Weekend round-up: VLN, Blancpain GT, Super GT, ADAC GT, European GT4

Just one week after the 24 hours of Le Mans, GT racing has started again. The third round of the VLN was held at the Nürburgring, while the ADAC GT Masters went to Spa for their third weekend. Circuit Paul Ricard was the decor of the Blancpain Endurance Series and the Super GT raced at the Chang International Circuit.

VLN – 57. ADAC ACAS H&R-Cup

A very poor starting field of four GT3 cars lined up for the third round of the VLN. Frikadelli Racing made it a special day for Porsche, taking their 200th victory in VLN.

The #30 Frikadelli Racing Team Porsche 911 GT3R of Patrick Huisman, Klaus Abbelen and Sabine Schmitz started the race from pole position. During the first few laps, Frikadelli Racing fought a battle with the #154 Wochenspiegel Team Manthey Porsche 911 GT3 RSR of Georg Weiss, Jochen Krumbach and Oliver Kainz, until the Team Manthey Porsche had to retire from the lead after a collision with a lapped car. That made the way to victory easy for Frikadelli Racing, despite having a little fire during the last pitstop.

Top 5 overall classification

1 #30 Frikadelli Racing Team Porsche 911 GT3R (P. Huisman/K. Abbelen/S. Schmitz)
2 #56 Black Falcon Team TMD Friction Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (‘Gerwin’/M. Metzger)
3 #112 raceunion Teichmann Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (M. Hennerici/C. Menzel)
4 #62 Frikadelli Racing Team Porsche 991 GT Cup America (F. Kräling/M. Gindorf/C. Brück)
5 #101 GetSpeed Performance Porsche 991 GT3 Cup (A. Osieka/S. Jans)

Blancpain Endurance Series – Paul Ricard

The six-hour Blancpain Endurance Series 1000 at Circuit Paul Ricard was won by the #23 Nissan GT Academy Team RJN GT-R Nismo. Drivers Alex Buncombe, Wolfgang Reip and Katsumasa Chiyo secured the first win of the season for Nissan at the French circuit.

The #63 Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini started the race from pole position and regained the lead quickly, after losing it shortly at the start. The Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini kept the lead for a little over two hours, but was passed then by the #23 Team RJN Nissan. The 25 second-lead of the Nissan was compromised by a safety car, but Buncombe, Reip and Chiyo resisted the pressure of the #7 Bentley M-Sport Bentley Continental and the #46 Marc VDS BMW Z4 and won the six-hour race with an advantage of just eight seconds.

Top 5 overall classification

1 #23 Nissan GT Academy Team RJN Nissan GT-R Nismo (W. Reip/A. Buncombe/K. Chiyo)
2 #7 Bentley M-Sport Bentley Continental GT3 (G. Smith/A. Meyrick/S. Kane)
3 #46 BMW Sports Trophy Team Marc VDS BMW Z4 GT3 (M. Palttala/L. Luhr/M. Martin)
4 #99 Rowe Racing Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 (D. Juncadella/N. Bastian/S. Dusseldorp)
5 #11 Kessel Racing Ferrari 458 Italia (M. Broniszewski/A. Bonacini/M. Lyons)

ADAC GT Masters – Spa-Francorchamps

The third round of the ADAC GT Masters at Spa-Francorchamps saw two first-time winners in 2015. The #80 Team Schubert BMW Z4 GT3 won the first race of the weekend, while the championship leading #21 Team Zakspeed Mercedes SLS AMG GT3 won the second race.

The start of the first race meant a close battle between Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, BMW, Audi and Bentley, but as soon as the #80 Team Schubert BMW took the lead, the fight was over. Jens Klingmann and Dominik Baumann cruised away to victory, seven seconds ahead of the #21 Team Zakspeed Mercedes of Luca Ludwig and Sebastian Asch. Third place was taken by the #7 Team HTP Bentley, driven by Luca Stolz and Jeroen Bleekemolen, after the #36 Schütz Motorsport Porsche got a five-second time penalty for going off the track.

Round 5: Top 5 overall classification

1 #80 BMW Sports Trophy Team Schubert BMW Z4 GT3 (J. Klingmann/D. Baumann)
2 #21 Team Zakspeed Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 (L. Ludwig/S. Asch)
3 #7 Bentley Team HTP Bentley Continental GT3 (L. Stolz/J. Bleekemolen)
4 #36 Schütz Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 R (M. Ragginger/K. Bachler)
5 #19 BMW Sports Trophy Team Schubert BMW Z4 GT3 (C. Hürtgen/U. Alzen)

During the formation lap of the second race, rain started to fall at Spa. After a short red flag to safely switch to rain tires, the #21 Team Zakspeed Mercedes of Sebastian Asch made the most of the first lap, climbing from fourth to second. Asch started to hunt the leading #42 HP Racing Mercedes of Bernd Schneider. After a brief safety car the #66 Callaway Competition Corvette made it a three-way battle. The fight lasted until four laps to go, when the HP Racing Mercedes had to take a stop-and-go penalty, handing the lead and the win to Luca Ludwig in the Team Zakspeed Mercedes. The Callaway Competition Corvette finished in second position, just three seconds behind.

