If you are interested in a season of close, exciting racing then the Blancpain GT series is for you. Huge rear-winged GT monsters race around some of the best tracks in Europe in sprint, endurance and club categories. Blancpain visits tracks like Spa and Brands Hatch and each meeting is a big event – 38 cars were on the Sprint series grid this weekend and featured marques such as Ferrari, Audi, BMW, Lamborghini, and Bentley .
Each Blancpain meeting is a full weekend of racing. Sprint and endurance races alternate throughout the season, with Sports Club races for amateur drivers at five of the meetings. The new season started at the Misano circuit on the Italian Adriatic this weekend with races in the Sprint and club categories.
Misano is a good-looking circuit, especially in the Italian spring sunshine and makes a good location for the Blancpain racers to start their latest campaigns. Sprint has a night race on Saturday evening to decide the grid for the main race the next afternoon. Club drivers compete in a short 25 minute race to determine the grid for a later 40 minute blast around the track.
The GT Sports Club’s main race this weekend was won by Mario Cordoni in his AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia GT3. That made it his fifth Blancpain GT Sports Club victory in his last six starts after fighting through from fourth on the grid to beat Saturday’s Qualifying Race winner Nicolas Misslin. They were nose to tail for most of the race and provided thrilling entertainment for the fans. Pierguiseppe Perazzini again underlined his pace by completing the overall podium and taking first in the Iron Cup for drivers over sixty.
In the main Sprint race victory went to Audi pairing Laurens Vanthoor and Frederic Vervisch. The Belgian duo crossed the line just over a second clear of the new HTP Motorsport Mercedes-AMG of Maxi Buhk and Dominik Baumann. The new BMW M6 GT3 also secured the second podium finish of its maiden Blancpain GT Series weekend in the hands of Rowe Racing-drivers Philipp Eng and Alexander Sims.
At Flaneur we follow the fortunes of the Am Cup drivers. From third at the start, Cédric Leimer in the #963 X-Bionic Racing Team Lamborghini swiftly took the class lead and built a decent advantage over the two Ferrari 458 Italia cars behind him. But when Stephane Lemeret took over the #55 AF Corse Ferrari for the second half of the race he took the class lead halfway through his stint and crossed the line some 40 seconds clear of the competition.
Blancpain GT is looking like being an enthralling season of motorsport. Round two of the GT series takes place at Monza on April 23/24 whilst the Sports Club continues again at Brands Hatch on May 7/8.
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