at SRO Night of the Champions
Blancpain GT Sports Club’s 2016 champions were officially crowned on Sunday night (November 27) during the SRO Night of the Champions prize-giving ceremony staged at the Tower of London.
The Historic Royal Palace, which provided a suitably regal backdrop to the evening, welcomed teams, drivers, manufacturers, sponsors and media from across all of the series promoted by SRO Motorsports Group, including the Blancpain GT Sports Club.
Following its inaugural campaign in 2015, the championship’s unique format of pairing amateur-only drivers with balanced GTE, GT3 and single-make sportscar machinery proved to be incredibly popular this season, with a large number of new faces and cars joining the Blancpain GT Series’ official support category.
One of those new names, Michal Broniszewski, was one of the biggest winners on Sunday night after adding the Blancpain GT Sports Club Overall crown to his other championship titles. Indeed, the Pole has enjoyed an especially successful year after also claiming a ‘full house’ of Pro-Am crowns in the Blancpain GT Series Overall, Sprint and Endurance Cups.
“It has been a fantastic season; four titles will be very difficult for anyone to repeat,” he said. “Competing in Blancpain GT Sports Club was not something I considered at the start of the year. I was keen for the extra track time at Misano but for one reason or another that was not possible. That motivated me more to have another go at Brands Hatch where we eventually won both races. I would love to do it again next season but my plans are still up in the air. I will know more in about one month’s time.”
Also in attendance was Iron Cup champion Martin Lanting, who narrowly defended his over-60s crown against friend and rival Stephen Earle.
“Wow, what a venue!” he said. “I could not have expected anything better than this - SRO have their work cut out to top it in 2017. The same goes for the Blancpain GT Sports Club, but I know that plans are in place to take the championship a step further, which I fully support. We want more cars and to see the level increase but it is also important to maintain the club element that works so well. The spirit we have created is paramount. Even at my age - and I will be 65 next year - there is still room to learn and I certainly achieved that this season.”
Meanwhile, SRO Motorsports Group Founder and CEO Stephane Ratel was delighted to see the series experience such impressive growth in 2016.
“GT racing is becoming more and more professional so it is important that we continue to provide a competitive home for purely amateur drivers,” he said. “Clearly the increased numbers prove that the platform works and I would not be surprised to see even more entries next season. Congratulations to Michal [Broniszewski] and Martin [Lanting] for their title successes; now the challenge is to defend their crowns in 2017!”
The six-round 2017 Blancpain GT Sports Club campaign begins at Misano in Italy on April 1/2.
2016 Blancpain GT Sports Club award winners
Overall:1st Michal Broniszewski, Kessel Racing2nd Nicolas Vandierendonck, Selleslagh Racing Team3rd Mario Cordoni, AF Corse
Iron Cup:1st Martin Lanting, AF Corse2nd Stephen Earle, Kessel Racing Team3rd Jan Brunstedt, JB Motorsport
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2017 Blancpain GT Sports Club CalendarR1 Misano (ITA) - April 1/2R2 Silverstone (UK) - May 13/14R3 Circuit Paul Ricard (FRA) - June 24/25R4 Spa-Francorchamps (BEL) - July 27-30 R5 Hungaroring (HUN) - August - 26/27R6 Barcelona (ESP) - Sep 30 - Oct 1
