, Budapest, Hungary
26-28 August 2016
Timetable (all times local = CET)
Friday 26 August 2016
10:00-10:40 Free Practice (Silver & Bronze drivers only)
10:40-11:20 Free Practice 1
14:40-16:00 Free Practice 2
Saturday 27 August 2016
11:45-12:00 Qualifying 1
12:07-12:22 Qualifying 2
12:30-12:40 Qualifying 3
17:15-18:15 Qualifying Race (1 hr)
Sunday 28 August 2016 09:00-09:20 Warm up
12:30-13:30 Main Race (1 hr)
Belgian Audi Club Team WRT entries
#1 Laurens Vanthoor (B) – Frédéric Vervisch (B)
#2 Stuart Leonard (GB) – Michael Meadows (GB) (Silver Cup)
#3 Sérgio Jimenez (BR) - Rodrigo Baptista (BR)
#4 Dries Vanthoor (B) – Robin Frijns (NL)
#28 Will Stevens (GB) – René Rast (D)
#33 Christopher Mies (D) - Enzo Ide (B)
Provisional Drivers’ standings (Pro Cup) after Round 3 of 5:
1. Bell-Parente 56 points
2. Ide-Mies 53
3. Schneider-Szymkowiak 47
4. L.Vanthoor-Vervisch 38
5. Baumann-Buhk 34
8. Rast-Stevens 22
13. D.Vanthoor 6
17. Frijns 4
Provisional Teams’ standings (Pro Cup) after Round 3 of 5:
1. HTP Motorsport 62 points
2. Garage 59 57
3. Belgian Audi Club 56
4. Team WRT 55
5. ISR 30
More info on the Blancpain series, live timing and live commented TV streaming of each race on www.blancpain-gt-series.com
