One week after the 24 hours of the Nürburgring the Blancpain Endurance Series went to Silverstone for their second race of the season with many Nürburgring teams in tow. On the same days, the European GT4 Series drove at Zandvoort.

Blancpain GT Endurance Series – Silverstone

Massive success for the Von Ryan Racing team: Rob Bell, Shane van Gisbergen and Kévin Estre, the drivers of the #58 Von Ryan Racing McLaren, secured the victory in the Blancpain Endurance Series at Silverstone.

The #23 Team RJN Nissan GT-R, with Wolfgang Reip behind the wheel, started the race from pole position. The Belgian kept the lead at the start, while Bell stormed from fourth into second position. A full course yellow after 45 minutes of racing shook things up. Bell went into the pits and handed the wheel to Van Gisbergen, while others stayed out. It proved to be a perfect decision. After the first round of stops, Van Gisbergen led the #1 Team WRT Audi of Robin Frijns by 42 seconds. The second pitstop caused no trouble for the McLaren and Estre brought the car to the finish with little trouble. Second place was claimed by the #1 Team WRT Audi of Frijns, Laurens Vanthoor and Jean-Karl Vernay, after passing the #75 ISR Racing Audi of Marco Bonanomi. The Italian didn’t manage to hold on to third either and was passed by the second Team WRT Audi, driven by Stephane Ortelli, handing Ortelli and teammates Frank Stippler and Stephane Richelmi the last podium position.

Top 5 overall classification

1 #58 Von Ryan Racing McLaren 650S GT3 (K. Estre/S. van Gisbergen/R. Bell)
2 #1 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT Audi R8 LMS ultra (R. Frijns/J.K. Vernay/L. Vanthoor)
3 #3 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT Audi R8 LMS ultra (S. Ortelli/F. Stippler/S. Richelmi)
4 #75 ISR Racing Audi R8 LMS Ultra (M. Bonanomi/F. Salaquarda/F. Vervisch)
5 #73 MRS GT Racing Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 (S. Walkinshaw/M. Plowman/C. Dolby)

European GT4 Series – Zandvoort

A perfect debut for the brand new KTM X-BOW GT4: Am driver Daniel Uckermann won the first race of the European GT4 Series at Circuit Park Zandvoort, while his ZaWotec teammates Sascha Halek and Peter Ebner won the second race.

Halek started the first race from pole position and defended his first position successfully, ahead of Hendrik Still in his Sin R1 GT4. V8 Racings Duncan Huisman passed Ricardo van den Endes BMW M3 GT4, but Van den Ende overtook Huisman soon after. Until the safety car came out, Halek and Ebner seemed to cruise to their first victory of the season. Not visiting the pit directly when the safety car appeared on track was a bad decision. Ebner rejoined in sixteenth and was able to climb to third, but he couldn’t stop team mate Daniel Uckermann from taking the first victory. The Am driver finished ahead of Van der Ende and Bernard van Oranje.

Round 3: Top 5 overall classification

1 #16 ZaWotec KTM X-BOW GT4 (D. Uckermann)
2 #1 Ekris Motorsport BMW M3 GT4 (B. van Oranje/R. van der Ende)
3 #15 ZaWotec KTM X-BOW GT4 (S. Halek/P. Ebner)
4 #69 V8 Racing Chevrolet Camaro GT4 (J. Beelen/M. Nooren)
5 #10 Mathol Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT4 (J. Viebahn)

In the second race, there was more success for Halek and Ebner. They took the victory without a real challenge. Marcel Nooren started the race in the #69 V8 Racing Chevy Camaro and handed the wheel to co-driver Jelle Beelen, who held on to second place. They took the lead in the championship with this podium. Third were their V8 Racing team mates Duncan Huisman and Luc Braams.

Round 4: Top 5 overall classification

1 #15 ZaWotec KTM X-BOW GT4 (S. Halek/P. Ebner)
2 #69 V8 Racing Chevrolet Camaro GT4 (J. Beelen/M. Nooren)
3 #96 V8 Racing Chevrolet Camaro GT4 (L. Braams/D. Huisman)
4 #8 Ekris Motorsport BMW M3 GT4 (S. Knap/H. Severs)
5 #10 Mathol Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT4 (J. Viebahn)

 
 

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