Round 6: Top 5 overall classification

1 #21 Team Zakspeed Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 (L. Ludwig/S. Asch)
2 #66 Callaway Competition Corvette Z06.R GT3 (D. Keilwitz/A. Wirth)
3 #24 MS Racing Audi R8 LMS ultra GT3 (M. Basseng/F.Stoll)
4 #2 C. Abt Racing Audi R8 LMS ultra GT3 (J.L. Pepper/N. Thiim)
5 #80 BMW Sports Trophy Team Schubert BMW Z4 GT3 (J. Klingmann/D. Baumann)

GT4 European Series – Spa-Francorchamps

Spa-Francorchamps proved to be successful for both the Lotus Evora GT4 and the Chevrolet Camaro GT4. Both races of the weekend were won by ASC Bulavto Racing’s Pavel Lefterov, while the V8 Racing Camaro of Sandor van Es and Duncan Huisman was victorious twice in the Pro-category.

Pole man Ricardo van der Ende in the #1 Ekris Motorsport BMW M3 GT4 was penalized for jumping the start, which gave the lead briefly to the #96 V8 Racing Chevrolet of Huisman. While being chased by #56 Tolman Motorsport Ginetta of Luke Davenport, both the Chevrolet and Ginetta were passed by Lefterov in the #6 ASC Bulavto Racing Lotus. Lefterov led the remainder of the race, while the Tolman Motorsport Ginetta dropped back after the mandatory pitstops. Van Es and Huisman finished second in their V8 Racing Chevrolet Camaro, while the #69 V8 Racing Camaro of Jelle Beelen and Marcel Nooren finished an impressive recovery race from last position in third.

Top 5 overall classification

1 #6 ASC Bulavto Racing Lotus Evora GT4 (P. Lefterov)
2 #96 V8 Racing Chevrolet Camaro GT4 (S. van Es/D. Huisman)
3 #69 V8 Racing Chevrolet Camaro GT4 (J. Beelen/M. Nooren)
4 #16 ZaWotec #sport KTM X-Bow GT4 (D. Uckermann)
5 #1 Ekris Motorsport BMW M3 GT4 (B. van Oranje/R. van der Ende)

The second race of the weekend became a dominant victory for Lefterov. Started from pole, the driver of the #6 ASC Bulavto Racing Lotus was shortly under threat of the two V8 Racing Chevrolets, but soon he drove away to an easy victory. The fight between the V8 Racing Chevrolets was a lot closer. The #96 of Van Es and Huisman took second place right after the pitstops, but couldn’t chase Lefterov. The Lotus crossed the line in first, eleven seconds ahead of the #96 V8 Racing Chevy, while the #69 V8 Racing machine finished just two seconds behind the #96 in third.

Top 5 overall classification

Super GT – Buriram United Super GT Race

The Super GT race at the Chang International Circuit in Thailand has been won by Satoshi Motoyama and Masataka Yanagida in the #46 MOLA Nissan GT-R. It meant the first win for the MOLA team in three years time.

The fight for the lead was very exciting until the mandatory driver changes. Both the #46 MOLA Nissan and the #38 ZENT CERUMO Lexus changed positions several times during the first stint. Only some laps after the pitstops, the ZENT CERUMO Lexus was forced to retire because of a brake troubles. It handed second place to the #36 PETRONAS Tom’s Lexus, but their tire strategy was a wrong decision and they dropped down to sixth. Meanwhile, the #46 MOLA Nissan cruised to victory, ahead of the #6 Team LeMans Lexus and the #17 Keihin Real Racing Honda.

Top 5 overall classification

1 #46 MOLA Nissan GT-R (S. Motoyama/M. Yanagida)
2 #6 Team LeMans Lexus RC F (Y. Kunimoto/K. Oshima)
3 #17 Keihin Real Racing Honda NSX-GT (H. Mutoh/K. Tsukakoshi)
4 #12 Calsonic Nissan GT-R (J.P. de Oliveira/H. Yasuda)
5 #1 NISMO Nissan GT-R (T. Matsuda/R. Quintarelli)

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