The Blancpain GT Series 2015 comes to an end this weekend with the last round of the Sprint Series, to

take place in the legendary track nested in the North See at Zandvoort, in the Netherlands. It’s a very

short turn-around between Misano and Zandvoort and busy days for the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT, forced

to re-plan many things following the accident of Laurens Vanthoor in the qualifying Race last Saturday in

Italy. With the Belgian driver side-lined by the leg and hip injuries sustained, and Enzo Ide unable to

attend because of professional commitments, driver line-ups of the cars #1 and #2 had to be re-organized.

Robin Frijns, who now chases alone the Blancpain GT and the Sprint Series Drivers’ titles, will be

associated with Christopher Mies, while car #2 will be entrusted to Fred Vervisch and Nicki Thiim. There

are no changes in car #3 (Stéphane Ortelli-Stéphane Richelmi) and #4 (James Nash-Frank Stippler), called

to play a key role in securing the Sprint Series Teams’ title, the third crown at stake in Holland. 

Team WRT Principal Vincent Vosse explains the situation: “Misano’s outcome has forced us to some extra

work and planning”, he comments, “Not only we had to replace the car destroyed in Italy, but to rethink

the line-ups of two of our cars. It’s a clear case of ‘force majeure’, given Laurens’ unavailability,

which adds to Enzo’s absence. We have decided to move Christopher Mies from car #2 to car #1, alongside

Robin Frijns, while on car #2 we welcome two new drivers. Fred Vervisch will race with us for the first

time: he has shown very good things in GT and I am confident he’ll do well. Nicki Thiim has already raced

with WRT at the Nürburgring 24 Hours and we were very happy with the job he did, so I think we have a

very strong fallback solution in place.”

The fact that Laurens Vanthoor is forced to miss this last and decisive round is, of course, regretted by

everybody. “Laurens is part of the family since many years”, says Vosse, “and we wish him a speedy and

full recovery. Even if he won’t be present this weekend, he will be with us and everybody will be

thinking of him.” A feeling that is shared in the first place by Robin Frijns, who will be fighting on

home soil for the two Drivers’ title without his usual team mate: “What happened to Laurens in Misano is

very unfortunate, and it also feels very odd to end this season without

him”, admits the young Dutchman. “When I entered this GT3 program, I was a real rookie. I only had single

seater experience. Laurens had to teach me how to drive the car, how to get the most out of it. It is

thanks to him that I am able to do the lap times I am doing now. So whatever happens in Zandvoort, if I

am still on top of the standings on Sunday night, in my mind both Laurens and I will be the new

champions.”

All the attention of the team is now focused in ending the season on a high, as Vosse 

comments: “We prepared well, as always, and we like Zandvoort, not only because it is close to home. It’s

one of the historic tracks that has kept its essence and gives a lot of pleasure to drivers and fans. We

know it well and we did well there in the past. It will be a close fight, especially with the Bentley and

the Ferrari, which have proven very competitive in recent rounds; let’s hope we will have a better

performance than in Misano.” 

The season-closing weekend at Zandvoort will follow the traditional format, with free practice on Friday,

Qualifying on Saturday morning and the two races in early afternoon, at 14:15 o Saturday and 13:00 on

Sunday. 

Blancpain Sprint Series - Round 7  Zandvoort, the Netherlands  9-11 October 2015

Timetable (all times local = CET-1) Friday 9 October 2015 13:30-14:50 Free Practice 1 16:30-17:50 Free Practice 2

Saturday 10 October 2015 10:15-10:30 Qualifying 1 10:37-10:52 Qualifying 2 11:00-11:10 Qualifying 3 14:15-15:15 Qualifying Race

Sunday 11 October 2015 13:00-14:00 Main Race

Belgian Audi Club Team WRT #1  Robin Frijns (NL) – Christopher Mies (D) (Pro) #2  Fred Vervisch (B) – Nicki Thiim (D) (Pro) #3  Stéphane Ortelli (MC) – Stéphane Richelmi (MC) (Pro)  #4  James Nash (GB) - Frank Stippler (D) (Pro)

Sprint Series Provisional Drivers’ standings (Pro Cup) after Round 6 of 7: 

1. Vanthoor-Frijns     109 points 2. Abril-Buhk     101 3. Seefried-Siedler       92 4. Abeu-Brito       74 5. Ortelli-Richelmi       64 6. Mies-Ide       44 13. Nash-Stippler       17 

Sprint Series Provisional Teams’ standings (Pro Cup) after Round 6 of 7: 

1. Belgian Audi Club Team WRT          153 points 2. BMW Sports Trophy Team Brazil            111 3. Bentley HTP               109 4. Rinaldi Racing                95 5. Phoenix Racing                      56

Blancpain GT Provisional Drivers’ standings (Pro Cup) after Round 11 of 12: 

1. Vanthoor-Frijns     152 points 2. Buhk     125 3. Siedler     115 4. Ortelli     114 5. Abril     103 7. Richelmi        78 10. Stippler       68 11. Mies       68 18. Verney       45 20. Ide       43 34. Nash       17 

Blancpain GT Provisional Teams’ standings (Pro Cup) after Round 11 of 12: 

1. Belgian Audi Club Team WRT          225 points 2. Rinaldi Racing         120 3. Bentley HTP         115 4. BMW Sports Trophy Team Brazil            112 5. GRT Grasser Racing                76